SAN DIEGO | PHOTO DIARY

San Diego is one of my favorite places to visit in California, and with it being two hours away from where I live, I usually don't get to visit. So Friday after school, I was so excited to spend the weekend there with my family for my father's company work trip. The company paid for all employees and their families hotel rooms and dinner. We stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel in the Gaslamp District, which is really more of a party place. We even had our own bar in our hotel room! I really enjoyed the Gaslamp Quarter during the nighttime. Everyone everywhere was out with their friends or families, walking around, music so loud it vibrates your body, hitting the clubs and happy hour, enjoying an evening dinner, city lights, and just soaking up the night life of San Diego. It was good vibes all around, except if you were stuck in traffic.

On Saturday, my father had meetings half the day at the hotel. Rather than passing the time in the roof-top pool, my sisters, step-mom, and myself decided we would explore the Gaslamp District instead. We ate breakfast at the most modern IHOP I have ever been to. And I know at the International House of Pancakes it's only reasonable to get their pancakes - which are AMAZING - but for some reason I always opt for their chicken strips and fries. Afterwards, we came across a Starbucks and we couldn't pass up a cold drink. I ordered a Caramel Frappuccino which was just what I needed on this hot day! The sun was so hot and strong, I literally had to keep reapplying my sunscreen and stay in the shade as much as possible. After Starbucks, we walked further and found a museum of the William Heath Davis house, supposedly a haunted house, so of course we had to take a look inside. Nothing spooky, but very interesting. It was built in 1850 and is the oldest house in the Gaslamp Quarter. It was like a trip back into the Victorian Era.

After my father finished his meetings, we all went on a San Diego tour, which included a stop at my two favorite places in San Diego: Balboa Park and Seaport Village. After the tour, we ate out at the Hard Rock Café.

We left noon on Sunday and ate lunch at Wings n' Things. I got the 'hot' buffalo wings and they were so hot my nose was running and my eyes and ears were burning! After I stopped crying (not really), we went to Torrey Pines beach, also in San Diego. My dad has a rule that no one can go in the water past their ankles. Joking of course, but he always likes to enforce it to try and make us think he's serious. So my sister and I thought we'd "misbehave" and went in up to our hips. We got a sarcastic talkin' to afterwards.