In January, 2011 our daughter Gillian informed us that she would be playing in a waterpolo tournament in May in the town of La Jolla, near San Diego. Of course that meant another exchange opportunity for us in one of our favorite cities, San Diego. We had done an exchange a year earlier for a beautiful high rise condominium in downtown San Diego, so I began another exchange search on Homeexchange.com for something similar. Unfortunately I was unable to find another high rise unit with the gorgeous view we had in the past, but found Jennifer, an owner of a smaller complex a couple of blocks from where we had stayed before who was eager to make an exchange for our condo in Costa Rica. Jennifer and her husband rented their place out when they were not using it, but it was available for an exchange for our dates in May. An exchange was set!
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| San Diego Balcony View |
Soon afterwards our son informed us that he and his finance would be in Orange County, an hour north of San Diego, the week after our stay in San Diego making wedding plans for their wedding scheduled for June, 2012. Another excuse for an exchange, and this time back to back! So again I began a search, and found one in the charming beach community of Balboa Island near Laguna Beach, California. Maria had been to Costa Rica before and was eager to return. Her home in Balboa was her primary residence but she and her husband were going to be gone the month of May, so whenever we wanted to stay was fine. They wished to come to Costa Rica in November, so another exchange was arranged.
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| Balboa Island Beach Home |
After making all of the exchange plans for a week in San Diego, followed by a week in Orange County on Balboa Island we were informed by Gillian that she would not be playing in the tournament in San Diego after all. Oh well, more time to play golf, discover San Diego, and enjoy city life. After all, we don’t need to watch waterpolo games all of the time!
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| San Diego Kitchen |
On May 5 we loaded up our trusty Travel Air and flew down to San Diego, landing at the general aviation airport, Montgomery Field, located only fifteen minutes from downtown San Diego. After picking up our rental car we drove into the city and arrived at our new home for the next five nights. It was located on the fourth floor of a small six story condominium development downtown. The cozy two bedroom unit was beautifully decorated, very comfortable, and in a great location within walking distance of everything.
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| San Diego Living Room |
We had a great five nights in our city apartment, and even looked at real estate in downtown San Diego as well as in Coronado, the island across the bay from downtown which we fell in love with!
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| A Fun Bike Ride Around Coronado Island |
We took the little ferry across the bay to Coronado where we road bikes around the island, had lunch at the famous Hotel Del Mar Coronado Resort on the beach and oogled the cute beach cottages and large mansions on the island, thinking about what a wonderful place this would be to retire to.
Of course we also had time to play some golf at two beautiful golf courses. The first one was the Aviara Golf Course in the town of Carlsbad where we had played the last time we stayed in San Diego which is a gorgeous course and not too difficult to play. We also played at the Rancho Bernardo Golf Resort in the town of Poway which is an old classic resort and spa with another lovely golf course.
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| Mexican Dining in San Diego With Fun Street Activity |
We enjoyed walking the two or three blocks to the the Gas Lamp district of downtown San Diego every night where we dined at wonderful restaurants and experienced the exuberance of city life. After living in the suburbs our entire lives we so enjoyed the downtown experience of our stay in the city.
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| The Bright Lights of San Diego Gas Lamp District |
After five nights in San Diego it was time to pack up and head north. We flew our plane up the coast for the short 20 minute flight to the John Wayne Airport in Orange County where we were going to spend the next seven nights visiting Van and his fiance Megan, looking at wedding sights, enjoying the beach life on Balboa Island, and of course playing some more golf.
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| Beautiful Balboa Island |
Arriving on the island of Balboa we were once again pleasantly surprised when we arrived at our cute three bedroom cottage located one block off of the main street and four houses from the water and Balboa Harbor. We loved walking to Starbucks every morning to get our coffee only one block away, strolling the beautiful streets of the island, and enjoying the friendly little community of Balboa Island located in the middle of Orange County. After spending the week there I have to rank this home as one of our top exchanges and someplace I would love to come back to.
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| Our Balboa Island Living Room |
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| Master Bedroom With A Fireplace |
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| Megan and Van In Front Of Our Balboa Cottage |
The best part of home exchanging is that we can have guests stay with us. This time in Balboa, Van and Megan stayed with us in our little cottage. We had not seen them in over five months as they had been living in Pittsburgh, PA, so this was a special time for us to be able to be with them for this extended period of time, and not something we would have been able to enjoy if we had been in a hotel room.
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| The Spectacular Colors Of The Beautiful Tustin Ranch Golf Course |
In between looking at wedding sights and wedding dresses we were able to play golf with Van, do lots of visiting, and of course enjoy some wonderful Southern California restaurants. Van is a gourmet chef and loves to try unique restaurants. Having been in Pittsburgh for the last year he and Megan missed the Mexican and Asian food of Los Angeles so we filled up on our share of that!
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| Dinner At Xanh Bistro - A Vietnamese Delight In Fountain Valley |
After almost two weeks of being on the road we regretfully packed up our bags, locked the door of our Balboa cottage and headed out to the Orange County Airport where our plane was waiting for us. Another great vacation and two outstanding exchanges!
When I was back in Sacramento I started looking for another exchange, but this time for a larger home in Orange County for the summer of 2012 which could accommodate lots of family members who would be in town for Van and Megan’s wedding. Now wouldn’t that be a great place to host the rehearsal dinner? Keep your fingers crossed for me that I can find the perfect place!
