Ensenada


 
For my friend Stef's 40th birthday, we joined her and some others for a trip down to Ensenada, Mexico. We had never been before, and she planned the whole thing herself. It was nice to relax and enjoy the fun.

Getting There
 
We started by flying into San Diego and meeting up with everyone at a hotel there. Stef had set up a ride directly with the hotel in Ensenada that picked us and our luggage all up in San Diego. This was the way to go for sure. The driving, primarily at the border, was a little crazy and I'm glad someone else was doing it. 
 
It was actually a very pretty drive along the coast. 
 
We have a friend that lives in California that has driven down before. He said they went around a traffic circle 5 times before they could exit! I don't think he's planning on driving back anytime soon. 
 
Once the van reached the border, we all got out with our luggage and went through border patrol as pedestrians. It was the same on the way back: get out, stand in line, go through border patrol, and find the van on the flip side. 

Where We Stayed
We stayed at Hotel Coral Y Marina, which was on the marina in town. The rooms at this place are huge! We also spent a decent amount of time at their hotel bar, which was fun. 

To Do
The first night, we took an Uber into town, had dinner, and bar hopped along the main strip there. Lots of crazy fun!

We hit up Hussong's, the oldest bar in Ensenada that claims to have invented the margarita.
 
The second day, Stef had arranged a wine tour for us. A van picked us up at the hotel and driver took us around to some different wineries. I had no idea Ensenada had wineries or such beauty. Some of the wineries were quite large and beautiful!



Again, I was happy to not be driving. I would definitely rely on Uber or tours myself.



We ended at a fancy place for dinner. There was a 3 or 4 course meal that was wonderful atop a hill of a winery. Just gorgeous!
The next day was some more exploring downtown. We again Ubered to the area and started at La Guerrerense taco cart made famous by Anthony Bordain.



For dinner we checked out Plaza Contenedores, a group of bars and restaurants made of shipping containers.



Ensenada had a lot more to offer than I knew and we enjoyed this trip! 

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