My First-Ever Trip to San Diego

A few weeks ago in October I had the opportunity to head to San Diego for a company-wide meetup. If I haven’t said it before, I love the company I work for. My coworkers are smart people, I enjoy the work I do daily, and the company does a great job of taking care of its employees. This year, a majority of our employees got together for a meetup in San Diego to go over business objectives, have team meetings, and have a little fun. It was great to get to meet my coworkers from other offices, as well as employees who work remotely and I had only ever met through video chat before. But enough about the work-related stuff, let’s focus on the fun.

The Food

A lot of our meals were catered by the hotel, but frequently we had scheduled dinner plans as a company. First up was The Blind Burro, which had pretty good Mexican food and a fun, relaxed atmosphere. Next up was Quartyard, which is an outdoor bar area where food trucks line up. The area is attached to an outdoor dog park, so we had our fair share of puppy entertainment in addition to the bar and selection of outdoor games they provided for us. Before heading out to the zoo one night, a group of us had a meal at the Bluewater Boathouse Seafood Grill, which was a cute little restaurant right across from the beach.

The Hotel

We stayed at the Andaz San Diego. And be “we” I mean our company occupied 90% of the rooms. The hotel was so nice — my room had a see-through shower, huge bathroom sink area (which I one day want in my own house so I can actually do my makeup and hair in the morning), and a comfy bed. The hotel had tons of rooms to accommodate our various meetings, presentations, etc.

 

The Excursions

A few of us headed over to the San Diego Zoo as part of a “Choose Your Own Adventure” night. I haven’t been to a zoo in years, and certainly not one as huge and popular as the San Diego Zoo. Since we only had a few hours to view the zoo (they closed early for “fall” hours, which in early October was pretty ridiculous since it was sunny and 75 degrees), so we strategically tried to view certain exhibits (aka the pandas).

 

Another night we took a trip to Coronado Central Beach at night, which was beautiful. I grew up on bonfires (although in backyards and woods, not on a beach) and consider roasting smores as a hobby.

My favorite “excursion” was the night we had karaoke. Karaoke with your coworkers is a great learning experience — you learn who can actually sing, who drinks far too much, who secretly loves Backstreet Boys… you get the jist.