Well, we have been in dire need of a vacation so we decided to run away and take a quick one. San Diego is only a three hour drive from us. Or at least it should be. TRAFFIC :( But here was our plan...
I had sadly never seen a true fall tree before so I did some hunting online and found Julian, California. Julian is located about an hour East of San Diego and claims to experience all four seasons due to its elevation. Armed with this knowledge I was set on going. Then we researched what time of year to go and we settled on the last weekend of October. So along with my husband's awesome job perks we booked are little getaway. We used Marriott points for Friday night and a free night he had won at an event for Saturday.
We left Friday afternoon around 2:30pm and sat in traffic for the next five hours or so. When we finally arrived in San Diego we checked into our first hotel. The Courtyard San Diego Rancho Bernardo. It wasn't anything fancy but it was clean and the room was a decent size with a view of a large duck pound and the staff was very nice. We asked the man at the front desk for a dinner suggestion and he sent us to a restaurant just across the street. Urge Gastropub, which is now my husband's favorite restaurant. He is now referring to it as "my birthday restaurant". It was a really cool atmosphere and had good food. Not to die for or anything but it was a really fun place. I will suggest the Serrano Sculpin Hot Wings they were very tasty, and not too hot in my opinion but I do like to eat fire. I also had some tacos that were so-so but the salad that came with them was so good. Seemed like a Caesar to me but it was top notch.
The next morning we checked out and headed to Julian. It was a windy road but a very nice drive. You climb about 5,000 feet in elevation if I remember correctly, and drive right passed the San Diego Wild Animal Park, which we will have to hit next time. The closer we got to Julian the more I nervously anticipated the sudden change to fall, but it never really happened. Oh well.
We arrived at the cute little main street. You CANNOT miss it. There were at least a hundred motorcycles there and cars in every spot. We finally found a parking spot up a side street and headed out for something to eat. We started at the far end of main street and poked our heads in every restaurant we passed but nothing struck our interest. They were all hot dogs and hamburgers and just not what we were in the mood for. We decided not to settle and kept walking making a turn back on to the street we drove in on. There was a tiny cafe down the ally way that we chose since it had a nice bistro style selection. The Candied Apple Pastry Company had the best food of the whole weekend by far! Their website below doesn't even mention their food, only their pastries but do not let that fool you!
I had a delicious sandwich. My husband ordered a meat sandwich and a quiche and a bowl of butternut squash soup. Every bite of everything was incredible! I wish we lived closer because I would go here at least once week. After our ridiculously good meal we mulled around main street. Going in and out of all the quaint little shops. Buying our magnet as we do on every new adventure. My husband also purchased two jars of honey (it's his thing) that were locally harvested.
After our purchases we spotted a old cemetery up on a hill, and maybe it was the Halloween spirit in me but I wanted
to go explore. We headed up the wooden stairs and under the old iron arch that read "Julian Cemetery". There were headstones and grave markers from the 1800's everywhere it was so neat. And some of the family plots were families that some of the stores on main street were named and operated by still today. But the best find came at the far end of the cemetery. There it was, my fall tree. The most idyllic one I could have ever asked for. I ran over to it, got as close to the trunk as possible and stuck my head up through the branches. I acknowledge this sounds extremely odd, but I wanted fall everywhere. So when I did this and looked straight up it was like I was standing in a forest full of fall trees.
When we finished taking pictures of the tree and ourselves with the tree we headed to our last stop of the day. Moms Pies.
We couldn't possibly leave Julian without trying one of their famous apple pies. I ordered a crumble crust apple pie al amode and my husband ordered slice of bumbleberry al amode. I have to say I was surprisingly disappointed. Maybe my expectations were too high but my slice was not the apple pie I had been dreaming of. But surprise surprise my husband's pie was scrumbdiddlyumpcious. I dislike each berry that was in his but all together it was magic. With bellies full we headed out of Julian and to our next hotel, Estancia La Jolla.
We checked in around 6 or 7pm and went to our room. Which was a far walk from the front desk. When we arrived in our room I was slightly disappointed. It was very small and dark, mind you my husband had been talking the hotel up quiet a bit so maybe that added to the underwhelmed feeling that was over taking me but it was just a blah room. I went to open the window to let in some light and what is there but 2 feet and then a wall. Dirt on the ground, weeds growing unkempt, hands down the worst view offered by any hotel in my experience. I mean honestly I would rather see a parking lot than a wall. But maybe that is just me. The rest of our stay was just as disappointing so I won't bore you with the details. I will just end with saying I wouldn't go back and I am so thankful it was a free night.
Destinations: San Diego, Ca
Points of Interest:
http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/sanbo-courtyard-san-diego-rancho-bernardo/
http://urgegastropub.com/locations/
http://www.estancialajolla.com/I had sadly never seen a true fall tree before so I did some hunting online and found Julian, California. Julian is located about an hour East of San Diego and claims to experience all four seasons due to its elevation. Armed with this knowledge I was set on going. Then we researched what time of year to go and we settled on the last weekend of October. So along with my husband's awesome job perks we booked are little getaway. We used Marriott points for Friday night and a free night he had won at an event for Saturday.
We left Friday afternoon around 2:30pm and sat in traffic for the next five hours or so. When we finally arrived in San Diego we checked into our first hotel. The Courtyard San Diego Rancho Bernardo. It wasn't anything fancy but it was clean and the room was a decent size with a view of a large duck pound and the staff was very nice. We asked the man at the front desk for a dinner suggestion and he sent us to a restaurant just across the street. Urge Gastropub, which is now my husband's favorite restaurant. He is now referring to it as "my birthday restaurant". It was a really cool atmosphere and had good food. Not to die for or anything but it was a really fun place. I will suggest the Serrano Sculpin Hot Wings they were very tasty, and not too hot in my opinion but I do like to eat fire. I also had some tacos that were so-so but the salad that came with them was so good. Seemed like a Caesar to me but it was top notch.
The next morning we checked out and headed to Julian. It was a windy road but a very nice drive. You climb about 5,000 feet in elevation if I remember correctly, and drive right passed the San Diego Wild Animal Park, which we will have to hit next time. The closer we got to Julian the more I nervously anticipated the sudden change to fall, but it never really happened. Oh well.
We arrived at the cute little main street. You CANNOT miss it. There were at least a hundred motorcycles there and cars in every spot. We finally found a parking spot up a side street and headed out for something to eat. We started at the far end of main street and poked our heads in every restaurant we passed but nothing struck our interest. They were all hot dogs and hamburgers and just not what we were in the mood for. We decided not to settle and kept walking making a turn back on to the street we drove in on. There was a tiny cafe down the ally way that we chose since it had a nice bistro style selection. The Candied Apple Pastry Company had the best food of the whole weekend by far! Their website below doesn't even mention their food, only their pastries but do not let that fool you!
I had a delicious sandwich. My husband ordered a meat sandwich and a quiche and a bowl of butternut squash soup. Every bite of everything was incredible! I wish we lived closer because I would go here at least once week. After our ridiculously good meal we mulled around main street. Going in and out of all the quaint little shops. Buying our magnet as we do on every new adventure. My husband also purchased two jars of honey (it's his thing) that were locally harvested.After our purchases we spotted a old cemetery up on a hill, and maybe it was the Halloween spirit in me but I wanted
to go explore. We headed up the wooden stairs and under the old iron arch that read "Julian Cemetery". There were headstones and grave markers from the 1800's everywhere it was so neat. And some of the family plots were families that some of the stores on main street were named and operated by still today. But the best find came at the far end of the cemetery. There it was, my fall tree. The most idyllic one I could have ever asked for. I ran over to it, got as close to the trunk as possible and stuck my head up through the branches. I acknowledge this sounds extremely odd, but I wanted fall everywhere. So when I did this and looked straight up it was like I was standing in a forest full of fall trees.
When we finished taking pictures of the tree and ourselves with the tree we headed to our last stop of the day. Moms Pies.We couldn't possibly leave Julian without trying one of their famous apple pies. I ordered a crumble crust apple pie al amode and my husband ordered slice of bumbleberry al amode. I have to say I was surprisingly disappointed. Maybe my expectations were too high but my slice was not the apple pie I had been dreaming of. But surprise surprise my husband's pie was scrumbdiddlyumpcious. I dislike each berry that was in his but all together it was magic. With bellies full we headed out of Julian and to our next hotel, Estancia La Jolla.
We checked in around 6 or 7pm and went to our room. Which was a far walk from the front desk. When we arrived in our room I was slightly disappointed. It was very small and dark, mind you my husband had been talking the hotel up quiet a bit so maybe that added to the underwhelmed feeling that was over taking me but it was just a blah room. I went to open the window to let in some light and what is there but 2 feet and then a wall. Dirt on the ground, weeds growing unkempt, hands down the worst view offered by any hotel in my experience. I mean honestly I would rather see a parking lot than a wall. But maybe that is just me. The rest of our stay was just as disappointing so I won't bore you with the details. I will just end with saying I wouldn't go back and I am so thankful it was a free night.
Destinations: San Diego, Ca
Points of Interest:
http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/sanbo-courtyard-san-diego-rancho-bernardo/
http://urgegastropub.com/locations/
Destination: Julian, Ca
Points of Interest:
http://www.momspiesjulian.com/
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