This post was most recently updated on July 9th, 2019
Point Loma is my next ‘Dine & Do’ location. It’s a community of San Diego, and it’s also home to Liberty Station, an increasingly popular place to be these days. I’m going to let you in on one of my really fun date ideas — in fact, my husband and I just did this last week!
What makes Liberty Station unique is the fact that it’s not what it used to be — that’s right, it’s gone through quite a change from former Naval Training Center to a busy Point Loma hub of restaurants, public market, arts district, and much more. In fact, there’s so much you can do at Liberty Station, it might be hard to decide. But for this date, our daughter decided for us. She knows we like to explore new places AND she also knows we like to take photographs.
What we did in Point Loma
My daughter created a photo scavenger hunt for us and directed us to go to Liberty Station. She gave us 15 categories to photograph, and we had a blast! So here we are…walking all over, checking out art and dance studios, peering in windows of galleries and event venues, taking close-up photos of fresh-baked bread and colorful yarn in a fiber store, or ducking into archways and plazas, snooping around on upper floors of converted barracks, and trying to figure out where to take a few selfies, too!
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- Dance Place
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- Art by Lauren LeVieux
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- Dance Place
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- Dance Place
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- Bakery
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- Barracks 19
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- Soda & Swine
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- Rusty window
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- Coral centerpiece
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- Bird of Paradise
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- Soda & Swine
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- Macaron
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- USS Neversail
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- Fountain
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- Brick floor
Photo Scavenger Hunt Categories
I highly suggest you try this. You can do it just for fun, to help you explore and see things in another light, or to take some seriously great photos! And hey, if you do take this seriously and post your photos on Instagram, be sure to tag me at @postcardsandpassports so I can see your handiwork! If you want to see my entries for the scavenger hunt, check out my Instagram here.
1-Something Blue
2-A Reflection
3-Clouds/Sky
4-Something falling apart
5-An item close-up
6-Something shiny
7-A flag (there are a lot of these at Liberty Station!)
8-A window or doorway
9-Texture
10-A mural or other art
11-Something that moves
12-Something edible
13-Water
14-A selfie
15-Your feet standing on top of a pattern
This took us about two hours, and we could have spent more time taking photos, but seriously, I got hungry! And my daughter planned for that, too, when she instructed us to go to Soda & Swine for lunch.
More to do at Liberty Station?
Oh my! Yes! Maybe you’re not into photo scavenger hunts. I’m going to list a few ideas here but then I’m going to direct you to another blog post I’ve written entirely about what to do at Liberty Station. You can visit museums and art galleries, you can take an art class and take your own painting home with you (so much fun!), or you can take an evening stroll along the coastal Esplanade or relax on a bench and watch the boats go by. Take in a movie at the luxury LOT theater, or attend a dance performance at the Dorothea Laub Dance Place. And on the first Friday of every month, there’s Friday Night Liberty. In fact, if you come next week, you may run into me, ’cause I’m going to celebrate my birthday there! I’m looking forward to meeting artists, and enjoying dance, theater, and music performances between 5 and 9 pm.
Dine in Point Loma
Just so you know, there are a lot of great restaurants at Liberty Station, and I still haven’t tried them all. Soda and Swine was a new one for us. The minute I walked up to the entrance, I was delighted with the games, weathered benches, easy-to-understand ordering instructions, and the arches that perfectly framed beautiful views. And I wasn’t even inside the restaurant yet!
Inside, I was greeted by plenty of Instagram-perfect views: bright red stools, a foosball-game-turned-into-table, skylights, urban-industrial lamps, bud vases with cactus blooms, an antique cash register, and lots of texture: bricks, wood, glass, bronze…and even built-in lights in the restroom mirror that blink “YOU LOOK FINE” when you stand in front of it!
But you probably want to know about the food!
Soda & Swine focuses on three things: meatballs, pies, and vintage sodas. Unique! I love that these are all comfort foods, too. I order the hen (chicken) meatballs with mushroom cream & provolone in a skillet and a stevia-sweetened Virgil’s Root Beer. Mmm…so good! I would have liked to try a piece of pie as well, but my daughter had suggested we make a visit to Le Parfait Paris for French macarons, so I had to save room for that.
When we left, we were asked if it was our first visit. “Yes”, I answered. And then I received a tip: “Come back at night sometime. There are lights built-in to the walls that glow gold, and it is so pretty!”
So — even more Instagrammable photos to look forward to!
More dining options in Point Loma at Liberty Station
First I have to show you our dessert! We went to the Liberty Public Market, which is housed in the former Mess Hall of the Naval Training Center. Here you will find just about everything: imported cheeses, an olive oil/balsamic vinegar station, empanadas, baked treats, ice cream, burgers, roasted meats, ramen, crepes, candy, seafood, pasta, tacos, and…well, much more than I can write here.
They also have crafty items, too: wooden watches, candles, jewelry, flowers, etc. But I digress…
Here’s our dessert!
And if you’re wanting something different than what the market offers, here are a few more suggestions:
Tender Greens — super healthy and very flavorful meals that taste homemade!
Banyan Kitchen & Cafe — comfortable living-room-style dining with cool decor and chocolates
Fireplace by the Patio — Grilled fare with mostly outdoor seating and firepits
Solare — elegant Italian dining (they have cooking classes, too!)
How did we end our ‘Dine & Do’ date experience?
The prescribed ending location for our date was a visit to the USS Neversail, a land-locked 2/3 size model of a naval ship used for training when all this was the Naval Training Center. It was a gentle reminder of the history of Liberty Station, and it led us to a few more photo-worthy sites, too. There’s a coastal access esplanade (walking path) here and a pedestrian-only bridge for better views of the San Diego harbor. Walk across the bridge and under another, and you’ll find yourself on the harbor with views of the not-too-distant San Diego downtown and the marina at Harbor Island. Romantic? Yes! We also brought home a souvenir with us: a bottle of cranberry pear balsamic vinegar from Baker & Olive, so I can make tasty salads at home.
I do hope you’ll visit Point Loma and customize a ‘Dine & Do’ date for you and your loved one at Liberty Station. It’s a relatively new development and a jewel of an attraction for San Diego to add to its collection. Plus, if you’re always looking for new date ideas, there are many options here for you!
More ‘Dine & Do’ date ideas for the San Diego area:
Please share this so others can enjoy as well!
We’ve really been making out like bandits at Liberty Station recently, love it!
I love all of your pictures!! What a wonderful gallery full of highlights from Liberty Station! So glad you had a fun time.
Thanks for creating a great experience at Liberty Station and the ARTS DISTRICT. We look forward to sharing this with our visitors and helping them get creative during their visits here.
It was our pleasure! I hope some of your visitors will enjoy recreating our experience!
Thanks. We’ll share on our ARTS DISTRICT pages and with our community!
I’m now wishing I’m at Point Loma! This place looks so like a beautiful place to relax and rewind. The food is simply irresistible too. I would love to take art collection pictures like yours
Tami, Point Loma at Liberty Station looks both relaxing and fun! Love the ambience, the trees and the outdoor seating. Looks like a perfect place to
And I love your daughter’s idea of the photo scavenger hunt — so fun! I might just try that too in future group travels with friends 🙂
The photo scavenger hunt sounds perfect for me too. The clues force you to think creatively. I know that I would have had a blast with this everything else would have been a bonus. Nice to see that you had a blast too. Cheers
Wow, your daughter is so brilliant for coming up with that idea! It’s awesome to do and I think I will do it for my next trip! This will make sure everyone is involved and looking out for things!
It was a lot of fun and gave new focus to our date!
Wow what fun! A photo hunt activity here should be memorable. Lovely instgrammable locations.That is a good food souvenir you got home 🙂
That photo scavenger hunt is a great idea of exploring a certain area. A fun way of discovering things and bringing out your creativity. It’s an activity ideal for families and friends. Sharing and comparing your discoveries afterwards over great food sum up all the fun you had for the day!
Yep! It was a lot of fun to add the creative twist!
Point Loma is such a great place! Perfect find for dining and enjoy their delicious food together with a beautiful view. I love all of the perfectly captured views. Thanks for sharing!
I think you have an amazing daughter. What a thoughtful way to plan a trip for you. I’m sure you saw Point Loma in more depth because of her inventiveness. I love the sounds of Soda and Swine for meatballs. Yum.
Yes, my daughter is pretty amazing! She shares my love of travel and exploring new places…
A photo scavenger hunt is such a cool way to explore an area. I may have to borrow that idea.
I wish i had a daughter like you! You are so lucky! The photo scavenger hunt seems to be so cool. I did try it at some other place and totally loved it.
I think it is an amazing way to explore a place. I mean in terms of photography-category. Point Loma looks like a place for the foodie and the photographer rolled in one.
Point Loma is an amazing place! Eating fresh baked-breads while walking and taking photos for beautiful infrastructures, such an exciting thing to do. I enjoyed all your photos thank you for sharing this post.