Adventures in San Diego- A ferry ride to Coronado Island

A couple of weeks ago we were invited by Country Inn and Suites by Carlson to head down to San Diego and explore the city. The hotel chain has a fun road trip itinerary if you are heading down south. We decided to check out their Mom’s pick, Balboa Island, but were a bit disappointed when a big parade and festival happened to be going on the day we decided to explore the park. We decided to explore Balboa Park the following day and started searching for other affordable outings in the city.

We love anything nautical in our family and decided that we wanted to take a little boat ride. I remembered reading a while back that there was a ferry to Coronado island. It was settled we would head over to Downtown SD and take the ferry to the island. It’s a fun 15 minute ride into another little world. The ferry leaves San Diego from either the Broadway Pier in Downtown SD or the Convention Center area in the Gaslamp District. Tickets are $3.25 one way and $6.50 round trip. Children 4 and under are free.

We loved our little ferry ride. The weather was perfect and we found a great seat. The kids loved every single minute of our ride and before we knew it the ride was over and we were off to explore the island. We had a fun time looking through all the shops and had an inexpensive and yummy lunch at KFC (which is about a block away from the Ferry landing). We had a fun and inexpensive outing for less than $25.00. The kids loved every single minute of our little outing. In fact there were a couple of tears when it was time to head back to our car.

Here is the nitty gritty on our little outing- Make sure to take quarters. There is coin operated parking machines all along the harbor area. We easily found a spot and walked only a block or two to purchase our tickets. The Ferry leaves at the top of the hour from the Broadway Pier and departs from Coronado island at the half hour mark. Make sure you take plenty of sunscreen and be prepared for some fun. Bring your stroller and bicycles-you can squeeze them on the first floor of the ferry. We had a great time and hope you will also!

For additional info head on over here

SeaWorld Annual passes- EZ Pay Payment Option

This past weekend my family and I headed down South to San Diego. We had a fantastic time and I can’t wait to share my experiences with you during the next couple of days. We also had the opportunity to visit SeaWorld. We have usually just bought the SeaWorld Fun Card which basically boils down to buy one day and get the rest of the year for free with some black out days and no parking.

This year we decided to mix it up a bit as we are looking to stretch our dollar a bit. We like to head to San Diego often and decided to upgrade and purchase a Silver Passport instead. We figured we could head down a couple of more times this summer and on the weekends once tourist season is over. The Silver passport is around $30 more than the fun card but it includes parking and is more like an annual pass- since the pass expires 12 months from the date of purchase. The best part is that you can buy your pass in payments- with no financing! It’s called EZ pay and our Silver Passport will cost us around $8.25 a month per person. We only paid the first payment on Saturday. I believe we paid $24.75 and will have 11 more payments throughout the year. It’s a great deal for us because we know we will get much use of our pass and because sometimes coming up with a couple of hundred dollars for admission can be a bit overwhelming. I know that breaking it down for us makes it much more affordable.

I can’t wait to share with you our adventures down south and to also pick a winner for the Angel’s 4 pack. Will share tonight. Have a fantastic week!

A last minute getaway-roadtrip and a little giveaway

I’m going to be heading for a quick roadtrip down south this weekend. This year because of the economy and changes in my job we will be skipping a traditional “vacation” and doing a little weekend getaway or two instead of a traditional week long getaway.

Country Inns & Suites by Carlson is actually providing me with two free nights and a fun roadtrip itinerary in San Diego. We will be heading down south for a quick, fun and hopefully inexpensive getaway. The roadtrip itinerary that was provided by Country Inns & Suites has us heading off to explore Balboa Park and other excursions that are inexpensive and some that are off the beaten path.

I want to pose a question to you – What’s your idea of the best last-minute vacation? I want to hear from you! Just leave your answer under comments and you will also be entered to win a family 4 pack of Angel tickets to a Big Bang Friday game.

Thank you in advance! Looking forward to reading about your favorite last minute vacation tips!!

I forgot to add you have until Sunday to enter. Thanks!