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As much as the City of Angels has stolen our hearts, San Diego definitely has a way of pulling on our heart strings. Every time we visit, we experience an undeniable desire to move to this laid back, surfer-movie, boater’s-paradise version of our West Coast lives.

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We most recently made the trip for the Silver Strand Half Marathon, my 5th half since living in California (last year it was the Malibu Half). It was a wonderfully flat trail, and as usual, the weather couldn’t have been any better:

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Drew was there to cheer me on as I crossed the finish line, and by 10am I had run my best time yet (2:02) and was enjoying the endorphin rush on the soft sands of Imperial Beach… I could already tell that this was going to be the start of a wonderful day:

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Our next move was to meet our great friend Will for a delicious breakfast at The Wave Cafe, I ordered my newly discovered favorite, Eggs Benedict… California style:

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With Benedict in my belly and “Trashy Potatoes” in Drew’s, we we’re off for a day of boating on Mission Bay! We drove over to the Freedom Boat Club‘s San Diego location and hopped onto “Hurricane,” equipped with a 200hp fuel efficient 4-stroke engine, which purred as quietly as a cat:

Not too big and not too small, Mission Bay was the perfect spot for us to enjoy 3 hours of pure relaxation:

We tooled around enjoying the sites, hoping to catch a glimpse of Shamu as we passed Sea World (not that we agree at all with their practices, we’ve seen Black Fish):

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Before we knew it, we had made a new friend! This little guy didn’t want to leave our side, at least not until he saw the huge fishing boat drive by with the day’s fresh catch:

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Between kite surfing, jet skiing, sailing and camping, you can even bike the 12-mile loop that follows the perimeter of the bay!, Mission Bay literally has something for everyone: