Go Pro Silver + | Windansea Beach – La Jolla, San diego, CA
For Valentine’s weekend, Daniel surprised me with a trip to La Jolla. All he told me was that we were going on a trip to San Diego and to be ready to go Sunday morning, as I work on Saturdays.
La Jolla is a wealthy seaside community in San Diego, and as you can imagine it is absolutely beautiful. San Diego is one of my favorite places to be, with the breathtaking scenery, relaxed environment and kind residents.
We only spent two days and one night there, so we didn’t get to see much, but I wanted to highlight what we did and offer up some ideas on what we wish we would have had time to do.
Accommodations
This was our first experience with Airbnb and we were incredibly lucky to find such a cute place, walking distance to Windansea Beach and downtown La Jolla. As you can see from the link, the house was cozy and affordable and the owners, Nicole and Paul were incredibly nice! The Airbnb experience was much more relaxed than that of a hotel with flexible arrival and departure times and use of beach equipment, a garage and beach cruisers. I felt very comfortable in a place that felt like our own, even just for the night. Overall, I would recommend Airbnb as an affordable and comfortable alternative to a hotel.
Experience
We were a minute walk from Windansea Beach. This beach is a surfer’s hotspot and is small in terms of beach space before the ocean tide and has large rocks around it with very small grains of sand. The beach was fairly empty on the Monday President’s Day morning. Many surfers were around, painters were painting the beautiful view as pictured above and families were relaxing.
Things I Wish We Could Have Seen
If we had more time, there are plenty of other things I would have liked to experience in La Jolla. Here are some places I would recommend that you check out and I will definitely be checking them out next time I’m in La Jolla! First, Kellogg Park! We passed this beautiful park on our way out of San Diego and it looked so cute. Kellogg Park is in very close proximity to the beach and works well for families! There are picnic areas and some grassy greens along with a kids play area, so ideally parents and kids alike can enjoy. It looks like a much busier beach than the Windansea that we went too and would be fun to stroll through. Next up is Torrey Pines Gliderport! The Torrey Pines Cliffs are a perfect viewing place for gliders, or more perfect if you want to paraglide yourself. The cliffs have a magnificent view of the ocean below and with the right flat area and wind the conditions are perfect for paragliding. The La Jolla Open Aire Market, located at La Jolla Elementary school is a farmer’s market open every Sunday from 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM. You can browse a variety of foods and flowers and if you decide to purchase anything, some proceeds go to the elementary school. There are also a few family activities available to participate in. Lastly, the La Jolla Caves! There are seven sea caves between La Jolla Shores and La Jolla Cove and most are accessed by kayak! Beautiful and highly recommended.
Weather
Of course the weather was perfect! It is San Diego. Most of the time the weather was about 70ºF with little to no wind. It remained sunny and clear majority of our stay with the exception of some fog rolling in for a bit during the evening.
Food
Being so close to the beach, parking is limited, so walking is the best way of travel. We found a small restaurant called Cafe Vahik and it was so wonderful that we went for lunch and breakfast! The staff were incredibly friendly and the food was so fresh and delicious. I would highly recommend the Chickanini with bacon! We ended up here just Yelp-ing for close by food restaurants and this place was a good find. They had free wifi and there were many students studying and having coffee and sandwiches.
For our Valentine’s Day dinner we took a Lyft ride to Eddie V’s and wow
what an incredible experience and a classy place. The restaurant was a short 8 minute ride from our beach cottage and was located right on the 
ocean. We arrived about half an hour before our reservation. We checked in and went upstairs to the lounge area. We were told if we found a table and wanted to eat there we could and they would move our reservation, but we decided to just enjoy the bar and Live Jazz Band. It was a bit noisy upstairs to enjoy an intimate dinner, but to listen to the music and enjoy the environment and drinks, it was perfect. Our reservation was at 7:15 so we were comfortably able to get drinks and pay during their happy hour and enjoy the view of the cliffside. By the time of our reservation we were seated and given free glasses of champagne to celebrate our late Valentine’s day dinner. Our friendly waiter was busy but attentive. He told me the wrong special for the evening which I ordered, but I was happier with what I received and they compt us dessert.
Before leaving San Diego we stopped for smoothies at Fruittitude. This place was adorable! It was so clean and sleek and the service was quick and friendly. This place also had free wifi and dogs were welcome on the patio. They strive to help customers eat healthy while providing tasty choices. I would recommend checking it out!
Transportation
We did not want to drive for a number of reasons: unfamiliar with the area, crowded, small garage, no parking and we would probably be drinking. For dinner we ordered Lyft. This was our first Lyft experience and I very much enjoyed it. Upon sign up, we received 10 free rides in the San Diego area for free (under $20), so all our rides were free. We liked all the information the app had to offer on the driver and each driver we had was kind and helpful when we told them we were new to Lyft. The driver’s can no longer drive for Lyft if their rating drops below a 4.6 and you immediately rate your driver after exiting the vehicle. A good tip we got from one driver was to make sure that your driver confirms the drop off so you will not continue to be charged. Note: you cannot tip with Lyft credits, so you must have a credit card to do so.
Overall, I would highly recommend vacationing in La Jolla, whether it be a small weekend getaway like ours or a more lengthy vacation, there is plenty to do and see!
sincerelysamanthab.com 