Weekend in Rosarito

Weekend in Rosarito

We decided to travel to Rosarito Mexico this past weekend – one of our favorite beach towns south of the border. It’s a quick drive from San Diego, and it is such a nice weekend escape – you immediately feel as if you are worlds away! The hubs and I have made several day trips down to Rosarito, but this was the first time that we spent the night. Since his birthday is tomorrow, we thought this was the perfect excuse to go down with friends and stay the entire weekend!

We were able to arrange an early check-in on Friday and made the hour and a half drive during Liam’s morning nap. He slept the entire time, and woke up just as we were pulling into the house!

We rented a private condo in Las Gaviotas through VRBO – and I feel like we stumbled upon a secret! It was such a gem and we will absolutely be returning! Here’s a link to the actual place we rented if you’re a local and looking for a getaway. The house had everything we needed plus a few extras – two bedrooms, three bathrooms, board games, a play-n-play, and a patio overlooking the ocean. The community was beautiful, and we felt safe the entire time we were there. It is so much more enjoyable to rent a house when we travel now because Liam still goes down for at least 2 naps a day and is in bed by 7pm. It doesn’t really feel like a vacation if we’re all cooped up in a hotel room while the little guy is sleeping.

The condo was just south of the central part of Rosarito, and close to some of the hub’s favorite surf breaks. We have a favorite restaurant nearby, and found some new places as well! The first night we carried in from Charly’s Place, and I fell in love with the shrimp quesadilla (it came highly recommended by the security guard at Las Gaviotas, and it did not disappoint)! I think we actually went there 3 times during our short trip! haha

The next morning the guys went surfing, while the girls and Liam went for a walk and hung out at the house. After the guys got back we spent the afternoon exploring Ensenada – we got some fish and shrimp ceviche from one of the stands our friends had been to before, stopped for some coffee, and did some shopping around town.

We accidentally fell upon Belio Restaurant – a beautiful place with amazing service on our way back from Ensenada. Liam was fussy and needed a diaper change. We ended up having some delicious wine (we had a house red that was very good), oysters, duck enchiladas, homemade bread, and guacamole! The bartender even whipped up a special cocktail of handmade applesauce and strawberries for Liam…he loved it!

We spent Saturday evening in Rosarito, went to the market and found some treasures for Liam, and went to El Nido for dinner. I was not as impressed with El Nido as I thought I would be, although Liam loved watching the fire and the mariachis. I much prefer our favorite Tapanco a little further south of town.

Sunday morning the guys went surfing again, while we relaxed at the house. When they got back we all went to Charly’s Place for one last (huge) meal before we headed back to San Diego later that afternoon. It was such a relaxing getaway, and so nice to spend a few days in Mexico. I love the culture, the weather is amazing, and it’s so beautiful seeing the open coastline.

I also wanted to take a minute to mention a few things that made this trip to Rosarito (with a baby) a bit easier:

• A passport (of course), and if you’re driving across the border, a passport card. This allows you to cross the border more efficiently using the Ready Lane – an expedited lane. It only took us 40 minutes to cross the border once we were in the Ready Lane – previous trips without the passport cards have taken 3-4 hours. FYI if you are traveling with friends and planning on using the Ready Lane, everyone in the car must have the pass-enabled passport cards, including children.
• Print out directions to the Ready Lane ahead of time! It is NOT easy to get around Tijuana and find the right lane if you haven’t done it before.
• A baby carrier – we take our LILLEbaby with us everywhere when we travel! We were able to stay in Ensenada longer through Liam’s nap because I was able to wear him, and he fell asleep while we walked around the city shopping. Liam was able to get his nap in, and we were able to spend more time exploring.
• Since we were driving, and you can never be sure about what baby can get into when renting a house or staying in a hotel, I highly recommend bringing a safe place you can set them. The house we were renting already had a pack-n-play, so we brought Liam’s little car so he could walk around and explore, but couldn’t get into too much trouble. This one is great because it folds down and we were able to just stick it in the trunk. It also doubled as a “highchair” as the steering wheel section comes off and there’s a tray below!
• We were also able to bring a ton of toys to keep him entertained by throwing them all in a Thirty-One utility tote!
• If you’re doing any beach travel, this little Peapod tent is awesome! It protects our little guy from the sun, and it’s great for naps on the go! Liam will typically take a solid 45 minute nap in this tent when we take him to the beach. With how much time it takes just to get everything together, it’s nice to have a little bit more time to enjoy it once you’re there. This tent is also great if you’re traveling somewhere further on a plane, where they may not have a pack-n-play or crib for your babe to sleep. It has become a familiar place to Liam, so he can sleep pretty well despite being in unfamiliar surroundings.

I hope you all had a great weekend! I’m really looking forward to this week – we have some fun things planned, including Collin’s birthday and a moms day out on Saturday! Woohoo!