Pat & Lauren Pannuto‑Leader

Things to Do

Dedicated public space since Mexican rule, Balboa Park is a large, urban greenscape with over 17 museums, a panoply of rotating food vendors, a community of local artists, and home to the world-famous San Diego Zoo. You can easily spend a whole day in the park, and an evening afterwards in any of the vibrant surrounding neighborhoods of Hillcrest (where Pat & Lauren first lived!), North Park, or South Park.

• More about Balboa
• More about the San Diego Zoo

A California classic, Belmont Park is a boardwalk amusement park on the beach. It features a small wooden roller coaster, carousel, and other classic rides. There is also mini-golf, an Escape Room that suits smaller parties (2-6), zipline, a rock-climbing wall, and more. Pat and Lauren had their engagement photos done here (and in Torrey Pines), and it's one of their favorite places to take visitors.

The park abuts Mission Beach, a two-mile long beautiful stretch of perfect sand and water. If you are interested in trying out a surfing lesson or just playing in the waves, this is a great place to go. These is also a wide walking / riding path that runs the length of the beach; a great place to rent a beach cruiser bike or some skates and go for a roll.

There are many great beaches all around the San Diego area.

• The closest is Spanish Landing Park. Really it's a smaller area of sand and less of a beach, the primary attraction here is a reasonably large park and children's play area.
• If you're looking for a bigger beach and some coastal nightlife, head up to Ocean Beach, voted most-likely-place to find someone still living in a VW Vanagon. If you're looking for a canine fix, stop by the Ocean Beach Dog Beach, one of the first and largest off-leash dog beaches.
• If you want to make a full day of it, Coronado Island has everything you need for a day of fine dining and pampering in paradise. Coronado includes Coronado Beach, which (depending on your voters) is consistently ranked as the best beach in the US, or at a minimum, the best beach on the West Coast. If you're feeling adventurous, consider skipping the drive, and heading over via Ferry.
• Finally, if hidden gems are more your vibe, check out Kellogg Beach – a true locals beach, this is a smaller, calm place and a great beach to bring book to or just hang out on.

Hungry?

Across the street is Fisherman's Landing, a marina area with a bunch of food options and a nice view of boats and the water. We recommend:

• Jimmy's Famous – Traditional American fare, good beer selection, and great burgers.
• Pizza Nova – Italian-American, homemade pasta and pizza, plus great garlic knots.
• Mitch's Seafood – For people who love seafood; they serve whatever came in today, and it's excellent. A small place, expect a line if you come near any regular meal times. You can order online in advance and carry-out however.
• Point Loma Seafoods – A great market to buy fresh seafood to make yourself. They do also sell sandwiches and platters, but the vibe of their kitchen is deep-fry heavy, so the fresh stuff doesn't shine quite as much here as a diner.

A little bit further is the Point Loma Village area. There's some nice food options here as well, but we'll highlight two options if you're looking for a place to post up, enjoy some beverages, and just relax:

• The Wine Pub – Pat and Lauren's go-to Friday night haunt, it has a lovely outdoor patio, chill live music, and great wines.
• Eppig Waterfront Beer Garden – A large deck built into the marina and some great beers, and great late afternoon spot. Next to some residential space, so it does close at 9pm sadly.

Decommissioned barracks, Liberty Station is an enormous space with everything from restaurants, grocery stores, event spaces, artist studios, startups, and more. A cool place to walk around and a great place to support some local artists and small businesses.

• Stone Brewing – Our post-rehearsal dinner destination, Stone has a huge outdoor courtyard where the wedding party will be hanging out Friday night. All are welcome to come join.
• Liberty Public Market – Over 30 mini-restaurants and vendors in one place! You can get any type of food you can imagine here, and mixing and matching from a bunch of places is highly encouraged. A great way to sample a ton of options.

If you're looking to eat out somewhere nicer, you will almost certainly need to make reservations in advance. Pretty much everywhere in San Diego has a nice outdoor dining option, and built-in heaters just in case it is a chilly night. There are many rooftop options as well, but competition can be pretty stiff for those seats on weekends. We recommend leaning into the SoCal lifestyle and being outdoors whenever possible :).

• Little Italy – What it sounds like, a suite of some of the best Italian food on offer outside of Italy.
• Gaslamp – The heart of the downtown scene, the Gaslamp features restaurants for every palate.

After dinner, San Diego has a healthy speakeasy scene, as well as just fun regular bars. Here's a few you may want to check out (again, might need to reach out in advance for the speakeasys).

• False Idol – Hidden in the back of a restaurant, a Tiki Speakeasy that will make you believe you have teleported to another world. It will renew, or newly kindle, a love of rum and tropical drinks.
• Prohibition Lounge – A full 1920s experience, step back in time when you step in here. Dress code is enforced on the weekends, be prepared for a more immersive night and to be part of it.
• Nolita Hall – Not a speakeasy, just a cool bar. This one is right under the flight path, and has a neat old-world flip board behind the bar with the flight info of whatever is overhead.