Friday, January 28, 2011

Sunny City San Diego

                San Diego is most famous for its animals. The zoo, safari and seaworld are the most popular, but there much much more to San Diego. That is what we decided to explore when we were there last time. I am going to share with you everything other than just the animals. I will fill you in with the amazing animals at the zoo but for now lets take a look at the other side of this seemingly small but second largest city in CA.
Hotel del Coronado
                Within a small radius, San Diego offers all kinds of entertainment and activities. Lets take a look at the two most famous beaches here- Coronado and mission beaches. Coronado beach is in Coronado on North Island. It is this vast stretch of sand silent, pleasant, quite a lot of activity going on too. We were there at sunset and there weren’t many people in the water, and the wet sand under the waves were forming these beautiful ripples that glistened in the setting sun. Along the beach is the famous Hotel del Coronado.  One of the oldest hotels in America, and host to many celebrities. While you relax here you may also spot airplanes taking off from the adjacent North Island Navy Base.

Sunset at Coronado beach
After sunset at Coronado Beach
                Mission beach reminded me much of the Orange county beaches in CA. The colouful houses along the sand and the waves trying to wash the beach away, and bikers and walkers enjoying the fresh breeze while sweating it out! (watching it makes me feel light and healthy too!)

Mission beach

                Another spot you have to see in San Diego is La Jolla. Along the Coast Blvd of La Jolla town are the tide pools, sea lions, sea gulls and Pelicans. The place is great for just a quiet walk, healthy jog, or even a picnic with your kids along at Scripps Park. A famous activity here is Kayaking, which you can take to the La Jolla coves nearby. A lovely place for sea animal photography, and a happy place to just relax. So bring your blankets, sandwiches, and lemon juice, and enjoy this beautiful stretch of ocean blue!

La Jolla


Tide pools at La Jolla

Sea Lions at La Jolla
The Whisky Girl
                Now for the nightlife. The place to hang out in San Diego in the evenings is Gaslamp Quarter. It is a very popular place for all kinds of ages to just chill and have an evening dinner, with their buddies in the numerous sports bars, or if you want to have a romantic dinner with your partner. Most places have specials on game nights, and you could go bar hopping all you want and have a blast! We tried the Whisky Girl. It was full of people, activity, we got raffles tickets (but didn’t win!) got some specials for drinks and some great fried beans too! A loud bar as it should be for a game night, on the whole a nice place to see the locals having fun drinking eating and winning!

Pepperoni pizza at Sammy's
                We had dinner at Sammy’s Woodfired Piza. A neat place, pizza was expensive for its size! But it was definitely good! I would give a 4 star rating for this place. We had a simple Pepperoni pizza and enjoyed it a lot! The piping hot cheese and dripping juices!! Yummm….

       




              

            We also visited the USS Midway Museum. Amongst the many naval attractions in this city, we made time for this Vietnam war air ship turned into a museum. It took us nearly 3 hours to see the whole place. And considering our speed, if you had kids whom you would want to educate, make time for atleast 6 hours. This is a great place for youngsters (5-15years) to learn and appreciate the work of the navy and their apparatus. The entry is $18 for adults and it opens at 10am. There is a lot of walking to do and steps to climb at times so it is better if people avoid it if they have some difficulty. They give you a free audio tour with ear phones etc which you can carry all over the ship. Directions are clear, and there are guides all over the place to give you more information whenever you need it. The main attraction of the place is the Upper deck. There is a display of their aircrafts with veterans to explain about how they work. We can also step into a couple of them to see what it is like to be in them. I do not have very good vocabulary in these things, but I must say, I was very excited to see these aircrafts that were actually used once in real war! One that really got my attention was the SH-3 Anti-submarine helicopter that rescued crews from Apollo 11, 13, etc. The most interesting thing was when I saw a veteran explaining to his 15 year old son about his experiences on that ship! The man must be so proud of himself, and the son amazed!

F-14A predecessor of the present used jets


SH-3 Sea King that recovered the Apollos

                Old Town is a restored town as it was in the 1800's of Spanish settlement. Personally I didn't find it to be so amazing. But there were a few buildings that intrigued me, like the Wells Fargo building with displays of mail sorting and a real carriage. I believe they used to have horsemen that carried mail across the country in just 10 days! Then there were stores like the cigar store for instance. This place was reeking of cigar odour, but, It had pipes from years ago, hundreds of kinds of lighters, apart from thousands of varieties in cigarettes and tobacco. At the courtyard of Casa de Reyes, dance troups perform  on a stage for all the guests interested. Catchy music and bright colours are very attractive. The shops here are typical to the spanish and unique too. Most of them are souvenir shops some food stalls, and there is one eye catching one. That is the Casa de Furco. Its got all kinds of hot sauces, with a whole section for habanero sauces. The pics will show you what exactly I mean.




                The last place we saw was the Cabrillo monument. Passing by the Fort Rosecrans National Cemetry, we reached Point Loma that houses the Cabrillo Monument. Parking was very difficult to find and after going around 3 times, we finally were able to enjoy the view of San Diego. On one side is the North Island Naval Complex near Coronado, with the down town as the background. Little boats sail into the bay all around you. On the other side is of course the ocean! Cabrillo came to San Diego Bay in the 16th century from Mexico. A statue of him is the monument that marks his landing. There is also a light house that has been used since 1800s.

The bay view from Point Loma

The Cabrillo Monument

The lighthouse at Point Loma
                 As dessert for this post, why not taste some yummy ghirardelli ice cream!! You cannot miss this place in San Diego right? Anything and everything is lip smacking, no introductions needed, Here are the two treats we had!

Hot Fudge Sundae in a Waffle bowl!! YUMMMM!!!

Butterscotch Sundae!!

                Another dessert that we enjoyed was at Old Town Mexican Cafe. We also had Chicken Quesedilla, enchiladas and fish tacos, but this dessert was the best. The fried tortilla with ice cream. I never imagined it would be so good!! Do check it out next time!!


Useful Links:

http://www.sandiego.org/nav/Visitors
http://whiskeygirl.com/
midway museum: http://www.midway.org/
http://www.oldtownsandiegoguide.com/
cabrillo monument @Point Loma: http://www.nps.gov/cabr/index.htm

Monday, January 10, 2011

Filippi's flips you over!


    Famished after a day long stroll in the San diego zoo, we were hunting for some good italian food in Little Italy. We picked Filippi's Pizza Grotto. We are fanatics of italian food, so we were ready to dine in this famous italian deli cum restaurant. We were there on monday evening at 8:30pm, and we had to wait 25min to be seated! So you can imagine how popular it must be! They have other locations all around San diego, and stretching upto Napa too!

   Waiting in line, and observing the deli around me, I counted more than 20 kinds of EVOO(Extra virgin Olive Oil), Wines from all over the world, including their own home brew France ca Chile Flippis. And cheese?? Dont ask me! I couldnt count them....Displayed in the counter, hanging on the counter, there was cheese everywhere! Of course, no italian store can not have pasta! There was loads and loads of pasta everywhere... It was a delight to see almost everything italian in the store.

    

Once you pass the deli and enter the restaurant you know they have been around for  a long long time. The place was full! Tables all over, waiters running all over, 'bottles' hanging from the ceiling everywhere! I later got to know they were bottles of Bell'agio Chianti dry red wine, ordered and autographed by their customers. This place was screaming, 'You are here for SOME experience'!! 




    





We ordered some fresh garlic bread, and then binged into this cheezy, pizza surprise. It was the Vegetarian Special, with loads of cheese smothered all over, mushrooms, onions, tomato and black olives. Ingredients are not so appealing I know!( there was no chicken on the menu) But the pizza was certainly a mouthful. 






     After the pizza, we were ready for more. So we tried their Eggplant Parmigiana in the a la carte (smaller portion) with some lasagna. Yummm... it was perfecto! The pictures may not completely tell you how it tasted, but... neither can I! But if you are any where close to Little Italy in San Diego, do make sure you check out this place. The ambiance itself will bowl you over!


Useful Links:


Saturday, January 8, 2011

BJ's Restaurant


     BJ's is a restaurant that is famous for its beer and food along with a friendly atmosphere to be with friends or family. Here are a few of our favourites @ this amazing place.

    We absolutely love their Santa Fe rolls.Filled with chicken, beans, cheese, and peppers, served with their Santa fe sauce and avocado cream sauce, it feels awesome. You just cant stop eating them and licking the sauce! While the rolls are our staple appetizer, the last time we were there we tried their Best beginners appetizer combo. Oh yes! It was definititely the best for beginners. They have their Santa fe rolls, Avocado egg rolls, Spinach and artichoke dip with nachos, and mozzerella sticks with marinara all in one plate. You get a taste of all their wonderful spices in the kitchen and they suit everyone's taste on the table too! I am a fan of their dips. The spinach and artichoke dip was great!

Mediterranean Deep Dish Pizza

 Something you cannot miss eating at BJs are their deep dish pizzas. Try any of them. They are all excellent A crunchy crust and hot chewy cheeze, yummmm... We loved the Southwestern and the Mediterranean. Here is the Mediterranean.
A slice of deep satisfaction!




Pizooki Trio
      Now for the desserts. Their exclusive Pizooki is well worth its popularity. Hot freshly baked cookies with ice cream. You can either have one bigg Pizooki all by youself if you have some space left in your tummy after the delicious pizza, or you can share the Pizooki Trio with your choice of cookies cookie n cream, Chocolate macadamia nut, Chocolate chunk, Peanut butter or oatmeal raisin walnut.






Useful Links:

http://www.bjsbrewhouse.com/