My 25 Favorite Experiences Road Tripping from San Diego to New York

A month ago, I left my home in the San Diego area to road trip 2,800+ miles to New York with my husband and dog. I talk about it more in this post, but we moved back to the east coast where A and I are originally from after almost a decade living in beautiful Cali, and are currently looking for our next home in coastal CT.

It’s pretty wild to check out the complete route on a map – It’s a LONG trip! Being the adventurer that I am, I had no intentions of driving for days nonstop to get to our destination. Rather, I wanted to take our time making our way out and make it fun. When we moved out to the west coast we took a more northern route, so this time we opted to take a more southern route to get to see some places we’ve never visited before.

Admittedly, our timing was not the best driving through the entire country in the hottest month of the year, and boy was it hot! We seemed to bring the heat with us, as almost every place we went was having their hottest days of the weather forecast when we were in town.

We also were somewhat limited due to us having our pup along for the trip. I thought we’d be able to wear her out on trails, then leave her snoozing in our hotel rooms, but we quickly found out that she would have none of that. She was on high alert with her anxiety and determined to stay with her pack, so after realizing that she would probably destroy hotel rooms and hurt herself if she was left alone, we opted to bring her everywhere with us and just rotate with leaving our hotels to get work outs in. It was a challenge at times, but we still managed to see and do a lot throughout the road trip! There was still lots of good food to be eaten, countless trails to explore, and a lot of sightseeing to do.

I thought it’d be fun to share a recap of the trip & highlight my favorite experiences along the way, so here are my top 25 road trip memories!

Arizona >> Our first stop along the way was the Phoenix/Scottsdale area, and whoa, it was probably the hottest weather I’ve ever experienced. It was 114 degrees the first day we were there, and it literally felt like a sauna outside!

1.) The accommodations at Mountain Shadows in Paradise Valley. I found and booked Mountain Shadows online just a couple hours before we left our empty house in San Diego, and it was one of the nicest resorts I’ve ever been to. For reasons I won’t bore you with, I was emotionally drained and exhausted from moving, and a stay at Mountain Shadows was just what I needed to lift my spirits. It was paradise in the desert, and since summer is off season for tourism in AZ, it was very reasonably priced.

From their beautiful fitness facility and awesome service (They offered me a dog bed, food bowls and treats for my pup when I checked in) to all of the little things they thought of when designing the hotel – hello, soft sensor lighting when you walk past the closet to get the bathroom in the middle of the night, amazing vanity lighting  + black little towels engraved with the word ‘makeup’ – Mountain Shadows was amazing. We were originally only going to stay one night, and wound up staying for two because we were enjoying the time to decompress after our chaotic move so much.

2.) The Mexican tofu scramble at Lovin’ Spoonfuls in Tucson. From the Phoenix area, we headed out to Texas, and opted to stop at a vegan cafe called Lovin’ Spoonfuls along the way. Their Fiesta tofu scramble – with soy chorizo, green chilies, vegan cheddar, guacamole + vegan sour cream – was probably the best tofu scramble I’ve ever had. Worth the stop off! 

Texas >> I’ve seen so much of America, but funny enough, I had never been to Texas before this trip! We spent a lot of our trip in the state since it’s massive and has a lot to see.

3.) Franklin Mountains State Park in El Paso. The first spot where we stopped to rest our heads in Texas was El Paso. Located in the area is Franklin Mountains State Park, which has 27,000 acres and over 100 miles of trails to explore. We were looking for a hike that didn’t take very long but got our heart rate up for a workout, and we decided to do the Aztec Cave Trail. It was a great short out-and-back trail that took us around 75 minutes to do, and the top of the trail provides pretty park views that you can check out from the cave.

This hike was the first time I took Harley on an incline trail since she tore her ACL, and she hiked it like a champ with no limping whatsoever. Since then we’ve done many trails and her ACL seems to be fully recovered. I’m happy to have my hiking buddy back!

4.) Breakfast tacos at Tacodeli in Austin. Our next stop in Texas was Austin, where we spent a couple of days exploring. When my Austin native friend Angi recommended things to do there, she told me it’s practically a crime to visit the city and not eat breakfast tacos, so I took her suggestion & our first morning there, we checked out one of the taco joints she recommended, Tacodeli. Their breakfast taco menu options range from steak & eggs to the ‘freakin’ vegan’ – along with the option to create your own taco combos. This bean and veggie filled tortilla meal is something I often make for dinner, but I think I can get behind the whole tacos for breakfast thing too!

5.) Strolling around the University of Texas at Austin. My hubby wanted to check out a few college campuses throughout our trip, and the first one we walked around was the University of Texas. It was a beautiful campus, and it timed up that we were there when students were moving into their dorms and out & about getting ready for the school year to start, so it was a bustling campus.

6.) Satisfying my sweet tooth with Bananarchy. With temperatures hovering around 105 degrees while we were in Austin, a frozen banana treat at Bananarchy was the perfect summertime dessert. The above pictured peanut butter pie banana is covered in vegan chocolate, graham cracker crumbs & PB.

7.) Guero’s Taco Bar enchiladas. Back to Tex Mex food, one of my favorite dinners of the trip was at Guero’s Taco Bar. Everything was so flavorful with the sautéed mushroom and spinach enchilada dish that I ordered. There are plenty of vegan & gluten free options to choose from as well.

8.) Seeing the bats emerge from the Congress Bridge. Our hotel was right next to the city’s Congress Bridge, and when I heard about this phenomena of thousands of bats emerging from under the bridge at dusk to go hunting for food, we decided to check it out.

We stood on the bridge next to lots of other tourists curious about these famous bats for awhile, and then all of a sudden they started flying out from under the bridge simultaneously. It’s tough to capture it in a photo and it just looks like dark spots where all of the bats are flying out from the above iPhone shot, but just to give you an idea of how many bats emerged, it’s estimated that they eat 20,000 pounds of insects A NIGHT.

9.) Pancakes at Snooze. Snooze is a breakfast place that has locations in California, Colorado, Arizona and Texas. I treat myself to pancakes at their Del Mar, San Diego, location from time to time, and was bummed that I didn’t have the chance to go there one more time before I moved, so I was happy to find out that they’re located in Austin. We popped in there for brunch one morning. You can order a pancake flight and try a few different ones, and my favorite is their sweet potato buttermilk pancake!

10.) Kayaking in Austin. We decided to bring Harley to a pet camp for two days while we were in Austin so that would do some non dog-friendly activities, and one of the things we did one of those days was rent a kayak to paddle around the Colorado River. It was relaxing to dip our feet in the water, check out what it’s like under the Congress Bridge, check out some turtles swimming around and get in some exercise kayaking. There are a bunch of little kayak rental companies to choose from.

From Austin, we started to head north and stopped in Dallas…

11.) Exploring the Katy Trail in Dallas. Everywhere we went on this trip, I scoped out places to get our steps in and exercise my pup. One area we thought was a nice place for a walk was the Katy Trail, a historic park built on an old railroad line where there were lots of people going for jogs, pups running around, photo shoots happening, and book swap boxes, which I thought was different and neat.

12.) Strawberries & cream waffle eating at Bread Winners Cafe in Dallas. Full disclosure: The service during this brunch was terrible, but this strawberries & cream waffle was awesome. Bread Winners Cafe is located in a cool city people watching spot.

13.) Bachman Lake Park in Dallas. Another park that we enjoyed in Dallas was a trail around Bachman Lake. It’s a nice spot to go for a walk, set up a picnic, and check out the planes flying by overhead to the nearby airport.

Tennessee >> From Dallas, we had a long driving day for an overnight stop in Memphis, then spent a few days in Nashville. From the aspect of having my dog with me, Nashville was probably the most unfriendly dog city that we visited, and I didn’t feel like I got to experience the city in all of its glory – though I’d love to go back sometime soon and get to actually listen to live music (literally could not find ANY dog friendly music spots!). But, here are a few things we got to enjoy in Nashville:

14.) Fido for brunch. Fido Cafe is a popular local eatery has lots of healthy fare and outdoor seating. We went there twice and I got the above peanut butter & banana bagel one of the days. It felt good to eat healthy meals that I normally make at home!

15.) Prichard’s Distillery. I was getting frustrated with having such limited things to do in Nashville with Harley, so I was so happy to find Prichard’s Distillery, where she was welcomed with open arms (and about 27 biscuits!). We tasted yummy flavored vodka, rum & whiskey, and left with some goodies. Tastings are free, bottles are reasonably priced, & the pourer was a guy named Jeff that kept us laughing.

15.) Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams. With flavors like Brandied Banana Brûlée, Riesling Poached Pear Sorbet, and Dairy-free Dark Chocolate Truffle, Jeni’s is not your typical ice cream shop. The first time I’d heard of them was in Nashville, but I know now that they have scoop shops across several states and are sold in grocery stores all over.

North Carolina >> Our last new-to-us destination on the trip was Asheville, which I had heard nothing but great things about. I was excited to see the Smoky Mountains and try some of the food I had heard about. Asheville did not disappoint, and I would love to get back there sometime to experience more of it! A few of my favorite highlights were:

17.) Rosetta’s Kitchen & Buchi Bar. I heard about this restaurant through Sarah’s blog and added it to my must-see trip list. Rosetta’s Kitchen makes plant-based soul food and is the kind of dippy hippie place that I tend to fall in love with quickly. I enjoyed their vegan queso dip and tempalo wings – plus they allow dogs inside the restaurant! It was nice to not have to sit outside for once on the trip, and I so appreciated that.

18.) Gerton’s Wildcat Rock Trail. Hiking was must-do for me in Asheville, and one day we drove 25 minutes outside of the city and found a trail called Wildcat Rock – a 3 mile trail to the rock (with the option to make it 6 miles by trekking to the end of the trail at a ridgeline meadow) with almost 1,100 feet in elevation gain. It’s a tranquil, beautiful trail that features a waterfall called Little Bearwallow Falls. As we were wading in the water while Harley drank the mountain water, I looked around and had a moment of clear mindfulness, experiencing how serene it is there.

19.) French Broad Chocolates decadence. This place is chocolate heaven! A must try there is one of their LIQUID TRUFFLES – as in rich, velvety hot sipping chocolate that is to die for. We split the above salted caramel liquid truffle and a slice of chocolate cake. There are tables to relax at while you indulge in their chocolate both indoors and outside – perfect for a night cap – and they have lots of dairy free options available.

20.) Listening to music at the Asheville Club. We stumbled upon this local bar on our way home from dinner one night, and were pulled in by beautiful cello playing. We were watching the musician play from outside when the bartender came out to let us know that they are dog friendly inside. This was sweet music to my ears (pun intended) after not being able to see any music indoors in Nashville, and we didn’t hesitate to stop inside for glasses of wine. The Asheville Club is a neighborhood spot that regularly has live music.

Jersey >> Our last really long driving day of the road trip was from Asheville to my father-in-law’s house in South Jersey. We got to spend some time with him, have dinner with my mother-in-law one night, then headed a few hours north to my parents’ house, where we spent the weekend before heading up to our final stop of the trip: our Airbnb in New York.

21.) Spending a day boating with my parents. It felt so surreal to have made it to the northeast, and we celebrated the almost end of our long ride with a Labor Day weekend full of fun in the sun with my parents.

22.) Enjoying this summer gnocchi dish. Made with arugula pesto, heirloom cherry tomatoes, sweet peas, fresh mozzarella & toasted pumpkin seeds, this gnocchi dish at Russell & Bette’s in the small shore town of Rumson was a tasty one. I might need to recreate it in my kitchen!

23.) Vegan grub at Seed to Sprout. Before heading up north a couple of hours to our final destination, we met my sister at this lovely vegan joint in the little beach town of Fair Haven named Seed to Sprout. She told me that her favorite thing to order was their vegan bacon cheddar melt, and it did not disappoint. The sandwich is seared marinated tempeh, caramelized onion & coconut bacon with cashew cheese sauce, griddled on millet-flax bread. Yum!

And lastly, a couple of my favorite aspects throughout the trip were:

24.) Harley learning to be a good road trippin’ puppy. She has a history of being pretty bad in the car, and with our probably 50 hours or more of driving, I was a little worried that she would whine the entire time and we would lose our sanity. On our longest driving days we gave her a little something to calm her anxiety, but most of the days we just tired her out with long walks, set up her bed in the backseat so she could relax, and hoped for the best.

I’m happy to say that Harley got progressively more and more relaxed being in the car so much, and what she mostly did was angled her body towards the center console so that she could see what was going on and breathe down our necks the whole time (see above), which was fine as long as she wasn’t whining! Nowadays, I’ve been able to have her with me in the car for hours and she is so much better than she used to be. At almost 8 years old, this road trip may have finally broken her of her annoying car behavior!

25.) Healthy options everywhere we want. I did a lot of research prior to the trip to scope out healthy food options, and pretty much everywhere we went, I was able to find places that had nutritious vegetarian and vegan options. I find with road trips, it’s worth it to plan ahead, because otherwise I wind up at places with either no options for me, or only unhealthy choices. It’s also nice that chain restaurants with healthier choices available, like Panera Bread and Chipotle, have gotten so popular.

---

Inevitably, this trip wasn’t all good. There was the Super 8 in Memphis we stopped at late at night after a long day of driving, were totally disgusted and freaked out, and left after 30 minutes. There was also the time we lost my car key when it dropped out of my hiking bag while we were on a trail (luckily we eventually found it after retracing our route about 20 times). But as you can tell from this post, we also had a lot of fun, and I’m glad that we got to explore so many new places!

Tell me… What’s the longest road trip you’ve been on? Which of these cities have you been to?