San Diego, CA

Welcome to sunny San Diego, CA. 80 degrees days in January, sunny skies, and the abundance of really good fish tacos made me wonder why I don’t live here. When I win the lottery I plan to have a winter vacation home somewhere on Mount Soledad. I would have abs of steel from all that surfing I’d do everyday and perhaps a little bit of mercury poisoning from eating too many fish tacos.

Since I was in town for work I didn’t get a chance to do my usual amounts of exploring and eating. But here are some of the places I could recommend:

• The Gaslamp District – If you are in San Diego for work or a conference chances are you will be staying in the Gaslmap District. It’s a wonderful area lined with lots and lots of great hotels, restaurants, bars, lounges, boutiques, and Padres’s PETCO park . The area is lively and safe. While I can’t recommend getting an authentic fish taco here, a trip to Searsucker and Blue Point Coastal Cuisine is a must. If you are into beer, check out the extensive beer selection at Yard House. If you have room for dessert, or even if you don’t, please still go to Chocolat Cremerie. Some dancing can be done at Basic(also has great pizza), and Altitude (sky lounge with good views).
• Coronado Island – On one of the days, grab a taxi and go over the bridge to Coronado Island. The place has a small beach town feel with great views of San Diego skyline. Thanks to work, I had a chance to dine at the  historic Victorian Hotel del Coronado ( I highly recommend it especially on someone else’s dime) and Cendela’s on the Bay (good mexican food, great views).
• Balboa Park – Home of the world famous San Diego Zoo, Balboa Park also has museums, performances, and beautiful gardens. If you have the extra cash, get the back stage pass to the San Diego Zoo which allows you to pet and feed some of the animals. Due to lack to time, I did not get to explore this area to it’s fullest. 
• La Jolla Beach, Ocean Beach, Mount Soledad – I was awfully lucky to have my friend Dhiren and his cousin Bimal and fiance Shaifali drive me around town for the best views of the city and its beautiful homes. All the beach pictures above are of La Jolla Beach. We ate brunch at Azul which had the best views of the water and the cliffs. The food was ridiculously good too. Ocean Beach is more grungy compared to La Jolla but I found it to be the place for good cheap fish tacos. We ate at Ortega’s which also had other great mexican food options.