YEAR VISITED: 1997, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, and 2021.

FAVORITE CITIES AND EXPERIENCES: San Diego is one of my favorite cities in the United States. You simply cannot beat the combination of beaches and perfect weather anywhere on the west coast. While Jill and I have been to the city multiple times before, our longest visits as a family came in the spring of 2015 and the summer of 2019. I would definitely say we have ‘done’ San Diego. During both extended visits we toured the famous San Diego Zoo.

We also explored the San Diego Safari Park and to be perfectly honest probably enjoyed it the best. It didn’t feel as crowded and the safari was a big hit. At times you really felt like you were on a real safari on the Serengeti.

When traveling to San Diego I would suggest making Old Town one of your first stops. We gained some insight into the cities historical heritage. There is a state park, musuems, tourist type stores, and from what I hear over twenty resturants within a one mile radius. We ate at Cafe Coyote, and consider it some of the best mexican food we have ever eaten.

San Diego has a large Naval presence and is the home of the Pacific Fleet. We toured the aircraft carrier, USS Midway. Truthfully, we had very little expectation for what we were going to see and were blown away by the exhibits. There were over 25 aircraft on the flight deck to explore, a flight simulator, and you could walk through multiple below deck displays. It is difficult to explain just how big an aircraft carrier is. We spent nearly three hours there and left feeling like we could have spent even longer.

Bailey and Maddie have been to Legoland twice; once with their Grandparents John and Judy and then the whole family in 2015. If you have little kids, this park is perfect as the rides and activities are geared for a younger audience. I would estimate the target audience to be anywhere from 5-12 years old.

Growing up SeaWorld was a destination I always wanted to go to. I finally went in 2015 and the family and I had a blast. The park is a good mix of zoo and amusement park. Orcas are amazing creatures that I couldn’t help but feel in awe of while watching their show. However, ever since the family watched the movie Blackfish, we have not returned to SeaWorld.

In all our travels I have not experienced better beaches than what San Diego has to offer. Our favorites have been Pacific Beach, Carlsbad, Oceanside, Torrey Pines, and Coronado. The best was Carlsbad where we climbed down a cliff via a rope ladder – needless to say we had a beautiful beach nearly to ourselves.

La Jolla Cove, and surrounding area, was also a favorite. We kayaked in the Cove and drove up to the Mount Soledad Cross.

Mission Bay is a place we spent an afternoon and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We took turns playing around on our stand up paddle board, had a picnic, and watched an amazing sunset.

We have always tried to make birthdays and anniversary’s a big deal in our family. While the jury is still out whether this is a big deal or not, for Jill’s 40th birthday the girls and I got her a hot air balloon ride over San Diego. Jill and Bailey took the ride and Maddie and I watched the balloon while sitting at an In & Out Burger.

When you are from the PNW, there are times when you simply just crave sunshine. Palm Springs is a perfect location for when you just need to get out of the rain. Technically we stayed in Indio, but it all feels the same to me. Because the weather is perfect and the pool(s) are amazing, we typically don’t leave the resort. In fact in 2017 we spent the 4th of July here and watched the fireworks from our patio.

However, we do enjoy window shopping in downtown Palm Springs and our favorite resturant is Sherman’s Deli & Bakery, which is a New York style deli. We had a great time with our friends the Streets who made the roadtrip over from Las Vegas. Although it can get a bit warm in the summer months – 122 when we were there.

Against my better judgement, as I do not enjoy heights, we rode the Palm Springs Ariel Tramway. This is the “worlds largest rotating tram car” which is a roughly a 10-minute ride over two and a half miles nearly straght up to Mt. San Jacinto State Park. The elevation is over 8,000 feet and the views are spectacular. Even though I had sweaty palms, I enjoyed the experience.

STADIUMS AND/OR SPORTING EVENTS: I have been to Dodger Stadium, one of the most iconic settings in all of sports, twice. The first was with a group of AP Government teachers on Duke Snider bobblehead night and we sat in the right field bleachers. Team Castro went in the summer of 2017 and sat in the front row of the left field bleachers. It was hot and Madison relocated for a majority of the game under the bleachers – it was then that we realized the left field bleacher seats come with unlimited soda pop, hot dogs, and popcorn. Needless to say the girls had a blast – we like the bleachers!

While in college my high school friend, Jay Hilton, and I took a road trip to California. We decided to walk around Dodger Stadium and then discovered the gate on the hill above home plate was open. Like two kids in a candy store we proceeded to walk in, head to the elevator, and hit ‘ground floor.’ Next thing you know we were on the clubhouse floor and had access to the Dodgers dugout. Needless to say, we proceeded to sit in the dugout and take a few photos… before we rushed out with no one the wiser.

On that same road trip, in 1999, Jay and I went to an Angels game. The game was extremely slow and time felt like it was standing still. Since we were bored and in the vacinty of the Happiest Place on Earth, we decided to leave the game early and return to Disneyland for the evening fireworks. Later we found out future HOF 3rd basemen, Wade Boggs, pitched in the game for the New York Yankees. As you baseball fans know, a position player pitching in the Major Leagues is an extremely rare feat. This is one of the main reasons for shaping my current belief of not ever leaving a baseball game early; you never know what you are going to see.

The summer of 2019, Team Castro went to an Angels game vs the reigning World Series Champion, Houston Astros. The ‘Big A’ is an older stadium (built in 1966) and while it has been remodeled I would evaluate it as … fine. Not great, not bad, just fine.

The San Diego Padres played in Jack Murphy Stadium or “The Murph” from 1967 until 2003. Jill and I saw a game with her parents there in 2003. We were lucky enough to see high school friend Adam Eaton pitch. The Murph is a prototipical 1960″s/70″s style bowl stadium and other than the fact it was located in beautiful San Diego, it didn’t feel like anything special.

The Padres moved to Petco Park in 2004 and I consider it my favorite ‘new’ stadium. It is located in the downtown Gas Lamp district near the water and is beautiful construction. This combined with fantastic food choices and the perfect San Diego weather and you have a first class stadium. When we took the tour of the stadium we learned that the park was built around an abandoned building in left field. Rather than tear it down, the Padres decided to fix it up and keep it for office space. If you look close you can see that they have attached seats off the front of the building. I love the character this provides.

We have seen three games at Petco Park. The first was in the inaugural season of 2004, one of Eaton’s last years with the Padres. We also saw them play the Mets in 2017 and the Giants in 2019.

ADVENTURE(S): No trip to Los Angeles is complete without hiking the Hollywood sign. I hiked it with my friend Sean and then we hiked it as a family during spring break of 2015. It doesn’t get any more iconic.

The Hollywood Walk of Fame is also fascinating to see. Although I wouldn’t suggest doing it more than once as the area feels seedy in places. On both our visits (2015 & 2021) we were constantly bombarded by strangers attempting to pressure us to tour the homes of the stars. However, we did enjoy walking the boulevard and scouting out the many famous names.

As we were exploring Hollywood we stumbled upon The Road to Hollywood – a fun path that leads to a beautiful view of the Hollywood sign. At the end of the path is a concrete bed that is a perfect destination to get your pictures with the Hollywood sign.

In 2010, when the girls were little we toured the Mann’s Chinese Theatre. I got a kick out of the fact that five year old Bailey proudly wore her Disney Princess hat everywhere we went. What made it even better is that no one in Hollywood even batted an eyelash. We returned to the Chinese Theatre in 2021. We spent time posing for pictures with the hand and feet concrete imprints of the stars that are immortalized in the sidewalk out front.

In 2021, the only time we stayed in the city limits of Hollywood, we stayed at the Loews Hollywood Hotel. It is located on the back side of the Highland Shopping Center, adjacent to the El Capitan Theatre. While the windows were filthy, we had a view of the Hollywood sign and the girls felt like rock stars lounging in the rooftop pool.

While the hotel stay was awesome, the best part was the proximity to the Hollywood Bowl. This allowed us to walk less than a half a mile up the hill to the classic outdoor concert venue, The Hollywood Bowl. We saw Christina Aguilera with the LA Phil and had an absolute blast. This was one of the best nights of our entire summer of 2021. If you are a concert goer, seeing a performance at the Hollywood Bowl should definitely be on your bucket list. Just remember that traffic and parking in Southern California is as bad as anywhere in the country. We would definitely suggest a nearby hotel and walk rather than fight the traffic.

Disneyland is truly the happiest place on earth! It simply doesn’t matter what mood you are in prior to arrival. In our experience no matter how big or small you are, you can’t help but smile and be happy. Team Castro has been to the park three times; 2010, 2013, and 2015.

Our favorite rides are Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain, and Bailey and I love Splash Mountain. Our 2nd time going to the park we paid for a character dining experience and the girls were able to meet all the disney princesses. No matter how old I get I will always remember the look of pure joy on the girls’ faces the first time they entered the park.

California Adventure is located adjacent to Disneyland and to me feels like an extension of Disneyland. Our favorite rides are Soarin Over California and Radiator Springs Racers in Cars Land. Our 2nd trip, when Bailey was just 7 years old, she really developed her love of roller coasters. While she built up the confidence to try Tower of Terror, it didn’t go well and set her love of coasters back a couple of years. However, I love the fact she tried it.

In 2019 we spent a week in Anaheim. On that trip we made our first stop at Universal Studios Hollywood – in the summer of 2021 we made a return trip. Our favorites were the Hollywood Tour and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

Besides the vicious LA traffic, we had a great day at the park. The virtual rides blew our mind. Depending on how busy it is, this would be our first choice of parks in SoCal to return to.

There is so much to do in Southern California, the Warner Brothers Tour is often an after thought. It simply gets overlooked. However, it was one of Jill’s and my favorite attractions. We were able to walk through a handful of movie sets, locations, and city blocks. We also got to sit behind the desk used for West Wing and take a picture on the Friends couch. The really cool thing is they cater the tour to your interests.

Santa Monica Pier, while traffic is usually a bear, is also a SoCal must. There are carnival type rides on the pier, resturants, and of course a beautiful beach. We have enjoyed playing in the surf, exploring the original Muscle Beach, riding the iconic ferris wheel, and eating at Forrest Gump’s resturant on the pier.

Up the coast from Santa Monica about three hours is Pismo Beach. We spent a day here in 2021 where we greatly enjoyed our afternoon. The board walk is picturesque, the town is beachy and fun, and best of all the sandy beach is second to none. Jill and I ordered fish tacos on the pier and the whole family enjoyed shopping in the quaint downtown area. This is a great location to spend an afternoon.

Six Flags Magic Mountain is an absolute favorite of Jill’s. I would estimate she has been there three or four times. My first trip came during a road trip to college and then the family made a day out of it in 2019. Jill is the families roller coaster junkie and has seemed to have converted our oldest daughter, Bailey. Maddie and I are significantly more cautious and seem to be the designated “purse holders.” However, if you like roller coasters there isn’t a better park in America.

Team Castro has only been to Knotts Berry Farm once – the summer of 2017. While we have heard great things, when we were there it was extremely crowded and there were long lines. We managed to enjoy ourselves by walking through the stores and even dressing up for an old time photo but wouldn’t return during the busy season.

NOTABLE DESTINATIONS & STOPS: Now that In & Out Burger has come to the PNW, I am guessing the ol ‘ double-double burger will begin to lose it’s unique California feel. However, we still makes it a priority to pull into an In & Out every time we are in SoCal.

We have truly been blessed with having the ability to stay at World Mark hotels all over the country. One of our favorites has been World Mark-Anaheim. The pool is beautiful, the rooms are amazing, and the best part is it is located right across the street from Disneyland. It is so close we are able to watch the nightly fireworks from our room.

While I no longer teach history, I will forever be a self proclaimed ‘history geek.’ I am drawn to historical sites and destinations as I simply learn so much more by touring a sight or having the freedom to sift through primary documents. Presidential musuems are unlike any other musuem I have ever been too. I love all the real life artifacts and material you get to handle. If you ever have the chance I highly recommend going to any presidential musuem. We have been to the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda as well as the Regan Musuem in Simi Valley. Highlights of Nixon’s library was touring his childhood home (on the grounds of the musuem), walking through the Marine One helicopter that Dick & Pat got into after he resigned, as well as getting to see his Checkers and Resignation speeches.

We toured Reagan’s Library on New Years Eve 2012. Unfortunately many of the Rose Parade dignitaries were also touring the museum that day and the location was absolutely packed. As a result we didn’t stay that long. However, highlights of our visit were walking through Reagan’s Air Force One, seeing various sections of the Berlin Wall, as well as paying our respects at his final burial site.

Sprinkles Cupcakes is a Beverly Hills based cupcake chain. Jill and the girls enjoy watching mutliple baking and cupcake shows. Plus our friend, Becky, introduced us specifically to Sprinkles. As a result we have visited multiple bakery locations and are especially infatuated with the cupcake ATM.

Jill had seen the ‘Fallen Star’ in Atlas Obscura and talked us into going. While none of us were really sure what we were getting into, all of us were happy we went on this adventure. For lack of a better way to describe The Fallen Star, it is a house built off the 7th floor of the Engineering building on the campus of UC San Diego.

While Southern California has many beautiful beaches, Huntington Beach is one of the best and a must see. In August it is the home of the US Open of Surfing and is typically very crowded but worth the inconvenience. No matter when you visit, walking around the pier, window shopping in the downtown surf shops, or just finding a spot to chill on the nearly 10-mile beach is a perfect way to spend a day in SoCal.

When I was in elementary school I was always jealous of the kids that returned from Christmas Break, Spring Break, or Summer with a Hard Rock Cafe tshirt. They always seemed so cool. As a result, when we first began to travel I pledged to make it a priority to eat at a Hard Rock. In California, we have been to Cafe’s in Hollywood, Universal, San Diego, La Jolla, (since has moved) and San Fransisco.

In 2021 we spent a week in Solvang. It is located 45 minutes north of Santa Barbara and is known as the “Danish Capital of America.” We leisurely toured the quaint downtown, ate out at Solvang Brewing Company, and enjoyed wine tasting.

While we didn’t end up visiting one, we were greatly excited by the fact the town has multiple karaoke wine tasting bars; next time for sure! Just outside of the city limits, closer to Buellton, is Ostrichland. Considering we have never visited or even heard of a ostrich farm, we definitely pulled in.

Admission was $7 for adults and we spent nearly an hour observing these odd looking creatures. By far the highlight was buying the feed and allowing the girls to feed these unique creatures. It was a great vacation experience!

• OUR LIST TO VISIT OR RETURN TO:
• Rose Bowl Game
• USC Athletics
• UCLA Athletics
• Cal St. Fullerton Baseball
• UC Irvine Baseball