A Golden State Summer ~ California
- Esha Shah
- Mar 10
- 5 min read
The summer after my freshman year at Binghamton, my mom, dad, sister and I took one of the most memorable trips we have ever done together: a 10-day vacation to California. We flew into Los Angeles, drove down to San Diego, made out way up the coast to San Francisco, and eventually looped back to LA. It was the perfect mix of beaches, hiking, amazing food, city exploring, and classic California views. Looking back, it felt like we packed an entire summer into ten days.
San Diego:
Our first full day was in San Diego, and we started the morning with free breakfast at Comfort Inn. After breakfast, we explored Balboa Park, which felt like a mini city of gardens and museums. From there, we visited the WNDR Museum, which was such a cool interactive experience. Later we walked around Little Italy and had dinner at Monello.
The next day, we fully embraced San Diego's outdoor lifestyle. And it was indeed very very hot. We hiked the Torrey Pines trails in the morning, and the views of the cliffs and ocean were absolutely unreal. I couldn't stop taking pictures. After the hike, we relaxed at Flat Rock Beach in the Torrey Pines State Reserve!
Of course, we had to stop for Batch & Box cookies (which definitely lived up to the hype). Unfortunately, I couldn't take a picture of them before we devoured them. We ended up watching the sunset at Sunset Cliffs and it was so beautiful. It makes you realize how lucky you are to be there and witness it.
San Fran:
On Thursday, we started our drive up the California coast toward San Francisco (which was 6 hours). We stopped in Santa Barbara and spend some time at the Santa Barbara Beach and grabbed food at Flor de Maiz before getting back on the road.
The drive was honestly part of the adventure as well because the views were amazing!!
San Francisco was easily my favorite part of the trip. We ended up staying at Comfort Inn by the Bay and it was a very happening street. Our first night, we grabbed Pink Onion. Let me tell you that it was THE BEST restaurant I have ever been to in my whole entire life even though the area looked very sketchy. I keep dreaming of going back and I was so sad to see that its only in San Francisco. We got this family meal deal that was $55 for the four of us and included an appetizer, a pasta dish, a large pizza, garlic bread, and dessert. The burratta salad was so yummy and it was plated so nicely. I kid you not, I made this salad every week for the rest of the summer. OMG and the spicy vodka sauce pasta was to die for!!!
Friday morning, we visited the Painted Ladies at Alamo Square Park, which was one of those places you recognize instantly even if you have never been there before because there are so many TV shows and movies that show the Painted Ladies. It was a little crowded there, but we managed to take a family photo. We also went to the Conservatory of Flowers!
We grabbed sandwiches from Deli Board for lunch and then had Square Pie Guys pizza for dinner. Both were delicious!
Saturday was our big sightseeing day. Make sure you bring a sweatshirt, it was cold in SF for it being the middle of the Summer! We started with a bus tour of the Golden Gate Bridge from Battery Spencer, which had one of the most incredible views of the bridge and the entire bay. We then walked around Crissy Field and Union Square.
Later, we went to Pier 39, which is busy and touristy but still fun to experience. We walked around a lot of shops and found some cute California shirts for our travel clothing collection. That night we had dinner at ROOH and finished the evening walking around Ghirardelli Square. And of course, we had to get some ice cream and chocolate.
My dad somehow convinced us all to go to Yosemite National Park and there were some really cool mountains and winding roads. Although my sister and I did not want to go, we still enjoyed sightseeing.
San Jose Stop:
On Sunday, we stopped in San Jose before heading back to Los Angeles. We walked around Santana Row and grapped coffee from Blue Bottle Coffee. We also tried Urban Momos and I loved the Schezwan Veggie Chow Mein and the Vegetarian Paneer Momos. Then, we spent some time at Lake Cunningham before getting back on the road.
Los Angeles:
Once we got back to LA, we stayed at the Quality Inn, which was nice but I did not appreciate the very tiny bathroom. We spent the last few days of our trip seeing everything the city is famous for. We took a tour around Hollywood, the Walk or Fame, and Beverly Hills, which felt unreal because they are the places you have seen in movies your entire life.
Another day we explores the coast- Malibu Beach, Santa Monica Pier, and Venice Beach. Malibu was peaceful, Santa Monica felt lively, and Venice was colorful and chaotic in a way.
We also packed in a lot of iconic LA spots including the Urban Lights, Griffith Observatory, and the Angels Flight. Griffith Observatory had one of the best views of the entire city, especially as the sun started to go down.
Universal Studios was a full day on its own and definitely worth it. We also explored downtown LA and visited the Broad and Dreamspace museum.
Of course, a huge part of the trip was the food. We wanted to grab dinner with my cousin and his wife who live in Santa Monica, so we went to this Italian restaurant called Elephante. Although it was really yummy, nothing could compare to Pink Onion from San Francisco.
I am now realizing that we did a lot in those 10 days but it was so worth it. I have never walked around so much in my entire life. I also feel like there were some things that we missed but we were very pleased by everything we saw.
Have you ever been to Cali? Do you want to go?
Wow this is so cool you guys did so much in a week and a half! I want to go to California so bad but there is just so much to see. There are so many great cities, national parks, and highway one looks so beautiful! Do you think 10 days was enough time or would you have wanted to stay longer? I know you said you packed a lot into the 10 days but I also like getting the most out of every day I am traveling. I don't mind waking up early and getting on the road. This sounds like so much fun. -Sophie Miller