San Diego is a family friendly place. There are family friendly restaurants and family friendly beaches and family friendly parks and family friendly amusements scattered throughout this wonderful city. You probably don’t need a guide to suggest that Sea World is a family friendly place. Or Legoland.
But we are here to offer something a bit more nuanced. We have made a series of 24 hour itineraries that are family friendly in the sense that kids will be welcome and have a good time, but they are places where mom and dad and grandma and uncle Steve can have a drink and enjoy themselves too. Places where you would go even if you didn’t have kids, but the kids will have fun alongside you. Places where half the customers will be families, the other half will not.
Perhaps you live in San Diego and have kids, but your kid-free friends are coming to town and you want to take them out for a drink – this guide is for you. Or the opposite – you live here and have no kids, but your friends with kids are coming to visit and you’re not trying to go to Chuck-E-Cheese- this guide is for you. Or maybe mom and dad just need to unwind and you can’t find a babysitter… anyway, you get it.
The Itinerary
1. Head To One Paseo Mall In Del Mar
2. Get Lunch At Sky Deck
2. Watch The Sunset And Get Dinner At Viewpoint Brewing Company
3. Map to this itinerary
Daytime
Head To One Paseo Mall In Del Mar
One Paseo is an outdoor shopping mall in Del Mar with teams of stores, restaurants, and, importantly, a Harland Brewing location. Most notably, this mall hosts a good amount of family friendly events, including Family Yoga and Baby and Me HITT classes on Sunday mornings (if you are on top of things enough to schedule something like that). They also often have movies and family events in the field near the brewery.
Even if there are no events – the big grassy field near the brewery is perfect for the kids to run around while you have some food and a beer and anxiously think about your inbox and that you have work on Monday. Or tomorrow. Or later that day. But right now you are free, so enjoy it.
Get Lunch At Sky Deck
Sky Deck is a fancy food hall in Del Mar that hosts several restaurants and a couple of drinking establishments all within an airy, attractive, open amphitheater. It is cool and it is trendy and it is a bit like an expensive mall food court (actually that might be exactly what it is), but it is worth a visit because, let’s be honest, it is pretty well done. There is a good amount of outdoor seating and the deck, the sky deck, for the kids to run around.
Nighttime
Watch The Sunset And Get Dinner At Viewpoint Brewing Company
Viewpoint Brewing Co, as the name suggests, is a place that is worth visiting for the views alone. It is located right on the water by the San Dieguito Lagoon in Del Mar, not far from One Paseo. Come at sunset and watch the sky catch fire as you sip a beer and wish away the work week.
Viewpoint is a big open restaurant where you will catch lots of local families coming for the sunset. The food is quality, elevated pub fare. Eat and drink and watch the birds flying south for the evening and sigh. Now pay attention and figure out where your children ran off to. They are probably by the lagoon throwing rocks at a pelican. A sunset and watching nature are always good ways to close out a day, whether you are on vacation or just enjoying your own town.
