San Diego: A Full Trip Itinerary

It is almost noon back home by the time you taxi in, so steer straight to the In-N-Out on Sports Arena Blvd. There is a 7-Eleven in the same parking lot for sunscreen, snacks, and any toiletries TSA wouldn't allow.

I walked the Botanical Building first, then the Japanese Friendship Garden across the way. The rose garden over the bridge is worth the extra ten minutes. You could spend the entire day inside Balboa -- the museums are right here -- but a few hours is plenty for a first pass.

Check in, drop bags, short nap. While you are resting, make a dinner reservation in Little Italy if you have not already.

If you arrive early, walk the Piazza della Famiglia and the waterfront before dinner. The Maritime Museum sits right on the water and is photogenic even from the outside.

Reserve in advance. Expensive but worth it.

20 minutes over the Coronado Bridge -- free, and a view by itself. Aim for Coronado Beach by the Hotel del. The beach faces due west, which is exactly what you want at sunset. Stop in at Hotel del for gelato on the way down.

The sand is flecked with mica and literally sparkles in the low light. The Hotel del does the rest of the work for the camera. Sunset around 7:55. A relaxed 15-minute drive back to the hotel and the first day is done.

Beat the heat and the crowds. Do the Razor Point to Beach Trail loop -- sandstone badlands, the rare Torrey pines (this and one island off Santa Barbara are the only places they grow in the world), and the ocean the entire way down. Hit the visitor center on the way back, then drive over to the Guy Fleming trail at the top for a short loop on the cliffs.

About 12 minutes south. Sea lions and seals on the rocks at the Children's Pool, the cliff path north toward the Cove, tide pools when the tide cooperates.

Rooftop bar and grill with a wraparound ocean view. The food is fine, the view is the whole point.

Keep wandering. If you have not seen the sea lions at the Cove (separate from the seals at the Children's Pool), do that now. Grab a coffee. Restock anything you need.

Drive over to the north end of La Jolla Shores. Check out the beach, try the water (it is cold), and be at the kayak shop at least 30 minutes early. The tour paddles up the coast to the Seven Caves -- you can go inside one of them when the weather is nice, but we didn't. We saw some Garibaldi fish, and apparently you can see leopard sharks.

Head over to Mission Beach. Sliders at Rosemarie's, then an ice cream sandwich at The Baked Bear. Walk the pier afterward. Lots of surfers out that are fun to watch.

Pack water and snacks. There is no food between Alpine and Julian and you do not want to be hangry the top of a mountain. Grab coffee and breakfast on the way out of town. On the road by 7:15 to be hiking before it gets warm.

Quick stop on the ridge. Easy loop, sweeping views over the Anza-Borrego desert and out toward the Salton Sea on a clear day. Stretch the legs, work the camera, ten minutes and back in the car.

Continue up Sunrise Highway to the Garnet Peak trailhead. Roughly 2 miles round trip but it is steep and rocky near the top -- the last quarter mile is a scramble. The summit view drops away two thousand feet straight into the desert. The hardest hour of the trip and the best view of it.

Roll north where Sunrise meets Highway 79. A calm, pine-rimmed mountain lake with mirror reflections and an easy shoreline stroll. Good place to sit on a bench for ten minutes and let the leg burn fade.

BBQ and pizza in Julian. It was just okay.

The reward. Slice of apple pie at Julian Pie Company on Main Street -- get an apple-cider maple donut to go. Wander the old apple town. There is a great used bookstore across the street that ate forty-five minutes I did not plan on.

~1 hour 15 minutes down Highway 79 to Interstate 8. Freshen up at the hotel. Take a nap, you earned it twice.

Double back to La Jolla for Cali-Mex tacos at Puesto. After dinner, stroll the shops and the shore. You are here at sunset this time.

Bags in the trunk. Everything today funnels back toward the airport.

Ocean Beach for breakfast at OB Beans Coffee Roasters. Pour-over to drink in the sand.

Yes the name says sunset. The morning light is just as good and the crowd is zero. Walk the bluff -- the rock formations are a few minutes south of where you park.

Opens 9 sharp. The NPS site on the tip of the Point Loma peninsula. Walk the Bayside Trail, see the old lighthouse, drop down to the tide pools on the ocean side, and look back at the skyline-over-harbor view -- the best one in the city.

Back across to Coronado for some shopping along Orange Ave and a quick lunch. The bookstore on Orange is good for trip-end browsing.

Drive over to the Ferry Landing for an end-of-trip view of the skyline across the bay. Boat-watch for fifteen minutes.

Take the scenic route: south down the Silver Strand highway almost to the border, then loop back up. Fill the rental in Chula Vista where the gas is significantly cheaper than near the airport.

That is the trip. Coast and summit. Time to go home and rest.