San Diego is a great spot for a getaway from the San Francisco Bay Area. Beautiful weather year round, beaches, wine tasting, good food… a weekend in San Diego checks all the boxes on my list!  Whether you’re planning your first trip or you’re looking for ideas for your next visit, read on!

Where to Stay

My Favorite Hotel Option

The Gaslamp Quarter is a lively and popular San Diego neighborhood with shopping, restaurants and nightlife, all within walking distance.  Hotel Solamar, a stylish and modern hotel, is a great option in Gaslamp.  I love a good boutique hotel; something about the cucumber water in the lobby always makes me feel fancy.  If you don’t believe me about their sense of style- check out the hotel robes!?

If You’re Looking for a Rental House

On our last girls getaway to San Diego, we booked a three bedroom house through Pacific Coast Vacation Properties .  We planned to go on a winery tour, spend an afternoon in Coronado and have a spa day.  Crown Point, a suburb of Pacific Beach was the perfect home base for our plans.

The house was newly remodeled, with a beautiful backyard; walking distance from the beach and shopping areas.    With a jacuzzi, grill and plenty of wine- we had all the ingredients for a perfect girls weekend!

Things to Do on a Weekend in San Diego

Look For a Few Good Men… or Pirates

The San Diego Maritime Museum is one of the largest collections of sea vessels in the country, which is probably why it caught my eye as I passed the harbor.  For $16, you can buy tickets to tour all the vessels.  You can purchase online in advance but since we went on a whim, we just walked up and bought tickets when we arrived.

It was cool to tour all the old ships and see how sailors lived.  The day we were there, there were Navy men in uniform on a few of the vessels taking pictures with tourists.  We decided to play sailor and have a photo shoot of our own.

On some of the vessels, you can go into the quarters and see where the crew lived and worked.  We look official, don’t we??

Tight quarters on the submarines would be an understatement.  If you get claustrophobic, going down into the vessels may not be your thing.  There are some tight squeezes, for sure!  Seeing their living quarters made me wonder if sailors were short.  I’m only 5’3 and I barely fit in a bunk.

Visit The Other Wine Country

Being from Northern California with both Napa and Sonoma less than a two-hour drive away,  I’ve done my fair share of wine tasting.   However, I was unaware that there is also wine country in the San Diego area.  A few years ago, TK and I came across a Chauffeured Wine Country Tour.   The tour picks you up from your hotel or rental home and visits three wineries.   Wine tasting, snacks and dinner are all included in the tour.   Having a designated driver so we could focus on important things- like tasting copious amounts of wine was an added bonus!  I’ve been on the tour twice.  The tour group size is relatively small, 10-12 people.  The first time there were only four of us on the tour.  On our most recent trip there were about 12 people.  The tour guide picked us up from our rental house in a Sprinter van (not a bus), which was a big plus for me.  Larger group tours make me feel like a kindergartener on a field trip… or a cow in a herd.  Following the dude with the yellow flag?  Not my style.

Wine, Cheese and Chocolate = Heaven

The first stop on the tour was Bernardo Winery, an idyllic spot with a country chic vibe- the perfect setting to kick off our day of wine tasting!  The day of our visit was an unseasonably warm December day (even for sunny San Diego), summer-like really.

We enjoyed our wine, paired with cheeses, crackers and fruit- all selected and laid out for us by our tour guide.  It was nice to start the tour with light snacks.  Rule number one of wine tasting, snack as you go… or you’ll pay for it later.

Before we left Bernardo, there was time to wander and check out the gallery and shops.   We had the option to walk over and get chocolate samples from the Sweet Shoppe to pair with each of our wine selections.  The woman at the counter would choose your chocolate sample based on the wine you selected- yum.  I also found a really cute overnight bag at The Bag Cellar.  Shopping for chocolate and hand bags can be really dangerous after wine… but hell, why not?  We were on vacay!

Sunshine and Syrah

On our tour a few years ago, the second stop was Altipiano Vineyard in Escondido.  We sat on an outdoor patio and enjoyed about six red wines.  We had a chance to chat with one of the owners, Peter.  His wife, Denise, is the winemaker.  She also came out briefly to meet us.  Altipiano had a Petit Syrah that I really liked, which was impressive since I wasn’t really into red wine yet.  I have since evolved, mostly since I fell in love with red wine in Italy.  It would definitely be worth another trip to Altipiano now that I can truly appreciate all they have to offer!

They switched things up a bit on our most recent tour, with a stop at Orfila Vineyards and Winery, also in Escondido.  I absolutely loved Orfila! Good wine and live music in the outdoor seating area, overlooking sweeping views of the vineyard.  Our tasting included six wines at Orfila; we received punch cards so we could take our wine out to the patio or for a walk in the vineyard.

Needless to say, our entire group was feeling pretty good by that sixth taste.  The highlight at Orfila, in addition to the scenery and great wine was when the live guitarist played Al Green and TK treated the musician and the entire outdoor seating area to a serenade and dance in the middle of the courtyard, wine in hand.   A classic moment that Janá and I were too slow to capture on video cause, wine.  So you’ll just have to trust me when I say it was awesome.  Seriously, she got applause.

Falling In Love with Cordiano

Cordiano Winery has a view that is, in a word: breathtaking.  An outdoor restaurant above a sweeping panoramic of the vineyards below. Sipping wine and eating wood-fired pizzas fresh from the brick oven?  Mmmhmm, Cordiano had me at hello.

I have to be honest- in my opinion, the pizza at Cordiano is better than the wine.  Still, wood fired pizzas paired with the spectacular panoramic view, Cordiano was still a fantastic final stop on our journey.  We had a selection of five wines to enjoy with our pizzas.

The tour is relatively long, so a hearty meal was most welcome at this point- and much needed to balance the wine!  Our group of twelve was quite… spirited by the third stop.  Maybe jovial is a better word… or how bout just good ole drunk.  Hot, fresh pizzas from the wood fired oven came right on time.  A great December day in the Cali sunshine; gotta love Winter in San Diego!

Spend an Afternoon on Coronado Island

We spent an afternoon on Coronado Island during our December getaway.  It was a gorgeous sunny day, mid-seventies- perfect for a walk along the beach.

After our walk, we decided to have a late lunch in the area.  We came across Brigantine Seafood & Oyster Bar.  I was sold as soon as I saw they had a happy hour cocktail menu on Saturdays, with drinks for $5.  Considering that TK and I had just walked away from a beachfront restaurant across the street as soon as we saw they wanted $60 for a pitcher of margaritas (stop playin!?!), Brigantine and that $5 happy hour was alright with me.

The food and service were also great; including the birthday dessert they brought out for TK.

Have a Spa Day

The girls and I made reservations at Spa Brezza, at the Hilton San Diego Resort & Spa for an afternoon of massages and drinks by the pool.  You are granted a day pass for the resort’s pool area and amenities with treatments at Spa Brezza.  Before we arrived in San Diego, I found a deal on Groupon for 50% off massages or facials and the spa was able to accommodate our group of four the weekend we’d be in town.  After treatments and fluffy robes, we continued our zen moment lounging by the pool with cocktails.

Brown Lady Tips

If you plan to have a spa day, check Groupon and Living Social before your trip to see if there are any local deals you can take advantage of.  Be sure to call the spa before you purchase to make sure they can take your reservation on the dates you’ll be in town!

If you are visiting San Diego in the Fall, try to take the wine tour before the daylight savings time change.  We went once in early November, which meant it was still light out at the end of our tour and we got to enjoy the view at Cordiano with our dinner.  When we went in December, while the weather was still nice all afternoon, the sun went down shortly after we arrived at Cordiano.  It got a little chilly up on the hill and it was too dark to see the spectacular view.

I think my next trip to San Diego will be all about the beaches- and possibly a food crawl in Gaslamp.  Stay tuned!