One thing families are asking themselves in 2020 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, should we take a summer vacation?

Travel, not to mention summer vacations just look different this year.

We can’t fly anywhere. No going out of the country.

You need to wear a mask. Many states have mandated it. And those that haven’t, many cities have. And you need to social distance. Not to mention the usual family vacation haunts are closed. Disney is closed. Amusement Parks are closed. No sporting events. Restaurants are maybe 1/2 open.

That leaves:

• Camping
• National Parks – maybe
• Beaches – maybe

Long before news of Coronavirus hit, we decided to have a very un-TBK vacation.

Usually, we have very active vacations. How many cities can we visit in 10 days? On the move on the go. But we needed a break. We opted for a relaxing week at the beach. We booked an oceanfront rental north of San Diego.

Then COVID hit.

Decision Time: Do we stay or do we go?

Do we stay home? or do we proceed with our planned vacation?

We decided to proceed.

We were headed to the beach, after all. Even that was pretty dicey. LA county beaches were closed, but San Diego beaches were still open. Rolling the dice that they would stay that way. On our first day there, officials closed the parking lots to the beaches (it was 4th of July weekend) to potentially limit the number of people congregating at the beach. But the beaches were still open.

As luck would have it, our rental had direct access to the beach. It was more of a “neighborhood” beach with no public beach parking lots. So, it was pretty easy to social distance.

We went for morning walks on the beach. Watched the sunset from our patio or enjoyed sunset walks. And spent most of our days playing at the beach.

We rented a surfboard and boogie board from a local surf shop for the week.

No going to restaurants for us. But we did get take out a couple of times. Found a great local fish market and grilled out on the other nights.

To be honest, it felt weird not to be exploring the area. But with so much closed. There really wasn’t much we could do. We had a very enjoyable, restful vacation

We did opt for a kayak tour in La Jolla. Since I am prone to motion sickness, I was a bit nervous, but was just fine.

We got to paddle into the caves and see marine life. Who knew that there are 5 marine zones in La Jolla Cove? Pretty cool.

We were able to see lots of wildlife. From Peregrine Falcons (fastest animal on the planet), to Garibaldi fish (the state fish of California) to sea lions. Sometimes, there are sea turtle sightings but not on our tour. You can also see Dolphins.

All in all, it was a restful vacation. One where none of us wanted to go home. We could just stay all summer and surf all day. So, now we are planning a return trip. Maybe fall break. Maybe it doesn’t even matter when, especially if the kids are going to be doing online school anyway.

C’mon Let’s Go!