Seaport Village is located right on the waterfront and has more than 70 shops, restaurants and attractions and its location right next to the bay in downtown San Diego makes it an easy walk from most downtown hotels. My mom loves this place and I take her here every holiday that she visits. The stores are really interesting- sea shells, fabulous handmade candles, hat shop, soap shop, kites, belt buckles, jewelry and more.

There's an olive oil tasting room and at another store you'll find the hottest sauces in the country. Next to an eclectic bookstore is a neat gallery, there's always something in there I enjoy looking at. My husband and I come here at least several times a year for breakfast and to walk around one of the little parks nearby.

After a couple hours walking around, you can sit in any of the restaurants located by the water and have a drink or order lunch. There's some great people watching, plenty of tourists, but a lot of locals like to come and stroll or jog through the area. On weekends, you'll often find live music and buskers plying their trade.

When you're done walking around here, you can stroll down a sidewalk towards the cruise line docks and take a ferry ride over to Coronado. The ferry drops you off in a cute little portion of Coronado island where you can do some more shopping- they have a cute little Irish store and some clothing boutiques-- and stop for a piece of baklava at the Greek cafe before taking another ferry back over to San Diego.