Zonies plus San Diego can be paradise, even with teens in tow

Trying to please teenagers is, as any parent knows, an oxymoron. Planning a trip with them AND trying to please everyone on that trip is damn near impossible.  But because we humans tend to hope against hope, occasionally the impossible dream must be attempted. As a result, sometimes we survive wars; other times we emerge victorious from vacations.

 

Like so many "Zonies", which is what our California neighbors call us, my family and I head west to San Diego every summer for a respite from the heat. This has become a tradition since our first years after moving to the desert, and we've had countless good memories there, usually bumping into at least one Arizona acquaintance on each trip.

 

(Question: how do you spot a 'Zonie in San Diego?

Answer: they are the ones bundled up in sweatshirts when it's seventy degrees.)

 

The thing is, when kids are small, parents can just pack their things and herd them into the car. But as their bodies grow, so do their lives and opinions. And when mom wants the family together at the beach before they get any older (and to not have to make the bed or cook while there), and child number one will only go if her best friend can come along, while child number two really does not want to leave her boyfriend behind, and child number three (a/k/a dad) will only stay in a large air-conditioned space (not so easy to find in San Diego) with an oceanfront view, what's a family to do?

 

Thank God there is a place that can make anyone and everyone happy: the Pacific Terrace Hotel. If you're one of thousands of Arizonans headed to the Pacific Beach area of San Diego, you must check this oceanfront place out. It's pricey but worth every penny, and with less travelling going on this year (coyotes excluded), some great deals can be found. This hotel with its first class amenities and staff members will make you forget almost all of your stresses. And the sounds of the ocean at your doorstep will take care of what's left.  

 

The hotel is also within walking distance of great restaurants like Kono's and the Seaside Cantina for breakfast (although the Pacific Terrace also provides a free continental breakfast), and World Famous and Joe's Crab Shack for dinner. Your mouth will water for days thinking about the Seaside Cantina's artichoke breakfast scramble and World Famous' lobster bisque soup.

 

And I have lived to testify that with a lot of fortitude and determination—and a little help from the right hotel—the impossible can attained: a happy vacationing family of adults and not-quite-adults, with the smiling photos to prove it.

 

So if you can't stand the heat, hit the road for five or six hours and head to San Diego and the Pacific Terrace.  Ask for Carly or Lynnette. They'll take good care of you.

 

 

(AP Photo/Denis Poroy)