San Diego on a Budget

Happy Sunday Funday! Last weekend, I had some free time to get out and explore San Diego... And I even had a buddy! My niece, Sameera goes to school in LA so she drove two hours south to meet me. We had an amazing time and hardly spent ANY money. Everything we did was free. We literally just paid for food. What more can you ask for?

San Diego is a beautiful city. It’s beachy, breezy, easy going, and the traffic is pretty much nonexistent. It reminds me of Tampa... But the west coast version.

We had no idea what we wanted to do so I literally just opened Google Maps and picked points on the map that seemed interesting all the way down the coast.

Our first stop was the Torrey Pines Gliderport in La Jolla. It’s the most historic aviation site in North America, with nearly 100 years of flying history. It’s also Southern California’s premiere location for paragliding, hang gliding, remote control models and sailplanes.

If we had more time, I would have loved to try paragliding. It looks absolutely terrifying but I must do it one day! Gotta check that one off my bucket list.

Next we visited La Jolla Cove and Children’s Pool Beach. La Jolla Cove is a gorgeous beach surrounded by cliffs. The cove is a part of a protected marine reserve so there were tons of people snorkeling, scuba diving, and swimming. It was only in the mid-70’s so we weren’t getting in that water but everyone else seemed to be having a ball!

Visiting Children’s Pool Beach was my absolute favorite adventure. It’s like a seal and sea lion sanctuary. The San Diego Zoo is legendary (and a whopping $54 for admission) but we got to see hundreds of seals and sea lions for free!

It was the coolest thing! It isn’t recommended that anyone swim in this part of the beach because of the high amount of bacteria from seal feces… Ew. But you could literally just walk right up to the animals in their natural habitat! 

Of course there are signs warning the public that these are wild, unpredictable animals that can become aggressive and territorial… So I kept a nice distance. Won’t catch one of those sea lions dragging me into the water. Ha! It was really a sight to see. Their little noises were hilarious.

For lunch, we went to The Taco Stand. The line was out the door but O-M-G. It was so worth it. The food was delicious and inexpensive. Sameera had a massive chicken burrito. I had shrimp, battered fish, and chicken tacos, and we shared a side of chips and guacamole. YUM. We scarfed it down so fast that I forgot to take pictures.

Next we went to Mission Bay Park… Another beautiful site. Sameera and I vote that we have our next family reunion there. There’s a path for biking, skateboarding, and rollerblading, pavilions for grilling, basketball courts, a playground, a little beach… Everything you could ever need. Super nice and clean!

Our final stop of the evening was to Old Town San Diego. It’s the oldest settled area in San Diego and the site of the first European settlement in present-day California. 

It was a cool little area. We stopped and got ice cream and walked around looking at all of the little shops and Mexican restaurants.

On Sunday, we went to The Menu for brunch. There was no wait, the food came out right away and it was super affordable. I was highly impressed. Sameera had pancakes, I had french toast, and we both had an order of scrambled eggs, potatoes, and bacon/turkey sausage. (We also scarfed this down so quickly that I forgot to snap a photo… Again. Whoops.)

After brunch, we stopped at Pacific Beach. It was a really nice sunny, breezy day outside. First we walked down the pier and watched some guys attempt to surf. I don’t know anything about surfing but I don’t think the waves were large enough to do anything. The guys were just floating on their boards... Nothing exciting like Rocket Power or anything lol

Next we took a stroll down the boardwalk. It was SUCH a busy Sunday. You would’ve thought it was spring break or something! All of the bars and restaurants were packed. The boardwalk was full of people riding bikes, skateboarding, rollerblading... All kinds of stuff! We even saw a man walking on a tightrope! 

I don’t know if these little monsters have made it to where you live yet, but in California these electric razor scooters called Birds are taking over. They’re literally everywhere. People just leave them all over the street. To my understanding, you use an app similar to Uber or Lyft to find one, pay on the app, and scoot away… Interesting. Here they are taking up precious space in front of my Jeep!

We had a wonderful weekend exploring San Diego. It was relaxing, beautiful, and we only spent about $60 on food for both of us— That’s it! It doesn’t get much better than that. You don't need a ton of money to have a great time!

Thank you so much for coming on my adventure with me! I hope you enjoyed it. Next up: Phoenix, Hawaii, and a special trip to Las Vegas! See you soon!

-A