I couldn’t come all the way to California and not venture more than a mile outside of downtown San Diego, so Ben and I stayed an extra day to explore the golden coast!
Sunday morning we got up bright and early, hopped in our rental car and headed straight for Cardiff by the Sea – my favorite, sleepy beach town about 30 minutes north of San Diego.
Home to the most hoppin’ breakfast place around – Pipes!
The line to eat Pipes’ fast, filling, phenomenal breakfast yesterday morning was just as long as it had been when Ben and I first visited nearly 4 years ago.
The wait is soooo worth it though.
We ordered, then posted up at the corner breakfast counter, which overlooked waving palm trees lining the street outside.
THEN THIS HAPPENED!
Vegetable Scramble with eggs, tomatoes, onions and chopped tortillas served over a bed of Pipes’ signature breakfast potatoes, positively smothered in cheddar cheese!
No seriously – suffocated – in cheddar cheese!
It was the best breakfast I have ever had. There. I said it.
Can we talk about the genius that is putting sliced flour tortillas in an egg scramble? The thick, warm and chewy strips were all around life-changing. Can’t wait to recreate this a home!
Ben ordered a Breakfast Burrito that was bigger than his torso.
And it was basically the best thing he’s ever had as well.
After breakfast, we rolled ourselves to the beach located less than 100 yards away.
It has been my experience that southern California mornings tend to start out cool and hazy.
It’s the perfect time for surfers to come out and play.
It’s also the time when this Midwestern girl questions her current living situation.
Seriously, people live like this. Everyday. It’s wild!
And so did we, if only for the day.
After a nice long walk in the silky smooth sand, we headed up one of the towering staircases dotting the coast, connecting beach to town.
It was just then that the morning haze started to burn off and the water turned a beautiful shade of sparkling blue.
Bliss.
We strolled back through quaint Cardiff (where I would absolutely insist on living if we ever moved to southern Cali) before heading back to the car to continue our sight-seeing adventures.
Oh, right. Check out our whip.
Ben calls from the rental place – “Well the good news is they gave us a Camero. The bad news is it’s canary yellow.” Work it!
And so we drove our bright-yellow, rented Camero down the coast, soaking up the views from our windows like they’d be gone tomorrow.
‘Cause they would be!
Next stop on our tour de San Diego County – La Jolla!
La Jolla is a gorgeous coastal town also north of San Diego.
It’s home to incredible beach-side homes, restaurants (George’s) and shops.
And seals!
Those suckers are fun to look at, but shoooo do they stink!
Our walk along the cliffs that tower above the ocean in La Jolla brought us to some tide pools to explore.
Lots of crab and fish here!
After a nice hike around the area we were going to try and make it to Coronado Island, but traffic was getting horrific, and we’d explored most of the island on our last trip to SD, so we did the logical thing – headed back our hotel for drinks on the balcony!
Are you sensing a recurring theme here?
I was still stuffed from breakfast, but these Stacy’s Cinnamon Sugar Pita Chips I picked up from the expo hall during the conference looked mighty fine to my chirping sweet tooth. Umm, they taste like Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Awesome!
Cold beers were tasty as well.
Our stomachs started to rumble a few beers later, so we got showered up then headed to the hotel’s pool bar for a happy hour cocktail before heading to dinner.
A Classic Margarita on the rocks was refreshing to the max.
Which we enjoyed with some new friends we made – Chris & Erin from Portland – whee!
It was um, dark, by the time we tore ourselves away from C&E, but we knew right where we were headed for dinner. Neighborhood.
Neighborhood’s décor and menu is fun and funky.
Pasilla Steak Frites – charred pasilla pepper, gaujillo crema feta, cotja & gorgonzola cheese, sweet potato fries, cilantro and tomatillo salsa – practically leapt off the page, calling to me.
May I introduce you to sweet potato fries smothered in multi kinds of cheese, topped with steak and served in a meatloaf pan?!?!?!!
I know I keep saying this, but O.M.G. I cannot even go into detail about how mothwatering this was.
It was as completely bananas as it sounds AND looks, and was easily my favorite meal of the entire trip.
And so our sunny California getaway ended in a blaze of cheesy, meaty, potato glory. Sounds about right!
Thank you all for following my posts from my trip to the BlogHer Conference and shenanigans in San Diego! I am so grateful to the folks at American Express for sending me, and actually had a lot of fun tracking my trip budget using their pre-paid card.
BlogHer was everything I thought it would be AND more. The sessions I attended were informative and inspiring. I feel refreshed and more excited than ever to keep plugging away on IGE. I would totally recommend this conference to anyone that is considering attending in the future.
And with that – it’s back to real life! As much fun as I had, I’m ready to get back into the swing of things. Ok, you know what? I’m not. That was really fun and I kind of wish I could do it all over again!
Ah well, there’s always next year.
Regular programming to commence tomorrow! Have a great night!
Elyse 08.09.2011
I loved your posts from SD! My family live in SoCal and I haven’t been to visit in close to a year and a half! Your pictures made me realize it’s been FAR too long! :-D By the way, I am TOTALLY trying Pipe’s for breakfast! Glad you had fun!
Lindsey (One Sweet World) 08.09.2011
Y’all are too stinkin’ cute. I’ve loved your SD recaps, especially all of the gorgeous photos in this post. What a beautiful day! I love SD – our conference was there in ’10 and were at the Marriott, too. The views are perfect!
Emily 08.09.2011
Ha! Ben is tooooooooo funny laying on your sweet ride! You make me want to go to San Diego like, right NOW
Hope 08.09.2011
Looks like such a great trip! :) All of that food looks amazing!
Megan @ Sweet B's Homemade 08.08.2011
Looks like you guys had a great time! Love your pictures!
Melissa 08.08.2011
Aww… You are too cute when u say people live like this everyday. (hugs) Its true… Im writing this from Hawaii : ) I totally feel the same way about snow. I recently saw snow for the first time in my life (yes, in my whole 27 years!) and it was amazing! I thought that was wild! I was running around like a 5 year old kid! Whee! Lol ; )
debbie 08.08.2011
oh gosh, I am so jealous! Everything looks so beautiful! I’ve never been to San Diego but I want to go (and go to its surrounding areas) so badly! I hear it’s absolutely incredible.
p.s. I would’ve rocked that car! Hah!
Carrie 08.08.2011
You are the cutest, I love reading your blog because you seem so genuinely happy! And, of course, your recipes are amazing.
I’m a former-Iowan currently in California and let me tell you CA is beautiful but my heart is in IA :)
Katelyn @ Chef Katelyn 08.08.2011
AHHHH Cali just SCREAMS “chill”!!! I love itttt I need to visit! Also that melty stretchy cheese is making my mouth water. Juuuust so you know.
Dawn Marie 08.08.2011
yes, girlfriend some of us are lucky enough to live here EVERY SINGLE DAY and LOOOVVVEEEE to rub it in! Ha! ;-)
Mothwatering? A new pass time? ;-)
You look like you really soaked it up baby girl!
Dani 08.08.2011
Thanks for sharing your trip. I love San Diego too! I like the picture with the names on the rock. You can see the reflection of a bird flying by. Cool.
Kristen 08.08.2011
Can’t wait for that egg recipe!
Jackie Smith 08.08.2011
Hot tip: Trader Joe’s repackages those Stacy’s chips under their own brand! They are delicious!
J3nn (Jenn's Menu and Lifestyle Blog) 08.08.2011
You had a texbook-perfect vacay in SoCal! Way to live it up, girl! All of the food looks amazing. No, really–AMAZING! I live in (upstate) NY and find myself questioning why I am not living in Cali, I mean, our states are so alike except Cali has paradise-like weather and we, umm… don’t. But I think it’s better to just visit and enjoy it like you did. I know I’d probably miss home after awhile. Or not. LOL :)
Michelle 08.08.2011
I concur on the Stacy’s chips. I helped my mom devour the bag. They’re sooo good!
Chloe (In Fine Feather) 08.08.2011
1. Breakfast is my all time favorite meal – and that one looks like it might be right up there with my favorite dishes.
2. Cardiff is super cute. A friend of mine from college lived down there and I LOVED it when I went to visit. So jealous!
3. Sweet potato fries in a meatloaf pan? This I MUST recreate and then eat entirely by myself. Amazing.
Nicole 08.08.2011
Pipes! Oh….the memories of stuffing myself with delicious food! The courtesy van driver took us further than he should, just so my friend and I could eat there. It rocked.
Thanks for sharing about your trip. I’ve been to the San Diego & La Jolla areas twice now, and hope to add to that number. :)
Blog is the New Black 08.08.2011
What a fun, whirlwind weekend for you! I LOVE SD!!! And Coronado, and La Jolla… and just Cali in general!
anna 08.08.2011
Looks like a blast! And yes, please get to recreating that breakfast at home so we can have the recipe :)
Libby Bouma 08.08.2011
Thank you so much for sharing your weekend at BlogHer with us! I enjoyed reading about your experience and all of the information you learned! It’s never fun coming back home from such a fun time away, but I can happily tell you that you won’t be coming back to stifling heat.. it has cooled down a little back home! Safe travels.