Recently, I enjoyed an amazing 3 Day 2 Night 2 Nation Vacation which included a 2 Nation border crossing. Enabling me to explore Sand Diego, California and Baja California, Mexico in just three days. With both destinations on my list of places to explore, visiting 2 nations in 3 days always seemed to be a bit of an impossibility. In refection, I can’t believe I have never done this before! If you are a native of Southern or Northern California, visiting 2 nations in a single day is probably a common occurrence. Us mid-states people don’t do a lot of 2 nation traveling in 3 days, states maybe, but not nations where you can easily walk across the border.
All of this was new to me, but I was in good hands with my friends providing me their expert experience during my “3 Day, 2 Night Vacation”. So I placed my faith in the hands of Alexa Meisler, Travel Writer and Podcaster of 52Perfectdays.com and BreakIntoTravelWriting.com fame and Juan Arturo Saldaña Angulo with Tijuana Tourism and Convention Bureau.
I started my trip with an easy flight down to San Diego International Airport to meet up with part of our group in Mission Beach, my new favorite place to visit.
Mission Beach, California
If you need a reason to visit Mission Beach, the sunsets are amazing!
Mission Beach offers an eclectic assortment of things to do, from walking on the beach, visiting their amusement park, strolling the alley ways, bike rentals, music in the park, amazing food destinations (you need more than one day to eat here), coffee shops and night life.
One of the things I enjoyed most while walking Mission Beach was viewing the Multi-Million dollar homes to rent or own if you are one of those lucky few.
Make sure to enjoy the tile murals at the beach!
Hornblower Cruises of San Diego, Ca
Probably one of the best ways to spend a Sunday afternoon is exploring the Sand Diego Waterfront.
The San Diego Waterfront is vast in size, jam-packed with things to do and the best way to see it is by enjoying a Champagne San Diego Brunch Cruise.
Hornblower Champagne San Diego Brunch Cruise includes:
- 2 hours on a luxurious yacht on San Diego Bay
- Full brunch buffet featuring seasonal dishes
- Decadent dessert buffet
- Free-flowing champagne and sparkling cider
- Your own private table
- Narrated tour of San Diego landmarks
- FREE Wi-fi.
You will never run short on Champagne or Dessert with Hornblower Cruises.
I managed to fit in two plateful’s of deliciousness between the Champagne and dessert runs!
Hornblower Cruises of San Diego, Ca
Maritime Museum of San Diego, Ca
Just a few steps south of Hornblower Cruises, located on the waterfront, is the Maritime Museum of San Diego.
“The Maritime Museum of San Diego enjoys a worldwide reputation for excellence in restoring, maintaining and operating historic vessels. The museum has one of the world’s finest collections of historic ships, including the world’s oldest active ship Star of India.”
Maritime Museum of San Diego offers various events, self guided and group tours, cruises, 9 ships and 2 submarines including a Soviet sub for you to tour.
Allow a few extra hours to enjoy the museum and see all of the exhibits.
Little Italy of Sand Diego, Ca
Just a brief walk uphill from the Waterfront you will find the Little Italy section of San Diego.
Well known for dinning, shopping and nightlife.
Little Italy offers 48 square blocks going through renovations and urban development for you to explore.
Our explorations brought us to Isola Pizza Bar, 1526 India Street.
I enjoyed a cold beer, a giant $5 Margarita pizza during our fun meet-up with several other travel bloggers.
By giant, I mean too big for me to eat!
Wander north a few blocks and you will discover Gelato paradise entering the doors of Idessert by Jean-Phillipe.
Think Gelato filled Meringue cups!
With 16 Meringue crusts, 8 Gelato flavors, 5 creams, 5 cake, 6 sauce, 6 fruit and 9 crunch combinations to create … well you get the idea!
Just in case you need more convincing!
Order the “Vegas Bowl”! You can thank me later.
Fun for the kiddies (and Adults too) is watching the planes fly crazy low overhead in Little Italy.
Little Italy will provide you with endless possibilities from dawn to well past dusk so bring a big appetite and walking shoes to get the most out of it.
I will leave off here with part 1 of my 2 Nation Vacation!
(Full disclosure: Hornblower Cruises of Sand Diego provided complimentary passes to their Champagne San Diego Brunch Cruise in exchange for my unbiased review. All photos, comments and opinions are my own.)
Sav
Nice post, Gary. That dessert looks amazing.
Not quite 2500 words … 🙂