Holiday to Pacific West Coast in Jun 2012: Day 5 – Palm Springs to San Diego

By Nige on Fri 08 Jun 2012 at 22:00
Type: Post
Story: Holiday to Pacific West Coast in Jun 2012
Tags: Gaslamp Quarter | Hilton | Liberty Station | Mustang | Palm Desert | Palm Springs | San Diego

Woke early this morning – Vick wanted to watch the tennis semis [I thought we were supposed to be on hols].

May be heading back into Palm Springs to buy some T shirts (after a hearty breakfast), but then it will be down to San Diego for around lunchtime (I would guess).

Decided not to both heading back into Palm Springs – there are a number of Crazy T shirt shops, one in San Diego, so may pop in again there.

The trip down to San Diego started off in magnificant fashion.  The first road we went on Hwy 74 was tremendous – initially a long inclining road out of Palm Desert which I really wanted to stop to take a photo, turning into a windy mountain road climbing up with hair pin bends.  Great driving terrain.

After about 45 mins we started thinking about coffee, so it was great when we came across Temecula, where we endulged in our favourite coffee and a little snackette.  It was also the first time we remembered to start our challenge.  We have a photo which shows evidence of the first part being achieved.

During our drive it was amazing how quickly the temperature dropped from the 90s down to something that we are far more accustomed to.  We arrived in San Diego down in the late 70s.  Although that was after some interesting 6 lane driving along the I15.

We had phoned ahead to the hotel to check we were going to get a nice room – fourth floor with a bay view.  We checked in and were pleased with what we found.  Again this is a hotel we have stayed at before and it gets some great reviews.  The staff are really friendly and there’s a pool which is clean.

We had a quick dip where we came across a wedding party which is obviously staying at the hotel for their happy day this weekend.  The happy couple are staying in the room next to us, so we hope the party doesn’t go on too late!

We ended the evening walking into San Diego from Liberty Station which is just under 5 miles.  We booked at Acqua al 2, which was highly recommended by Annie.  It didn’t let us (or Annie) down. 

We started off with a Strozzapretti each (which we couldn’t finish so we now have a doggie bag with left overs in it for tomorrow) and finished off with a Filet Mignon and another pasta dish, all washed down with a Californian Pinot Noir. 

The only thing that let the whole event down was that they forgot to bring out a side order of potatoes, so that came off the bill at the end.  It was an expensive meal but it met expectations from a quality perspective.

San Diego is a lovely city, all outdoorsy and situatued on a long sweeping harbour so wherever you, are you get views of the Pacific mingled with yachts and smart skyscrapers. We walked a bit around the Gaslamp Quarter last night, which is where all the great shops and restaurants are, everyone is out and there’s quite a party atmosphere. San Diego is the sort of city I could SO easily live in.

My Starbucks sniffing-out skills are really being honed. We’re driving along and I see a green parasol and shout ‘left!’ or ‘right!’ and before you know it I’ve a cappu in my hand. Hope no-one on our route has dark green parasols in their garden, could be quite a shock for them.

Vick struggled to keep awake so it was another relatively early night…

Stats for Day 5: 140 miles.

Plan for tomorrow is to go to Torrey Pines State Reserve.

Follow the whole story here: Holiday to Pacific West Coast in Jun 2012