Old Favorites, New Gems

We love returning to our favorite places in San Diego every time we visit.

There’s the restaurants:

• Cali Cream for ice cream.
• Donut Bar for donuts.
• Stout Public House for fish and chips.

The sights:

• Seal Rock at La Jolla.
• The tide pools of Point Loma.
• The historic Hotel del Coronado.
• The trails at Torrey Pines.

The attractions:

• Sea World.
• Belmont Park at Mission Beach.
• Waterfront Park Playground.

And the shops:

• S D Trading Co.
• Seaport Village.
• Coronado Ferry Landing.
• Old Town Market.

But as much as we love revisiting old favorites, we also love discovering new gems.

One new discovery on this visit was Warwick’s.

Our oldest’s latest hyperfocus is fountain pens, so before the trip he researched stores in San Diego that carried them and came across Warwick’s. During our day trip to La Jolla to see the seals and sea lions at Seal Rock and grab lunch at Brick & Bell, we decided to stop in and see what this store had to offer.

I expected a small shop specializing in fountain pens, but Warwick’s is so much more than that.

Come to find out, Warwick’s has been around since 1896 and is the country’s oldest continuously family-owned and operated bookstore. They boast a wide selection of books, stationery, pens, art supplies, gifts, and jewelry.

I found myself naturally gravitating toward their book-ish gifts and picked up a trivia game for my book club. Our oldest found a fountain pen he’d been searching for. We browsed the stationery, journals, art supplies, and of course, the books. I even grabbed a set of scented multicolored gel pens for our youngest.

The store was quite busy the day we visited, so honestly it felt a bit overwhelming. We left wishing we’d had more time to browse the aisles and learn more about their fountain pen selection.

So a few days later, we went back. And I’m so glad we did.

This time the store was quieter, and the woman behind the counter was incredibly knowledgeable, helpful, and patient with us as we explored the fountain pens.

By the time we left, I had purchased my very first fountain pen and bottle of ink. Our middle child bought his first fountain pen. Our oldest added yet another pen—and more ink—to his growing collection. We also picked up several notebooks so we could immediately test them out back at our hotel.

That one little shopping trip for my oldest has actually breathed new life into our homeschool days, growing into a newfound shared hobby.

All three of us are enjoying our fountain pens, practicing our handwriting, and experimenting with different pens, inks, nibs, and notebooks.

How incredible that the discovery of a new place can spark new passions, new hobbies, and new life. And how quickly today’s new gems can become into tomorrow’s old favorites.