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.
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| 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.
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| Sunset at Coronado beach |
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| 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!)
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| 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!
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| La Jolla |
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| Tide pools at La Jolla |
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| Sea Lions at La Jolla |
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| 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!
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| 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!
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| F-14A predecessor of the present used jets |
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| 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 16
th 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.
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| The bay view from Point Loma |
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| The Cabrillo Monument |
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| 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!
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| Hot Fudge Sundae in a Waffle bowl!! YUMMMM!!! |
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| 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
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. 
