As I said, our decision to take this trip was fast -- there were less than five hours between us booking a flight and that flight pulling away from the gate at the airport. But that did leave a short window of time for "research," and in that window I read in a couple places that there was great snorkeling to be had at La Jolla Cove. We had enough room in our bags to pack fins, snorkel, and mask to keep that option in play.
We bailed on the idea of snorkeling when we got there, though. The water was quite cold; the two or three snorkelers we spotted were all wearing full wet suits, which we had not packed. And while I suppose we could have tracked down a place to rent them, the surf looked rough and the rocks looked sharp. We'd used up our reserves of adventure just being there, I guess. We walked a bit to take in the sights (and did see a seal poking its head up in the ocean), before setting out for another destination.
Coronado Island wasn't all that far of a drive, but the weather was completely different. So was the beach we wound up at -- sandy and warm instead of rocky and cool. (We again considered snorkeling, but it was apparent there'd be nothing to look for here but dirty water... this was a beach for surfers, not snorkelers.) We people-watched for a while, both sitting in place for a time and strolling up the beach.
We figured we couldn't go to the coast without having seafood at least once, and grabbed a late lunch there on the island. From there, we slipped straight into brewery hopping that lasted the rest of the evening and took us all over the city. We hit Coronado Brewing there on the island (bringing back a six-pack of passion fruit beer my husband can enjoy in the weeks to come). We tried Modern Times, where the people watching was more memorable than the beer. (We wove stories about the five guys in identical checkered sneakers. Fraternity? Bachelor party?)
We then hit a pair of breweries as close together as any two could possibly be:
A secret revealed by our credit card statement is that these are just two arms of the same small operation, but they nevertheless had very different options and themes. Amplified, on the left, is your choice if you want a great passion fruit beer; I found Pure Project, on the right, to be fantastic at other sours, and also darker beers.
From these two places, it's a short walk to a large Ballast Point brewery and restaurant. Shorter still if you cut through the industrial park and take a short walk down a hill (which we did). It's a shame we were too far into brewery hopping (and needing to make responsible choices) to get deeper into what this place had to offer: some 50+ beers on tap. The one we tried was solid, anyway. (And the food much appreciated at that point.)
In all, it was the most freeform day of our spur-of-the-moment trip, and thus maybe the most "on brand." We ping-ponged all over the city, seeing and tasting all sorts of things, all at a lazy pace. A truly relaxing vacation day.
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