A Day in San Diego: Zoo, Food, and Sunset(?)

Hello! So I recently went on a mini road trip with my best friends to San Diego. We really wanted to stay there overnight, but it was just too expensive and difficult to plan. We still had a great one day trip there and wanted to share my day there.

Our first stop was the San Diego Zoo. It is a really well known zoo and I haven't been to a zoo since I was a little girl so I was super excited. Side note, Triple A members get a 10% discount so bring your card if you decide to go. 

I think tigers are absolutely majestic. I'm pretty sad about their dwindling population.

Absolutely adorable

Pandas are so lazy and useless. I'm rather convinced pandas are my spirit animals.

We stayed for around four hours before leaving the attraction. We had a pretty good time, but my only complaint was the polar bear/frozen exhibit, where the only ice was the fake playpens for kids. Even the polar bear exhibit was just melted water with desert rocks. Plus, the polar bears were outside in the blistering heat. It's already bad enough this species is about to become extinct, but choosing to not invest in a better cold facility for them? Shame. 

Our next stop was the renowned Phil's BBQ. We arrived there at an odd time (2:50 p.m.) in hopes to avoid the notoriously super long line. When we arrived, we still saw a super long line out the door! We waited for approximately 50 minutes. I was surprised to see it as an order-and-seat-yourself type of restaurant rather than a serving one. 

I got the baby back ribs with a side of fries and cole slaw. The meat was so succulent and tender. The marinade definitely had a slight kick to it. I could tell the rub was so flavorful and was so different from the sweet honey bbq I was used to eating at other bbq restaurants like Lucille's. The ribs were absolute perfection. On the other hand, the fries were a different story. They were bland and soggy, the opposite of what french fries should be. The cole slaw tasted delicious though. Phil's is also more affordable than I expected, with a full rack being around $20. All in all, Phil's was worth the wait and I highly recommend you try to go here if you're in the SD area.

My friends and I really wanted to see the sunset, so we decided to visit Sunset Cliffs. We were really disappointed though because the sky was full of clouds so we couldn't see a proper sunset. We still had a good time and you couldn't really beat the view. 

We also planned on going to Extraordinary Desserts but were too pooped and decided to go back home and grab some dessert. 

I'm so glad I got to share this mini adventure with my closest friends in San Diego. We're all going to be significantly far away from each other for college, but I'm not too sad about it because I know we'll be friends for life anyways. 

I hope you enjoyed this little travel blog post and let me know what places you love in San Diego if you've ever been.