Our 4th of July San Diego Family Escape

In this episode of I'm taking you along on our Fourth of July getaway to beautiful San Diego, California.

We packed up the car, brought our dog, and headed south for five unforgettable nights at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad—one of our favorite vacation destinations. After eight stays in different villa accommodations, we’re sharing why this resort continues to feel like our home away from home.

I talk about what makes staying in a villa so special, how we use the kitchenette to make breakfasts and easy meals during our trip, the best resort amenities, traveling with a dog, and why having a relaxing home base can completely change the way you experience San Diego.

Then we’ll explore everything we loved about the trip:

🌴 Wandering through the beautiful gardens and architecture of Balboa Park
🔔 Climbing the iconic California Tower for incredible city views
🍴 Enjoying lunch at The Prado
⚾ Experiencing a summer night at Petco Park cheering on the Padres
🌊 Dinner with ocean views at Duke’s La Jolla
🇺🇸 Reflecting at the Mount Soledad National Veterans Memorial and taking in one of San Diego’s best viewpoints
🛍️ Exploring the charming shops and coastal vibe of Encinitas
🚤 Finding the famous historic Boat Houses

Along the way, I share our favorite travel tips, money-saving ideas, hidden gems, and lessons we've learned after returning to San Diego again and again.

Whether you’re planning your first San Diego vacation, looking for a family-friendly Southern California getaway, or simply love hearing stories from the road, this episode will make you want to pack your bags and head west.

So grab a coffee, settle in, and join us for a sunny California escape.

Because sometimes the best vacations are the ones that become traditions

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Find me on Instagram for daily life, tips and fun content: @wellness.with.virginia

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:38

Hi everyone, welcome back, and I hope you're having a fantastic summer. Thanks so much for joining me today. Um, I want to take you along on one of our favorite traditions, and that is a trip to San Diego. Um, this wasn't our first visit or even our second. In fact, this was as far as I can calculate, our eighth stay at Only La Costa Resort and Spa. Every time we leave, we start talking about when we'll come back. Um, this year we stayed for five nights over the Fourth of July holiday. We packed up the car, we brought our dog and made the drive down from Northern California. Honestly, as a child growing up, I was not a road tripper. And we actually sort of migrated to this during COVID when we wanted to kind of get away and be able to bring our dog. Um, and Omni La Costa in Carlsbad is completely dog friendly, which is fabulous. Um, a benefit of driving, as you probably guessed it, is you can bring everything you want without worrying about like airline baggage limits. And honestly, of course, when you're traveling with your dog, it's just that much easier. Um, so we like to leave super early. Um, our kids are excited, but always like, oh my god, I can't believe it's like 4 a.m. Um, but by the time we pull in to La Costa and we drive through the entry gates, which are just stunning with flowers and palm trees and the architecture, it feels so much less like checking into a hotel and arriving to someplace that's become so familiar. Um, like really like a vacation home away from home. So over the years, we've stayed in several different villa layouts and we've learned what works best for us. Here's my advice to you. Um, just do some quick math. When you look at how much you would pay just for like a regular hotel, a Marriott, or whatever you want to stay in, and the price of eating out all of those meals for a family of four, in my mind, more than makes up for the cost of a villa at La Costa. Um, and when I say we've kind of stayed in different variations, so I've done them through Verbo. Um, I've done them directly through the resort. I will say that the Verbo properties seem to be kind of less and less now as the years have gone by. Um, and I just book directly through the resort um to get, you know, to earn the free night stay. They give you like two coupons when you check in per night. Um, and each of those will buy you like a coffee in the marketplace or a beer or wine at the bar, terraza, which is a great benefit and a great value. Um so let's talk about what we're going to go through today. I want to kind of go through like what it was like on property during the 4th of July, um, how I make meals in the villa. We went to for the first time with our kids, Balboa Park. We climbed the California Tower, we went to a Padres game, we had amazing meals, we walked around Encinitas and really just soaked up a lot of amazing coastal views and not to sound cliche, but just some really solid family time. So grab your favorite drink, settle in, and let's head to San Diego. So I want to talk about why have why have we always come back to Omni La Costa? Um, for us, it has so many amenities that our kids and we enjoy. So when the kids were really little, and I think my daughter's first visit there, she was probably seven or eight, um, we enjoyed the kids' pool. At the time, they had like a literal beach entry kitty pool with like sand, which has since been taken out. Um, so there's like a small kids' pool, there's a larger kind of resort pool, there's an adult pool, and then each of the villa complexes have pools. Um, there's also like two garden pools, there's hot tubs all over the property. Um we have stayed in like a studio villa, which is basically like a bed, a pullout, a kitchenette, a large bathroom, and a big deck. Um, we have stayed in a one-bedroom villa, we have stayed in a one-bedroom petite villa, we have stayed in a two-bedroom villa. But for me, like the top three reasons why I will always choose a villa, like it makes economic sense for us, is the ability to cook at least one or two of your meals per day. Um, every villa has a washer and dryer, which to me is like worth its weight in gold. Some of the villas have two bathrooms with like full showers and toilets. And when you have, you know, older kids or even just a family of four, like having multiple bathrooms is important. Um, we love this property. We love walking the grounds in the evening. We have played golf there. You know, having a patio where you can have your coffee outside, when you can bring your dog, the pools, there's a spa. The fitness center is by far one of my favorite gyms ever. Um, there are multiple restaurants, and then the marketplace has like everything you could want and more from like quick grab and go to street tacos that my daughter eats every day while they're there or while we're there, ice cream at night. It's just, it's a really great place. So you may be asking, why don't we stay right on the beach? And we have done that in San Diego also. We have stayed at the La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club, um, which is like 20 steps from your room to the beach. But honestly, La Costa is comfortable. Um, it's easy for us. Like I said, they take a dog. Um, and after a busy day, kind of either at the local beach, like there's several local beaches very close by, they also have a shuttle that will take you to, I think it's called Moonlight State Park, um, which is in Encinitas. It just feels like you're escaping the crowds. It's a nice transition. So when I arrive, when we're driving, um, I always pack things that I know like we'll want on that first day, like when you check in. Um, things that I maybe like a pancake mix. I mean, literally these kitchenettes, it's like two burners. A kitchenette is two burners, a bigger sort of refrigerator, full utensils. And so I just sort of pack something to like maybe do dinner that night and breakfast the next morning. Um, there is a grocery store literally right next door to the property. There's a Trader Joe's nearby, there's a Target grocery nearby. You could absolutely fly down, get a rental car, and go grocery shopping and be just fine too. Um, but we went to the grocery store. I got things like eggs, fruit, um, something to make like a quick dinner. Like we did like those Kevin chicken meals. Um, we did bagged salads. I just kind of get us stocked up so I can at least make us something, right? Pasta, meatballs, things like that. Um packing meals like in this way in my mind, or making meals in the room, it saves money and it allows you to relax after an exhausting day of vacationing, right? Every meal doesn't have to be like the main event, right? And so I personally feel and do better when I eat the majority of the meals during the day is something I make. Um, one of the things that we recently started doing is like a Greek yogurt bowl. Um, and so I found some yogurt that was like 25 grams of protein plus protein powder plus berries. I mean, you can easily make that in your room and you're full. And what that allows us to do is then kind of say, let's do lunch at the pool or let's have dinner out. And then we're saving money. We are actually feeling better, and I just really I think this works much better for our family. So we arrived on the 3rd, and then the 4th of July was the next day. The 4th of July at La Costa is so fun. When you check in, they will give you a list of resort activities, but then they're like amplified with tons of three free things to do. There's families, there's kids, there's pool games, there's you know, people just walking after dinner, there's all these kids on scooters. It's just so much fun. So we stayed mostly on property. Um, the kids went to the resort pool, my husband and I went to the adult pool, and we just had like a really sort of relaxing day. They do offer a ticketed massive event that looks lovely, like catered dinner. It it looks incredible. Um, and there are fireworks after, so we didn't buy the tickets to the event, and you can see the fireworks anywhere on property, and it was amazing. Um, we just really enjoyed kind of that sort of resort day on property. It was our first full day. We, you know, walked around, went to the gym, just we had a great day. I think we even probably took a nap. Like it was great. I keep saying that, but it was really good. Um, so up next, I wanted to talk about Balboa Park. So I have been here, it was a long time ago, and my husband was like, I want to plan a day. Like, I want to go to Balboa Park, I want to go to the California Tower. They have um, you know, a garden, a botanical garden that I want to see. And kind of sort of manifesting in the background of all of this, our daughter was like, I really want to take some senior photos down here. And I don't know if in your area, senior photos are like a really expensive thing, but here where we live, they are no less than $2,500, $3,500. And I am that person who I very much value and respect what photographers do, but that to me are like plane tickets for our trip next summer, right? That's like several small little weekend vacations. And so we brought a camera and we decided to take some photos at La Costa, which is very special because my daughter's been taking photos, you know, around that property almost, you know, her whole life. And then we decided to take some at Balboa Park. So when we arrived, parking was super easy. Um, and when you walk in, you feel like you've been transformed to Europe. There's music, the buildings are just stunning. They um the grounds are really pretty. People are just kind of walking around. There's little museums, there's gardens. We went into the botanical garden, which is kind of actually like a big greenhouse. Um, and it was it was just gorgeous. And I don't really remember much about what I loved when I went back. I remembered, you know, all those years ago I went and I loved it. But this was really cool to kind of rediscover with our family. We went into the antique train museum, but you had to pay for entry, and so we just decided to not do that because we had reservations at the California Tower. So if you don't know me in real life, I am terrified of heights, like to a really sort of unhealthy level. And I will always go do the thing of the heights, but the whole time I'm like sweating, right? Um, this has been my whole childhood. And so we get to the um museum, and it's called the Museum of Us. And when we walked in, we didn't realize that you buy tickets to enter the museum, and then tickets for the California Tower are separate. So we had to pay for that. Um, we actually wanted to do an earlier tour, they were super accommodating, and so we had about 20 minutes to walk around the museum, and there were some incredible exhibits there. And my son just decided to take off and kind of cruise around on his own, which for me to have a child who just kind of wants to go at their own pace through a museum, I think that's incredible. So he walks all around and he comes back and he says, Mom, they have an Egyptian area. So we went back together and it was it was actually really good. I was very impressed. Um, and then it was time for our tour. So you climb seven or eight different floors um in this tower, and each floor they go through some San Diego history, which was incredible. And what was really cool is the tour guides talked a lot about, you know, the sociology behind the area and all the different things that have, you know, gone on in San Diego. And I really enjoyed it. It was such a great way to kind of visit each, you know, time frame in San Diego's history, like on each floor. Um, and also probably to calm my nerves because I was like, every part of me was sweating. My armpits were sweating, my hands were sweating, I was nervous. Now, the last climb, the last set of stairs is a spiral staircase, and then you get to the viewing area, which is incredible. But I like quickly raced out to a ledge to take a photo with my family and then just basically parked it on a bench and used my Zoom on my iPhone to see the view because I just was too scared. Um, but we had a great time. The tour guides were incredible, it was really cool, and I'm so glad we did it. Um, when we finished that, we were all ready for lunch, and so we went to lunch at the Prado, um, which is this gorgeous outdoor shaded sort of cafe setting. Um, we were all starving, and so I'm really trying to help my kids try something different when they go somewhere. So maybe it's a different appetizer, but I'm always like, try something that helps you branch out and then get whatever you want. So my son really wanted the steak sushi, and he and my husband just plowed through that. They said it was incredible. Um, and then my daughter got like a really fun little mocktail. It was, it was really lovely. It was warm that day for San Diego, but the weather outside was incredible, and we just had this really great lunch. Um, my husband had a torta, which was very good. My salad was good. What did my son get? Oh, I can't remember. I don't even remember what my son and my daughter got, but they loved their food. Um, and so we wrapped up there, went back to the hotel, and just sort of rested and then walked around and took some more of those senior photos for my daughter. Um, up next, we went to Duke's La Jolla. And if you haven't been to Dukes before, there's one in La Jolla. I think there's one on Maui that we've been to. Um, and it's just this incredible cliff coastal outdoor restaurant, indoor outdoor eating. Um, and we just we love eating, but at the end of that particular day, we were still kind of full from everything we'd enjoyed, like at the pool and everything else. So we decided to just go full appetizers for dinner and just sort of do like small plates, which was a great idea because we basically got every appetizer on the menu and had this spectacular view. And it was just, you know, one of those like the ocean breeze. You're looking outside, you're watching people. There were people swimming in the sort of area where the sea lions are, there were people fishing. It was just a really great evening. Um, and I love La Jolla. I love La Jolla shores. Um, it's a really fun area to walk around in. Um, there's like all these little shops. It's just kind of our little, we have to have dukes for dinner. Um, the opposite of dinner, if we're talking about breakfast, the broken yoke is one of our traditions also, and it's also right next to La Costa. Um, and we go there every time we go to San Diego, we at least have to have breakfast there once. And we love the broken yoke. So let's talk about Mount Soledad. So this was again a different spot we hadn't been to before. Um, and I think that's kind of the fun if you have traditions and then you kind of mix something new in. So if you've never heard of Mount Soledad, you're definitely not alone. Most people think of San Diego, they picture beaches, the zoo, or maybe the gas lamp quarter. But sitting high above La Jolla is literally one of the most breathtaking viewpoints, I think, in all of Southern California. It's about 820 feet above sea level and is home to the Mount Soledad National Veterans Memorial. Um, you walk around this circular memorial and you see just thousands of plaques featuring photographs, names, and personal stories of veterans and their families. Um, to the west, the Pacific Coast just stretches endlessly towards the horizon. To the south, um, on a clear day, we were there, it was kind of foggy. You can see downtown San Diego, Coronado, San Diego Bay, and on really clear days, you can see Mexico. If you look north, you can see Del Mar, Solana Beach, Encinitas, Carlsbad. It's just this 360-degree panorama, and we just had no expectations, we really didn't know what to expect. Um, and we went at sunset. The lighting is incredible, the temperatures are cooler. Um, it was a little bit windy up there, but you know, it is just one of those really moving sort of places, and it reminded me, you know, just how much you can see when you sort of get above it all. And you could just sit there and reflect. It was it was really cool. I'm so glad we did it. Um, let's talk about one of the things that we have done the last three times we've gone to San Diego, and that is gone to a Padres game. So my family are Giants fans, but if they're not rooting for the Giants, then they will root for the Padres. Um, Petco Park is really fun. We always seem to get these really great, super affordable seats. Um, parking is really easy. You can walk easily to this sort of assigned parking space. Um, the environment is really fun, and it's just kind of a fun little thing for us to do. I think this time we went, we had seats that were really kind of closer than I think we've sat before, and tickets were like $80. So again, super affordable. If you are baseball people, um, I definitely would suggest checking that out. Unfortunately, they lost pretty terribly, and my son was so excited to see their closer, Mason Miller, and they didn't even bring them out because they were losing so terribly. Um, so on one of our last days, we went to kind of one of my favorite little beach towns that's close by. It's Encinitas. Um, it's kind of a classic Southern California surf town, walkable streets, little boutiques, coffee shops, bookstores, restaurants, you know, surf shops that have been there for forever. And my daughter actually popped into a boutique and got this really cute dress that she needs like for her senior year stuff. It's really just one of the great places to just wander, go look at something interesting, talk to shop owners, get some souvenirs. Um, I will say anytime that I can skip a chain store and spend time supporting local businesses, I always am like finding the best gift. Or, like I said, my daughter got this super cute dress. We had a little coffee break at Phil's Coffee, um, which I know is a chain, but we still really enjoyed it. Um, I remembered as we were walking out around that there are the famous boat houses in Encidias that my kids had never seen. So if you've never seen them before, they're exactly what they sound like. So they are two historic homes that were built to resemble ocean going boats. They're literally just in the neighborhood. The attention to detail is so cool. There's like curved lines, porthole style windows, railings. Even the shape of the roofs makes them look like ships that somehow landed on land. They were built in the 1920s and they've probably become that area's most beloved landmarks and a fun reminder of just some quirky personality. They're not a major tourist retraction that, you know, requires hours of your day, but they're kind of fun and one of those fun little discoveries that can become some of your favorite memories. So I would say one of the best reasons why I love San Diego and for us, why it works so well for our family for a vacation is you can do adventure during the day. We have done in San Diego Legoland, we have done the zoo, we have gone to beaches, you know, we've done sort of all of these things, but yet there's still something more that we can always do differently. And as my kids get older, you know, I want them to learn and experience things and understand, you know, the different parts of San Diego that it has to offer kind of beyond the things that we've done before. Um, I will say that if you are staying multiple nights like we did, mix restaurant meals with breakfast and a few dinners in your room, you could save honestly several hundred dollars. I think at the grocery store I spent $110 for our whole trip. Um, and I don't feel like we sacrificed our vacation experience at all. One thing, additional money saver, I will always recommend when you are processing your checkout, buy the resort credit. So we bought a hundred, we bought a $200 resort credit for $150. So basically it's you can only do it at checkout. And I would say that you will spend that at the resort pool at like drinks or smoothies or lunch, and that's a great way. I mean, you're basically getting $50 in resort credit for free. You can use it on golf, you can use it on all sorts of things. Um, and then you can spend the money you save on those experiences instead. You know, someone might say, like, oh my gosh, you've stayed there eight times. And the answer isn't just the resort, it's like the combination. It's where we're comfortable. They have gym, a gym we like, they have pools, they have, you know, economical ways for us to feed our family and not eat out all the time. But I think beyond that, San Diego for us is, you know, restaurants and neighborhoods that we love to drive through and little beach towns and baseball games we like to go to. And every trip has become different because San Diego for us has so much to offer. Um, I will say, thinking back of my favorite moments for this trip, you know, this is my daughter's sort of last trip before she, you know, goes into her senior year and ultimately goes to college. You know, it's my son's last trip before he starts eighth grade. I really think about some of those fun moments we had at, you know, at night in the hot tub or swimming in the resort pool or watching them go down the water slides that they've gone down, you know, for a long time. Standing at the top of the California Tower and not overlooking San Diego, but hearing them enjoy overlooking San Diego. Um, you know, the reflection opportunity we had at Mount Soledad was very cool. You know, those boat houses, shopping in Encinitas, my daughter finding that dress that she really loved, taking those senior photos, and really just like allowing time for spontaneity. Um, and, you know, kind of the best part about vacation is there's no like dishes to do and laundry. I mean, you have to do those things, but it's not like your everyday life. And it really felt just like the escape and rest that we needed. I really want to thank you so much for joining me on this journey to one of our favorite places in California. I hope today's episode gave you ideas for your own adventure in San Diego, whether it's your first or your tenth. And if you enjoyed today's episode, I would love it if you would subscribe, leave a review, and share it with a fellow travel lover. It really helps my podcast grow and it allows me to keep sharing destinations, tips, and stories from our travels or from my everyday life. Until next time, just remember the best vacations aren't always the ones where you travel the farthest. Sometimes they're the places that keep calling you back. Thanks for listening, and I'll see you next time.