Spent a super fun week in San Diego with my 79 yo mother and 34 yo autistic son. 5 star trip.
Leaving Seattle:
We had a 10:00 am direct flight on Delta SEA-SAN.
Mom & I packed light - small carryon only. Rocky (my son) did not get the memo. We pulled up to his apartment and he came out with an ENORMOUS PURPLE suitcase. We both busted up laughing and headed to the airport.
Easy to check the bag at the kiosk ($35.) and we went through the left side of check point 3. We did not have to take off our shoes or remove electronics or the 311 bag. Woohoo! This time I was not selected for the random search (double woohoo!) Got to the gate with lots of time to find....delayed. Twice. Gate change.
On the bright side we were on around 11:30. But then taxied and waited and taxied and waited. Hmmm. Took off at 12:40 instead of 10:00. GOOD THING! There was a full ground stop at 1:00 so we dodged a bullet.
Smooth flight to San Diego - 737-800, we were in row 21, seats DEF. Got in and by the time we got to baggage claim, Rocky's ENORMOUS PURPLE suitcase was there and off we go to the rental car shuttle.
Ermagherd! The gates with the razor wire entering the rental car area. Rocky: "Are we going to rent a car or a prison?" Luckily, it was the former and we drove away in our Kia with 44,000 miles.
GPS got us to our hotel in less than 20 minutes. Hooray.
We stayed at the Best Western Yacht Harbor Hotel. I had some thoughts after reading the reviews but my reasoning was this:
1) AirBNB contributes to a housing shortage
2) Free parking at BWYH
3) No "resort fee" (and rightly so)
4) Free breakfast (and it was a good one). So, if you have an autistic family member, you will understand. When Rocky was young, he was told that breakfast was the most important meal of the day. He believes that he MUST BE STUFFED before he starts his day. If there is not a healthy breakfast, he will stuff himself with absolute crap (not literally) junk food. Also my mom is a big breakfast eater too so.....to save myself heartbreak and money, I picked a hotel with a free breakfast and it was golden!Hotel notes: room 509 - loved ALMOST everything about it. Location - check. Housekeeping - spot on. Beds - comfy. Fridge & microwave - yeppers. Wifi- good. Multiple outlets for all our devices - sweetness. Plenty of hot water & good water pressure in the shower - roger that! So what was the brown? The bathroom sink smelled like a sewer every time you washed your hands or brushed your teeth (GAG!) No p-trap??? But did we ask to move? Heck no, cuz everything else was good and I had read some iffy reviews and was afraid to get a different room. The view was awesome and we never closed the drapes - when I got up to pee at 300 am it was so cool to see the lights in the harbor reflecting off the water. Note: It was a little noisy, but we stay in city centers, so it wasn't bad for us.
Also, Ralphs was super close for bottled water, beer, wine, and snacks.
Dinner was across the street at Jimmy's Famous American Tavern. Yummy Cowboy Burger. Mom loved her salad. Being able to walk there and enjoy the sunshine in the outdoor seating - chef's kiss!
Next up, Father's day, without the father (the younger two spent the day with him at home)