Despite being weighed down by sadness over my father’s illness, my family embarked on a vacation to California last week. Naturally, it felt strange to focus on something as frivolous as a vacation when my father’s condition was so serious. But, as it turned out, the vacation was not frivolous at all. It fulfilled a very real need for my children, who had seen a long-awaited beach vacation with their cousins canceled and spent a confusing week away from home being watched by various friends and relatives while I sat by my father’s bedside. In short, my kids needed to have some fun and more importantly, they did not need to experience yet another disappointment.

So the Sunday before last, we flew across the country and tried to leave our sadness behind. The purpose of the trip, for me at least, was two-fold: several days of family vacation followed by several days of work, namely the BlogHer women’s blogging conference, which was being held in San Diego. As a result, I was lucky enough to experience this beautiful city both with and without kids.

As a family destination, San Diego has so much to offer. There are world-famous attractions, such as SeaWorld, Legoland and the San Diego Zoo. Of those, we only visited the Zoo because my husband and I are cheap and because we knew that our two little animal-lovers would really appreciate it. And they did. The San Diego Zoo’s appeal lies in its unique exhibit layouts, which make you feel so close to the animals that you almost believe you could pet them. Zuzu adores koalas and was delighted at the open-air koala exhibit, where we watched a frisky guy named Cobi climb, eat and give us the stink-eye while his suite-mates all snoozed off the effects of too much eucalyptus. The highlight for JR, who loves animals more than anyone but who is incredibly perverse, may have been this incredible zebra face-paint and lunch at a restaurant named after his imaginary friend Albert.

But San Diego has a lot to offer families besides these big-name attractions. One of our favorite sights was a retired Naval aircraft carrier turned museum, the USS Midway, which is docked in the harbor. Okay, to be fair, JR whined his way through the entire ship, but the rest of us were fascinated by this floating city that once was home to 4500 sailors, fighter pilots and officers.

Balboa Park, where the San Diego Zoo is located, is an urban oasis that also boasts numerous museums and gardens. We spent a happy morning there, the girls touring a folk art museum with exhibits on African-American quilts and Japanese beckoning cats and the boys at a natural history museum where JR wowed the docents with his extensive knowledge of prehistoric life. (Sample conversation: Docent: “Do you know what an Allosaurus is?” JR: “It’s a carnivorous therapod.”)

Zuzu’s interest in California history lead us to visit the San Diego mission, which was the very first one founded. JR whined through that expedition too, but he was interested in the museum picture of the natives stoning one of the priests to death. Try explaining that to a 4 year old in culturally sensitive manner.

San Diego also has many family-friendly beaches. We visited the hippie enclave of Ocean Beach, where the streets are lined with funky surf shops (and head shops) and boutiques. I love seeing places like this that retain their unique character and don’t look like they could be anywhere in America. Zuzu and I got a thrill watching the surfers from the pier while JR loved seeing pelicans dive and swoop catching their seafood dinner. Another night, we drove to the posh enclave of La Jolla, where billionaires have beach houses, for a nice dinner followed by gelato and a stunning sunset.

We had several great meals in San Diego. One of my favorites was at a surprisingly family-friendly hipster hangout in the arty North Park neighborhood called The Station Tavern and Bar. This restaurant serves two demographics: twenty-somethings looking for an after-work drink and families with young kids grabbing an early dinner. They seemed to co-exist peacefully, probably because of the large outdoor seating area and a dedicated children’s play space.  The menu was limited to burgers and variations thereof (turkey burgers, black bean burgers) and fried potatoes. Best tater tots I have ever eaten. But my favorite thing about our dinner at The Station was the fact that we were off the tourist track, eating at a restaurant frequented by locals in a real San Diego neighborhood.

We stayed at a Homewood Suites hotel using my husband’s Hilton points. (Yay for frequent business travel! Wait a minute….) The location was a bit odd — in a no man’s land near the airport — but it actually was great for us. Plenty of free parking and the suite gave us plenty of room to spread out. We could even lay in a stash of snacks and drinks from the nearby supermarket. We returned to the hotel for a mid-afternoon swim each day.

Throughout our three days in San Diego, I was struck by the beauty of the city, which is right on the water, and of course the weather. How can people just live in such a place? Why does anyone live anywhere else? I once told my mother that it was shallow to choose where to live based on the weather.  After a week in the perfect weather of San Diego, I am certain that I was wrong about that.