I’ve been rather spoiled with travel opportunities this year including my recent trip to Canada, but when the madness that was the month of July hit, I was left feeling so drained it felt like I hadn’t been on vacation in ages. The days leading up to the San Diego trip were crazier than ever. I did 6 photo shoots the week of the trip, got a severe case of dehydration that left me sick in bed for the better part of a whole night, and drove out to The Gorge and back for two-thirds of the Watershed Country Music Festival. Needless to say, this trip to San Diego was much anticipated.
It had been nearly 15 years from my memory since I’d last visited San Diego, and my main memories of it were visiting Sea World, San Diego Wild Animal Park, and the San Diego Zoo. I had next to no memories of Balboa Park, the beaches, downtown, or anything else. Thus, this latest 10 day trip to San Diego felt in many ways like it was my first trip there ever.
The first few days were spent staying with my immediate family in a vacation house just a block away from Mission Beach, and steps away from Belmont Park. It was a glorious location that was great for a quick dip in the ocean, and centrally located to attractions such as Sea World and the Zoo, both of which were visited. We also met up with members of the Murakami clan as part of our first family reunion since 1990.
In the days following the reunion, most of my visiting family left he area. Despite my temptation to fly to San Francisco for Outside Lands, I decided to spend another week in San Diego to visit friends and continue my late-summer vacation. It was a leisurely week that included some tourist activities including visits to the Cabrillo National Monument and Tide Pools, La Jolla cove and beach, La Jolla Open Aire Farmers Market, and lots of food stops at places including World Famous, Smashburger, an antelope burger at Crazee Burger, and perhaps my new favorite discovery: carne asada fries.
Check out some select images from the trip below, with the full photo set available here.
