SAN DIEGO: Going Home Edition

Amongst the Peak of Coronavirus, I already had a planned trip to San Diego to celebrate my Aunt’s 60th Birthday mid March. It was a great time exploring my home city and reconnecting with family that I haven’t seen in over 15 years. Here’s a few highlights of my trip to the sunny state.

With only being therefor a few days the only thing I could really invest in was FOOD. So let’s get to it. Cue any music that mentions California

Breakfast Republic: San Diego

A highly recommended brunch spot that did not disappoint. Offerings on the menu range from Breakfast Jambalaya to Crab and Crawfish Benedict to Oreo Cookie Pancakes. I decided to go with Chilaquiles (pictured above) with a seasonal Kiwi Mimosa. The food was fresh and came out hot and QUICK. There was maybe a 7-10 minute wait for our table to receive all our food.

I’ve never had chilaquiles before and this was a great introduction to this delicious meal. I honestly could have ordered the whole menu and not be disappointed. Breakfast Republic was a 10/10 (this score is based on food, atmosphere and staff - not the hour plus wait time)

*Please note the popularity of this restaurant ensues larger than life wait times - do not come starving. They take no reservations so either go early or be willing to wait an hour or so! It’s right in the middle of downtown so there are plenty of shops to explore until the feast begins.

Wine Country: Temecula

Imagine my surprise when I realized there was more than just the Northern Wine Country where Napa resides. In SoCal, the region of Temecula has a dozen plus wineries.We stopped at Monte De Oro which had the most beautiful views and even better wine. They offer 6 one ounce wine tastings for $18 or 6 one ounce wine tastings PLUS 3 premium wines for $23. With only a $5 difference I went with the 9 total because… when in wine country, am I right? They offer a plethora of white, red, sparkling wine and Rosé. The staff is friendly and informative and the actually winery itself is very spacious with plenty of photo opportunities as you can see from above.

Donut Bar: Downtown San Diego

If there’s one thing I always make a B-line for on a trip, it’s local donuts. Luckily I found The Donut Bar which was a 5 minute walk from my hotel (dangerous for me). We went twice in the span of three days. Known for its award-winning donuts, this bakery has aesthetically pleasing ready for an IG shoot flavors AND they’re quite tasty. That combo is hard to achieve.

Some donuts are as little as $2 and some, such as the unicorn pictured above, is $5. There is no half dozen or dozen bundle so you just ask for what you see. My favorite was the matcha. YES they have Matcha Donuts, don’t knock it until you try it! Crowd favorites are a hot Grilled Cheese Donut, French Toast Donut and Butterbeer Donut, make sure you’re wearing loose pants!

Any Taco Shop!

Like the rest of the world, we all love Tacos, now imagine knowing there’a taco shop within a 3 mile radius at any given time no matter where you are in the city. YA’LL. It. Was. Magical. There’s only so much to say about this, I just wanted you guys to know how blessed I was. Pictured above (L to R) are carne asada fries (I don’t eat red meat but tell me that picture doesn’t look good!) A Shrimp Taco in the middle and Rolled Tacos with meat and cheese on the inside. These are standard items at any taco shop. Ugh praise be.

Plenty of Aesthetics Around The City!

From walking downtown to going to the ever popular in-n-out. There were so many photo opportunities if getting a good selfie is on your list. Downtown is filled with beautiful artwork on the walls and plenty of shops have photo ready backgrounds because they KNOW you want a picture! The middle photo about shoes was taken in a vintage sneaker shop believe it or not! Wherever you go the culture is incredibly inviting and the city seems easy (it could be because we were in the beginnings of Corona making her debut) but i’d like to think thats the warmness of San Diego.

I hope very soon you’d get a chance to experience this beautiful place and add even more to this list, but until then… Stay safe, healthy and PLEASE STAY HOME. I’m here if you need me and please wash your hands for 20 seconds. Until next time - Teundras