San Diego March Birthday Trip

San Diego March 2020

A fun memorial trip with our San Diego Grand-kids! And we made the trip just in time, right before the COVID-19 Virus Shut Down in California.

We stayed at the Quality Inn Suites by Sea World, a Choice Hotel that we are a member of through the Bluegreen Resort Club. We’ve stayed at this hotel several times throughout the past 5 years. This is our second time staying in the room with bunk beds. We had our Sand Diego grandchildren stay for a night, and they loved the bunk beds last year.

This hotel is clean, and the staff are very friendly, however the rooms and hotel are showing considerable wear. I am disappointed, and unfortunately it gets worse every time we stay. I’m not saying that we won’t come back to this hotel, but more than likely it will not be our choice.

Last time we came we were surprised by the additional parking fee. This time I was refused the little treat we usually get as a loyal customer. In themselves, these are not a big deal. It’s the condition of the hotel rooms and hotel in general that is the most disturbing. The little things make a person feel special and feel like they are respected. The condition of the rooms and hotel makes the guests feel comfortable, safe, clean… or, not.

The room during this stay was so small. If one person was sitting at the desk, or had the ‘closet’ door open, nobody could get to the other side of the room without climbing over the bed. The ‘closet’ was a small amour. To close the closet door, the clothes had to be pushed at an angle. And unless you enjoy climbing over the bed every time you want to go to the bathroom or use the refrigerator, you will want the closet doors closed.

We called maintenance for the fan between the two sleeping areas, twice. The bathtub had a constant stream of water that could not be turned off. The bathroom door lock was broken. Maintenance did come to fix the fan after the second request; however, it was unfix-able. The staff was polite and understanding.  They were not able to relocate us because the hotel was full, but they did give us half off our parking fee. The breakfast, though crowded, was the typical breakfast offered, nothing special or outstanding.

We drove to San Diego, about a 6-hour trip, and arrived late Friday night. We called in on our way giving the Hotel a heads up that we needed a late check in. Which I’m glad we did; we might’ve lost our reservation if we failed to follow-up on this step.

The next day, Saturday, we picked up our grand-kids and drove to the Star of India Wharf. We walked along the wharf, admiring the ships. We then went on to our birthday destination, John’s Incredible Pizza. We pre-purchased one card from Groupon that included the buffet and drink, $10 worth of games, and unlimited rides for 2 hours. We used the buffet for Grandpa and gave the card for the rides and games to the birthday boy. I purchased a senior buffet and was able to use a March children’s buffet special of $1 per each child. We purchased the extra drink ticket for the kids, and I had a game card from the last visit, refilling for the other two to use. The total cost for the 5 of us was $70. We had the place pretty much to ourselves; it was the beginning of the COVID-19 era. (We’re all practicing social distancing and in our home, currently as I write this blog.)  The kids enjoyed pizza, spaghetti, slushies and Ice-cream, and then went off to play on the rides and with the games. We then went back to the Star of India Wharf to walk around and possibly visit some museums. There were ships and submarines to board, but at a cost. One tour would’ve cost us $80. That was with senior and children’s discounts. There is the Maritime Museum and USS Midway Museum. We opted out at this time; it was getting late and everyone was tired. Another adventure for another time. We’ll need to do our research. They do have some group options that might be worth looking into.

We went back to the hotel where the birthday boy opened up His gifts and they had their sleep over on the bunk beds.

The next day we made our way to Coronado island. We rented a two bench surrey at Hollands Bikes & Beyond and rode along Marriott’s Landing from  the Coronado Ferry Landing to just under the Coronado Bridge and back. Afterward we had a picnic lunch at Tideland’s Park that we found on our bike-ride. The grand-kids played with their gifts we gave them, played on the playground, and rode their hover boards that we had given them for Christmas. I wanted to try the hover-board, but knew it would not end well, so I refrained.

We drove to the Hotel Coronado, parked, and walked to the beach, taking pictures along the way. One of the Hotel’s staff was walking by, stopped and took a group picture of all of us. It was a cool day, so we didn’t get in the water, which didn’t make grandma and grandpa too popular in the moment. On our way back to the car, we stopped off at the neighborhood Starbucks to make a latte stop! We redeemed our grandparent status. (And for those of you gasping right now, we ordered decaf with 1/2 the syrup to cut the sweetness.) We then took the three exhausted sweeties home. Earlier in the day, they wanted us to play at the neighborhood park with them before they went in for the night, but when we dropped them off, they wanted to get ready for bed. So, hugs and kisses, and an end to a wonderful, quick, exhausting, memory making weekend.

We had a great time, but don’t be fooled, parenting doesn’t go out the window with the grand-kids. Since we only see these grandchildren a few times a year, and our parenting skills are a bit different than their parents, it was a little bit of an adjustment for all of us. And, it doesn’t help that the oldest is a tween. But they caught on to our expectations quickly.

Being grandparents is an extension of being a parent, with some fringe benefits.

The next day we took our time traveling home. We stopped off at a local café, Bird Rock Coffee Roasters, and had some latte’s and avocado toast. We then stopped off at Torrey Pines Beach. We walked along the cliffs, enjoying the beauty and peacefulness. We enjoyed playing with our phone cameras, trying to capture the moments.

My next blog was going to be about our Easter Trip to Seattle Washington, however with the COVID-19 virus shutting the world down, this blog will have to wait. Also, the Sugar Pine railway was to open in April, but again, this will need to wait until the all clear flag has been waved.

ChooChoo!

#emptynestingrocks #grandkidsarethebest #parentingneverends