Like many people, we paid for our own honeymoon. Paul and I had been home from our missions for less than a year when we got married. We had been going to school, and working part-time jobs, but we didn't have much money saved up. In fact, Paul was the only one with a little savings. So he decided to spend half of it on the ring, and the other half on the honeymoon.
I can't remember why we chose San Diego. Paul was really open to wherever I wanted to go, especially when I shot down his camping idea so quickly. I had never really camped at that point, and I certainly didn't think my honeymoon was the time to learn! We were living in Utah, so San Diego seemed exotic, without the flight being ridiculously pricey. Plus, I served the second part of my mission near there, so I felt like I had some idea of what to expect.
Paul's grandma had offered to pay for our hotel for the first night, when we would still be in Salt Lake. Awesome wedding gift! To this day, my only regret from our honeymoon is that we chose the Anniversary Inn over the Grand America. I didn't know! I was so stupid! Someday...
But anyway, at the time, I dreamed of spending my first night in the Anniversary Inn, so I was very excited. And, we got a really expensive room - for free! We stayed in the Savannah Nights suite. Seriously, click on the link. It's cool. It has a giant fluffy king-size bed, an amazing jetted tub, and a little sitting area in a turret with lots of windows. We ate our free croissant, cinnamon roll, and yogurt parfait breakfast there the next morning. Perfect!
Our first full day as a married couple was a Sunday. So we went to church of course. It wasn't hard to find an LDS church in the area! Then we were off on our California adventure! (Am I allowed to write that without a little TM or circled R or something?)
The #1 thing we did that made our honeymoon unique and fun (and cheap) was not renting a car. We figured out what it would cost in gas, rental fees, and parking, and decided to just take the bus. We didn't have a laptop or smartphones back then, so we tried to do all our route planning ahead of time at the computer lab on campus. It mostly worked!
Once we got to San Diego, we hauled our luggage with us through a few bus transfers before arriving at our hotel far outside of the main city. It was really pretty on the outside with lots of plants and flowers and a fountain, but just regular on the inside. We didn't care. The price was right! We ate at the Asian buffet next door before soaking in the outdoor hot tub.
The next day, we took a bus to Cabrillo National Monument. It was a bit of a hike from the bus stop, but well worth it. I can't remember if it was free back then, but now it's $3 per person. Not bad!
From the Monument, you can see the whole bay, and across to San Diego. There are also cool boats and battleships to look at.
Then we walked down to the Point Loma tide pools. We saw so many little crabs and other sea creatures, and the cliffs and waves were amazing!
Old Town San Diego was our next stop. So much free fun! We explored around, checking out gem and fossil shops (Paul was a geology major - I humored him), the Mormon Battalion Museum, the first Jewish synagogue in San Diego, and tons of other fun shops.
The food wasn't free, but we didn't eat anything extravagant. Old Town San Diego has some good Mexican food though!
After that, we went to Ocean Beach. We got off at the wrong stop and had to walk a ways, but we made it in time to wade in the water a little, and watch a beautiful, romantic sunset together. By the time we got back to the hotel, we were hungry. We didn't want to spend too much, and we had a microwave in our room, so we just went to a nearby gas station and got some junk food. Too classless for a honeymoon? We didn't think so!
The next day, we did our one activity that cost money: the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center. (Seriously, I had to make up for not giving Paul his camping honeymoon!) $13 per person, but it had tons of cool exhibits, and a motion simulator ride. Then we walked around beautiful Balboa Park.
That evening, we strolled through the Gaslamp Quarter, full of shops, restaurants, and night clubs. We were in search of a restaurant worthy of the other half of our wedding gift from Paul's grandma: $100 cash to spend on one meal. I can't remember if that was her stipulation, or if that's what we had decided it was for, but either way, we found our place. We had Persian food by candlelight at Bandar. The lighting and music were soft, and we ordered sparkling water, filet mignon, lamb shank, and fancy desserts. We felt a little under dressed with our traveling clothes and backpacks, but we soon forgot all about it, and enjoyed our romantic meal. It's the most expensive (yet totally free!) dinner we've ever ordered, and we still say we've never had a meal that compares.
And, the next day, we ate at a weird little Chinese-American cafe called Mr. Bon's, next door to our hotel. Haha, that's okay. We followed it up with a visit to the beautiful La Jolla shores for some wading, and then on to Mira Mesa for some nostalgia. I served part of my mission there, among the Filipino people, so there is plenty of Filipino food to be had there. Paul served his mission in the Philippines, and was dying for some authentic cuisine! We ate fried bangus and rice with our hands, got halo-halo for dessert, and spoke Tagalog. Then we bought pandesal, ice candy, Royal, and Sarsi to have with our movie back at the hotel.
On Thursday, we had to get up early and head back to the airport. Our final hurrah on the public bus system. Where else can you get so much free marriage advice from crazy people, or guys who have been divorced multiple times? Once we got back to Salt Lake, we stopped at Paul's parents' house (they weren't home) to pick up wedding gifts, then got back to our apartment. For the first time, we were living together! But we didn't want the parties to be over. So we immediately got all dressed up, and went out to dinner. Ha! Way to end a cheap honeymoon!
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