There we were. Walking hand-in-hand. Our feet wet from the sand beneath our toes. Waves crashing against our ankles every few steps. Children, everywhere, running and giggling. Bright colors in every direction. Bathing suits, towels, and umbrellas. The smell of smoke from grills and salty seat air. Seagulls chirping. People, chatting. And us. Walking hand-in-hand. Soaking it all in. The sun. The sand. We strolled like we hadn’t in a while, the kind of stroll without a care, except which foot to put forward next. We talked about big things and small things, important things and silly things. We reminisced about every time we’d been at the beach. In high school. In college. On our honeymoon. In Europe. For a minute, for a moment, we felt like those kids again, and it felt good. It felt right. It felt like it’d been, well, way too long, and we heard those memories whispering (more like yelling) back at us through time, as if to say, You promised you’d remember to do this! And we’re so glad we did. Because we needed it.
This weekend was our last full weekend off for a while until Christmas, so we blocked it off on our calendar and protected it. We drove out to San Diego on Friday afternoon for a little getaway. It’s just a short 5 hour drive from Scottsdale! We crashed with some of our best friends for a few nights in their downtown condo, and we spent 48 hours doing a combination of eating, resting, touristing and sleeping. We had some amazing authentic Italian risotto (Amy’s favorite!) for dinner one night, a killer California burrito (carne asada and french fries wrapped in a tortilla! say whaaat?!) on the boardwalk the next, the most trendy acai bowl and Best Drink Ever (don’t ask us what was in it!) for breakfast one morning, and, of course, we topped off the trip with a homemade ice cream cookie sandwich from a San Diego-staple: The Baked Bear.
When we weren’t consuming more calories than we can count, we went to the world-famous San Diego Zoo because we both hadn’t been since childhood. It was a “heat wave” in Southern California — and by heat wave, the locals meant 90 degrees — so almost everyone recommended that we ride in the zoo shuttle instead of walk the park. Heat wave at 90 degrees? Psh! That’s cute, San Diego! We have to tell you guys, though, we thought we’d be telling you that seeing the pandas and polar bears were the highlight for us, since we don’t have either at the Phoenix Zoo, but that wouldn’t be true!
So, here are our San Diego Zoo tops three attractions. The bronze medal goes to the giraffes. Why? Because they NUZZLED each other with their long necks when we walked by the exhibit. SO cute. The silver medal is a tie between the orangutans (well, one specific one) and the gorillas. The orangutan because he rolled around in front of the glass right in front of us for a few solid minutes. The gorillas because we’ve never — ever — seen something as cute as a baby monkey sleep on its mom’s back. Oh goodness! And, the gold medal winner goes to an unlikely winner, but quite possibly the cutest thing we’ve ever seen: a labrador retriever and a cheetah who are a) best friends and b) live in the same enclosure together. That alone = worth the ENTIRE price of admission.
The rest of our weekend was spent with friends at a bonfire Saturday night on Mission Bay, roasting s’mores, watching fireworks, and snuggling up in our sweatshirts (even though we didn’t really need them) because we loved the sentiment, and at the beach on Sunday afternoon, throwing the football with friends, laying under our umbrellas, and walking, hand-in-hand, like we’ve always done, like we still do, and, God-willing, like we will for a long time.
Love seeing new places? Here are links to our other travel adventures!
International: Ireland • England • France • Spain • Italy • Greece & Turkey • Anniversary Photos: Venice • Italy 2.0 • France 2.0 • Vow Renewal: France • Switzerland • Iceland • Prague • Germany & France
Domestic: Nashville • Denver • Phoenix • Vancouver • Seattle • Vegas • Atlanta • Santa Barbara • Florida • Virginia • New England/New York • Sedona • San Diego • Nantucket • Boston • San Diego • Virginia • Arizona • Charleston • Disney Cruise
