Taking a break from LA in our vintage 1958 aloha camper in San Diego

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Just about every Angeleano can agree that taking time away from LA is as important for one’s overall wellbeing as getting steady exercise, eating right and having healthy relationships – with all the traffic, lights and excitement whirling around 24/7, LALAland can get to be pretty exhausting. So, this time, we opted for the chance to stay in an awesome, fully restored, 1958 Hawaiian-themed camper van that we found on AirBnB – total miniature oasis.

Our hosts not only decorated this immaculate little space to the T, but they even printed out a guide with the best things to do in the area and had bikes for us to use! We were stoked. All that AND the Gators were playing in the final-four, but that’s all we’ll say about that…

After oohing and aahing over every tiny detail, we managed to peel ourselves out of our sweet little camper to begin our 24-mile bike ride around the San Diego Bay:

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The Bayshore bikeway is a 2.5 hour loop with no significant hills, running mostly along a bike path and is the best way to get to know the lay out of the city. We started in Chula Vista and rode towards Imperial Beach, a beautiful and sleepy little beach town that has downtown San Diego as its backdrop:

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We continued along The Silver Strand, a 7-mile long stretch with pristine beaches on either side that’s sandwiched by the Pacific Ocean and SD Bay. Once we arrived to town, we parked our bikes to admire.. well, everything.

The Hotel del Coronado, aka. the “Hotel del,” was particularly stunning. With its incredible Victorian architecture and rich history it was definitely a site to behold:

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We were even lucky enough to catch the “Sandcastle Man” creating one of his many masterpieces:

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As sun began to set, a purple and velvety sky began to glow overhead. In anticipation of nightfall, we decided to hop back on our bikes and make the final leg of our journey home.

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Because bikes are not allowed on the 2.1 mile long San Diego-Coronado bridge, we opted to take the ferry ride across the bay in perfect time to enjoy the golden setting sun:

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Shortly after, we were welcomed home by a clan of little tikki men and immediately fired up our yellow grill to spend the night enjoying nothing but goodness on our Hawaiian-themed slice of San Diego.

Well rested and ready to roll, we awoke on Sunday to bid farewell to our beloved camper and climb aboard the Spirit of San Diego for a 2 hour full Bay tour:

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To be real, we are pretty picky when it comes to guided tours, but we can honestly say that this one was totally worth it. Professionally guided by a Navy veteran, we learned fascinating facts about the Naval Air Station, Submarine Base, Cabrillo National Monument, Harbor and Shelter Islands, Point Loma, Star of India, USS Midway and so much more.

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You can opt to take a tour of just the North or South Bay, but if you’re already here, we recommend the full Bay tour, hands down.

Check out the faint view from the Bay of the The Silver Strand that we rode our bikes along the day before:

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Once our tour was completed, we decide to walk along the water towards the famous monument of “The Kiss” that was so famously photographed in Times Square on V-J Day, August 14th, 1945. The sailor honored in this timeless moment actually passed away the week before our visit below:

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We of course had to recreate the scene ourselves, for old times sake:

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After a moment of sweet romance, we found ourselves surrounded by an eclectic and colorful mix of people (and birds!) in the super fun area known as Seaport Village!

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While the original mission of this trip, to recharge and rejuvenate, was definitely accomplished, we came away with even more than we had anticipated – good ole San Diego always seems deliver 🙂

Be sure to check out our other SD posts!:

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