San Diego Mom - Carmel Valley/Del Mar

Sedona is breathtaking - red rock and dirt/ground appearing out of nowhere on the drive up.  The mountains and sunsets make for amazing memories.

Where to stay: One terrific, luxurious place if you want to spend $250ish a night is the Hilton.  Their suites provide you with privacy if you want the kids in their own space, and a fireplace in the master for you. 

Alternatively, we just stayed for $150/night at the Kings Ransom and the room was clean (takes pets) and the restaurant a huge surprise turns out to be one of the best places in town with a chef from Pheonix who just opened his place there. 

Food at Elota was mexican/fusionish and was amazing.  Have the skirt steak in blue cheese and the corn chowder/soup…tomato and cheese appetizer, everything was excellent.  And you didn’t have to brave the cold to go out for dinner. 

I spent some time looking through reviews on tripadvisor for restaurants.  Here’s what I found people recommended: The only other one we went to was Picazzos.  Every bit as good as they said. Pizza was thin crust and special, salads excellent. Great food, if you want to avoid take out and sit in a nice atmosphere.  Even for kids. 

 

Pizza place with some variety to the menu - italian with great pizza - http://www.picazzos.com/

Great selection/variety to the menu, good reviews - http://www.heartlinecafe.com

Cowboy club - family ok too - but angus steaks etc make it more high end in pricing. http://www.cowboyclub.com/

Supposed to be a great mexican place, chef had restaurant in phoenix, a little different in taste. Was terrific! http://www.kingsransomsedona.com/Cafe_Elote_Dinner_Menu.pdf

Nicer Places, less Family Friendly

http://www.dahlanddiluca.com/

http://www.tlaq.com/store_El_Rincon.cfm - at tlaquepaque shopping center

http://www.shugrues.com/
 
 

 

I just stumbled across this site and its pretty impressive!  This link gives some amazing date night ideas for San Diegans.  I can’t wait to try some of them!

http://www.nearhere.com/dates/ 

Among the suggestions are things like: the Gondola cruise in Coronado (I’ve done this, very fun to see the georgeous homes along the water in the long gondolas), Irish folk lessons in Balboa park to making chocolates in Chuao in Carlsbad.  

This is also a great site for other topics:

They provide an amazing list of running trails, tennis courts, outdoor side trips from town for hiking, surfing, and more.   

The site’s owners Terry and Dave do a good job of providing reviews/descriptions and invite others to join in.  The site has a ton of potential.  I highly recommend bookmarking it and visiting often to check on what’s new.   

 

Palm Springs isn’t far from San Diego, a few hours at most and can be a nice place to go sit by the pool and relax.  The drive isn’t bad, though its a fairly boring ride.  There are good restaurants, terrific hotels and resorts. 

Here’s a link to get you started: http://www.palm-springs.org/ 

Death Valley is supposed to be a great spot.  From a friend: "You can go on very short walks or longer, half day hikes.  The heat is manageable in winter time, there are sand dunes to slide on, colorful canyons to walk in, salt marshes to stomp on and the swimming pool at Fernace Creek is open until 11 pm with hot water from the natural spring at a perfect 28 degrees celsius.  It is between 5-6 hours drive from San Diego on hwy 15 to hwy 395."

Here’s a link to get you started: http://www.nps.gov/deva/

This is a favorite of many here in town.  Another place that frequently people have second homes or timeshares to get away on a regular basis to somewhere with some snow and some scenic hiking.

I’ve never been, but would like to go.  I’ve heard great things about the area also for camping.

Here’s a link to get you started: http://www.bigbear.com/ 

Tahoe is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been in the United States.  Beautiful hiking in the summer, amazing skiing and snow in the Winter.  You can fly into Reno and then drive 45 minutes - 1 hour into Tahoe and you’ll have a great time.

Many families have timeshares or second homes in this vicinity.  There are plenty of hotels, lakeside options even as well.