With beautiful weather, gorgeous beaches, interesting history, excellent parks and museums and kid-friendly attractions like the San Diego Zoo, SeaWorld and LEGOLAND, San Diego is an ideal family vacation destination. My one-and-a-half-year-old son and I spent four days there earlier this month, soaking up the sun, going to SeaWorld and taking a trolley tour of the city.

We spent our first day in San Diego relaxing at our hotel, unwinding after a stressful morning of traveling. We got an amazing deal at the beautiful Paradise Point Resort. I kept waiting for someone to come tell us there had been a huge mistake and we were at the wrong hotel or something. Paradise Point Resort is on its own island in Mission Bay, with lush landscaping, lagoons and several gorgeous pools. It was perfect for taking little strolls with my toddler. The harbor view from the Barefoot Bar and Grill was gorgeous.

On our second day in San Diego, we walked about a mile to SeaWorld, where they’re running a special deal for an adult ticket at the kid’s ticket price PLUS a second day free. Jack fell asleep in his stroller on the way there. It was the first time he had fallen asleep in his stroller since he was a newborn! I’m sure it helped that he hadn’t slept well the night before, but I was SO glad. This meant we could spend more time at SeaWorld without having to hike all the way back to the hotel for a nap.

We went in as soon as he woke up and spent the whole day there, enjoying the animals and the Sesame Street Bay of Play. Check out all of our SeaWorld San Diego tips here. We headed back to the hotel for dinner and Jack fell asleep in his stroller again on the way! He was so conked out that I moved him to the hotel bed when we got back and he slept until morning.

The next day, after our morning stroll around the beach and lagoons, a trolley from Old Town Trolley Tours picked us up right in front of our hotel for a daylong on-off tour of San Diego. On our way, I caught a glimpse of an awesome playground right on the beach in Mission Bay Park. We never got a chance to go back to it, but it’s on my list for next time.

Then we headed to Old Town San Diego where the tour officially began. We had a few minutes to kill here and a stroll around showed many Mexican restaurants along with stores and carts full of souvenirs. Not much for kids to do here. We were happy to leave on the first trolley out.

Jack LOVED riding on the trolley. It had nice big open windows to enjoy the perfect San Diego weather and comfortable padded bench seats. The conductors were funny and I enjoyed their commentary, which included themed music for every stop. It was cheesy, but in a good way. The trolley makes 10 stops at points of interest around San Diego and you can get off at any stop and catch the next trolley. We didn’t have time to get off at every stop, but it was nice to drive by all the different attractions and see what else San Diego has to offer.

The first stop was at the San Diego harbor. Here we caught glimpse of some cool navy ships, the cruise ship terminal, the Star of India and the Maritime and USS Midway Museums. The USS Midway Aircraft Carrier—in other words, a BIG SHIP with PLANES on it—would be a great place to visit with kids. We were headed towards the next stop though, Seaport Village, to ride the carousel.

Seaport Village is a very cute, quaint little waterfront attraction with shops and restaurants. We spent an hour here, wandering around window-shopping at stores like Kite Flight, the Apple Box wooden toy store and Urban Girl Accessories; riding on the carousel a few times; and sharing a piece of pizza on a patio with a view of the ocean.

We hopped back on the trolley, skipping the next stop near the Children’s Museum, San Diego Convention Center and Petco Park, since the Children’s Museum was closed for remodeling. Jack took a nap as we passed by the Gaslamp Quarter and Bay Front Park and headed over the extremely tall Coronado Bay Bridge. I’m sure the view is gorgeous if you’re not deathly afraid of heights and riding in a trolley with huge open windows. Jack stayed asleep when we got off near the Hotel Del Coronado, so I got a chance to stroll around the historic Del (as it’s known by the locals) until he woke up and we headed down to the beautiful Coronado Beach.

According to our tour guide, Coronado Beach is one of the top beaches in the world for families. With its calm waves and sand sparkling with mica, I can see why. When you add in the cool military planes flying directly over the beach to land at the Naval Air Station, this beach is a kid’s dream come true. We could have spent all day here, splashing in the waves and playing with the sand, but there was still one more stop I wanted to hit: Balboa Park.

Balboa Park is incredible. This 1,200-acre park is home to the world-famous San Diego Zoo, beautiful architecture, cool museums, lush gardens and beautiful fountains. The park is so big it has its own visitor’s center and so nice that the bathroom has flowers and lit candles in it. I would love to come for longer next time and get the Passport to Balboa Park, a seven-day pass to your choice of 13 museums for only $39.

As it was, we only had an hour at the park before the last trolley back to the hotel, so we headed for the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center, a highly interactive science museum filled with hands-on exhibits for kids. Jack had such a blast here turning wheels and grocery shopping at Kid City.

We caught the trolley back to the hotel for dinner and an early bedtime after a long day of fun. The trolley tour was a great value. We did so much in one day and only spent $32 on the trolley tour, $3 on pizza and $10 on admission to the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center. We were in San Diego such a short time, but we got a little taste of everything thanks to this tour. Plus, we saved a lot of money by not renting a car.

On our last day in San Diego, we took advantage of our second day free at SeaWorld before taking off back to Denver, where the weather had decidedly turned cold for fall. I miss the gorgeous San Diego weather. Good thing we’re off to Orlando next! Stay tuned . . .