Day of Eating on Vacation - San Diego Sea World

This will be a little bit of a rant, so please be forewarned.

We are in San Diego for a family vacation (and escape from 110 degrees back home in Arizona). We thought we'd treat the kiddos to Sea World, something I remember doing when I was a kid.

I know there has been controversy around Sea World and how they treat their animals and whether we should be making dolphins perform for our entertainment. All that aside, my kids truly enjoyed the experience and the animals did seem to be well cared for as far as we could tell.

My rant is about the food at Sea World, not the animals or rides, which were so much fun.

I am normally the type of person who looks up menus before going anywhere so I can plan ahead. I am a believer in an 80/20 lifestyle, and on vacation this can be more of a 70/30 approach. Still, I have my boundaries.

I did not look at the menus beforehand and was appalled. While there was chicken at each food establishment, it was all breaded and fried. There were burgers, but you know that meat is questionable. There were salads, but they came with the same breaded and fried chicken and sad looking produce. There were no hummus and veggies or hard-boiled egg grab and go options. There were plenty of fries, funnel cakes, cotton candy, hot dogs and ice cream to my kids' delight.

But for me, I guess I expected more in this day and age, especially in California.

So, here's what I opted for that day:

Breakfast: Made a smoothie at our AirBNB before leaving with blueberries, banana, two huge handfuls of mixed greens, vegan protein powder, peanut butter, amino acids powder, water and a splash of almond milk. This counted as four cups of fruits and veggies for me (at least, considering the plant-based protein).

Lunch: Skipped it. I just couldn't bring myself to eat anything except a few of my daughter's french fries (because, you know, 80/20) and instead opted for a large almond milk latte.

Pre-dinner snack: When we got back to the house around 5:30 I grabbed a handful of mixed nuts and a Paleo Valley beef stick.

Dinner: Salmon poke bowl with mixed greens, rice, salmon poke, chopped cucumber, pineapple, seaweed salad and sesame seeds. Oh, and two glasses of wine. I walked more than 22,000 steps that day and we ended the day with a family movie, so I indulged and loved it.

I normally wouldn't skip a meal. Had I looked ahead, I would have made a little hummus and veggie container for a small balanced meal that would have been a better choice than the latte. Lesson learned and I think I'm going to write to Sea World as a kind suggestion to bring in more fresh (organic) produce, gluten-free options that aren't full of preservatives and quality protein. A girl can ask.