Road Trip Advice: Vancouver to San Diego??

[BIGBERTHA]

My wife and I have 2 weeks and a GTI. We love shopping (Self Edge is the only place i have loaded on GPS so far), great food/drink/music and the beach. Affordable boutique hotels would be nice, but clean bed to rest heads at night is all we really need. If you know of any spots along the way, recommendations for shopping, eating, sleeping...please share. We leave on 18th.

 

[Aaron]

Any of the ACE Hotels in Seattle, Portland or Palm Springs.

 

[Xericx]

I believe the Custom Hotel in LA is pretty affordable and modern. Its near LAX just off the freeway. http://www.customhotel.com/ I've never stayed but I live down the street. About 2 miles from the beach.

 

[barrelagebeerfan]

beer/cheap food

pdx bunk sandwiches, voodoo donuts, racoon lounge (10 sours currently)
santa rosa: russian river brewpub. imo the best american brewery. their ipa's and sours are amazing
sd: stone world bistro (check out the pix of this place it by far the prettiest bar in america... huge garden out back

lucha libre- best burrito in sd

 

[longskate88]

I just got back to SD from a roadtrip to San Fran...I'd recommend driving the coast at least through little towns like Pacifica, Half Moon Bay, maybe all the way down to Santa Cruz. San Fran had some awesome shopping (I mean, a Goyard store? haha, plus everything else you can think of, Alden comes to mind).

Once you get to SD go to La Jolla, try Black's Beach if you've never done the nude beach thing (seriously, it's awesome).

Yes, Stone Brwery is pretty awesome, I live about 5 minutes from there. Also check out University Heights & North Park (30th street) for great hipster/craft beer bars like the Linkery, Ritual, Blind Lady, etc

 

[BIGBERTHA]

We also love the authentic mexican food, fish tacos, etc. Suggestions?

 

[longskate88]

I would just wait until youre in SD then go to any hole-in-the-wall taco shop with a Mexican guys name on it...probably avoid places like Chevys or other chains. El Indio in Old Town San Diego is good, but it's hard to go wrong around here unless you end up at Taco Bell.

 

[Xericx]

I've always had good mexican food at JV's Taco Shop in Misson Valley.

http://www.jvsmexicanfood.com/

http://www.yelp.com/biz/jvs-mexican-food-san-diego

 

[Xericx]

make sure you check out www.pokpokpdx.com in portland. the bomb

 

[BIGBERTHA]

Originally Posted by Xericx

make sure you check out www.pokpokpdx.com in portland. the bomb

that looks good. will check out for sure.

 

[bassmanpatsfan18]

Taking the pacific coast highway is a must when going through Monterey, Big Sur, San Simeon, Carmel, etc.

 

[BIGBERTHA]

Originally Posted by bassmanpatsfan18

Taking the pacific coast highway is a must when going through Monterey, Big Sur, San Simeon, Carmel, etc.

Ya...will do this for sure. I'm still trying to figure out how much of the Oregon coast we "need" to see??

 

[ecovillain]

How much of the trip is about the places (hotels food etc) and how much about the drive? There are some incredibly entertaining roads in northern California that are worth checking out if you want to put the GTI through its paces.

 

[unjung]

Pacific City, OR is nice.

 

[BIGBERTHA]

Originally Posted by ecovillain

How much of the trip is about the places (hotels food etc) and how much about the drive? There are some incredibly entertaining roads in northern California that are worth checking out if you want to put the GTI through its paces.

Good question. I'd say it is 25% about the drive and scenery. 25% about the food, 25% about the shopping, 25% about the places.