So for almost a whole year, my internet friend turned real friend, Becky and I had been talking about a vacation together with our husbands. We’d met at the Blathering in Austin in 2011 and then were roommates in New Orleans in 2012, so we knew we’d get along just fine.
We discussed locations, wanting to choose somewhere neither couple had been, somewhere there wasn’t snow (Becky and her husband live in Minnesota!), and somehow we decided on San Diego. We picked a general time frame, didn’t talk about it for a few months, then about 2 months before, pinned down a final date, booked flights and hotel rooms and we’d figure most of the rest out when we got there. And we crossed our fingers that the husbands would get along. 
Taylor and I got to San Diego on Thursday, a full day before Becky and H got to town (I’ll go with his usual internet name for privacy). We also got in really early so our room wasn’t ready when we got to the hotel (the Courtyard by Marriott in the Gaslamp Quarter). We weren’t terribly worried about it, so we just dropped our bags off and were going to go out exploring. Before we made it out of the building, the news was on about the new Pope announcement, so we were kind of waiting around to see who it was going to be. In the meantime, the bellman started talking to us and offered a private tour of the building, which used to be a bank and had been recently restored. And took us up to the cupola, which isn’t usually open for guests.
They renovated the meeting space to incorporate the old bank vault.
The ceilings and paintings around the building were so beautiful.
Becky and H were scheduled to arrive later in the afternoon on Friday, so Taylor and I went to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in the morning before picking them up at the airport. We splurged on the caravan safari, where you get to ride in the back of an open truck through the wilderness. While there were many more animals, the highlights were definitely getting to see a baby rhino (he was only 2 weeks old!) and getting to feed the giraffes.
Taylor made sure I fed the most slobbery giraffe here. Half my arm was green from chewed leaves. Yuck! What a nice husband.
After Becky and Dave arrived, we walked down to the water for a while, before dinner.
When we got back to the hotel after dinner, we saw our bellman friend who invited us on a tour he was giving to some other people.
On Friday, we went to the San Diego Zoo. It was even bigger than I could have imagined. We had a great time, despite repeating the same path like 4 times. “Oh, hey. There is the sun bear again.”
The biggest highlight was seeing the baby panda, since they only let people go in the viewing area for a couple of hours a day. But the other pandas were cool to look at too. One was napping, and one was pacing.
I was also pumped to see koalas who were hiding in the trees so well we almost didn’t see them.
More photographic proof that we did indeed go on vacation together.
We were wiped out after the zoo, so we went back to the hotel to rest for a bit before meeting up with another internet friend, Ginger and her husband.
On our second full day together, we drove over to Coronado. The weather was still a bit cool for bathing suits, so we just walked around for a bit. The sand is really pretty and has golden flecks in it.
On Saturday, we drove to Point Loma to look at the tidal pools and the light house. Both Becky and H approved of the ocean views.
I got in a cave.
The lighthouse was just ok.
After a long day of driving, we went back to the hotel to rest a bit and get ready for dinner. Becky and I had a pre-dinner cocktail at the hotel bar before dinner. And after a delicious and hilarious sushi dinner, we weren’t quite ready to say goodbye. Taylor and I were heading out early in the morning, so Becky and I sat up a while longer catching up on life while the guys went back to the rooms.
It was such a fun trip. It makes me sad we don’t live closer to Becky and H. Hopefully sometime in the future we can plan another vacation!
