We took a break from our southwest snowbird adventure to complete our cross country journey by taking a trip to San Diego for a few days. Using some travel points, we reserved a room in the Gaslamp Quarter, which is a great, central location to explore the city. We could walk to just about everything we wanted to see. In addition, the Gaslamp Quarter is the epicenter of night-life, shopping, eating and entertainment in San Diego with over 100 of the city’s finest restaurants, pubs, nightclubs and retails shops. So many restaurants and so little time!
The official completion of our journey happened when we went over to Coronado Island to put our feet into the Pacific Ocean. We can now properly say we’ve traveled coast to coast.
We also got a look at the massive Hotel de Coronado. When it opened in 1888, it was the single largest hotel in the world. The hotel is one of the few surviving examples of a wooden Victorian beach resort. It is also the second largest wooden structure in the United States. It’s truly an impressive resort. I’m sure the room rates are more than we can afford.
The Go City Card
You know you’ve been traveling quite a bit when you’re discussing plans for the day and your wife looks at you in the morning and asks “Wait…where are we?” We started the day by purchasing a 2-day Go City card for San Diego. Available for purchase from your phone, the card grants admission to as many attractions (from a list of 40) as we can manage in 2 days. There are several options to choose from based on how many days you plan to be there and the card is available for many different cities in the US and abroad. I’ve used this in other cities we’ve visited, as well. Check it out during your travels. It’s a good value.
The San Diego Zoo
One of the attractions included with the Go Card is the world famous San Diego Zoo. With over 4 million visitors per year, it’s the most visited zoo in the US. It is also a pioneer in the open-air, cageless exhibits that recreate the animal’s natural habitat. We’ve visited many zoos in our travels but this is by far the best one.
Balboa Park
The zoo is in Balboa Park, which is San Diego’s version of Central Park in New York, so after visiting the zoo, we walked around the park. Balboa Park has more than 16 museums (admission is included in the price of the Go Card), multiple performing arts venues, lovely gardens, trails, and many other creative and recreational attractions. The land was first set aside in 1868 and improvements began in 1892 with the planting of 100 trees and shrubs a year and building roads. San Diego constructed many of the buildings in the park that house several museums today for the Panama-California Exposition in 1915. We perused the Aerospace, Auto, and Natural History museums while we were here.
The San Diego Zoo also operates the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, which displays animals in a more expansive, open setting than at the zoo. The two locations regularly exchange animals, as well as with other zoos from around the world. The Africa Tram, included in the admission price, takes you around the park with several hop on, hop off stops. For an additional fee, you can select from several special safaris to get a closer look at some of the animals. If you’re in San Diego and have to choose between the Zoo and the Safari Park, go to the Safari Park. The camera mule (me) forgot to grab the camera when we left the hotel so Cathy did the best she could with her IPhone.
La Jolla Cove
La Jolla Cove is a major destination for anyone taking a trip to the San Diego area. Ever since we got here, people have been recommending we go, off we went. We heard the sea lions and harbor seals barking as soon as we got out of the car. The views were breath-taking! So was the smell. Whew! I guess with so many sea lions and other wildlife, that’s bound to happen.
The waters surrounding the Cove are part of the 6,000 acre La Jolla Underwater Park, which includes an Ecological Reserve, which means there is plenty of wildlife. Wildlife viewing isn’t the only thing to do here. Partake in open water swimming, snorkeling, scuba diving, kayaking and paddle boarding, if you’re so inclined, which we weren’t. And, of course, there is dining and shopping. This is definitely a must see stop if you’re in the area.
Old Town San Diego
Another interesting short side trip is Old Town San Diego, considered to be the birthplace of California. This is the first permanent Spanish settlement in the area, created in 1769 with only a mission and a fort. Old Town San Diego State Historic Park is in the center of Old Town where you can experience life from the early Mexican-American period of 1821-1872. Staff and volunteers demonstrate activities, such as blacksmithing, quilting and carpentry, from the 1800’s in restored buildings from the era.
As in every other tourist destination, there is an abundance of restaurants and shops here, as well. We had a fabulous lunch at Old Town Mexican Café (highly recommended) where they make their own tortillas by hand.
Little Italy
Another stop to include on any trip to San Diego Little Italy. It’s not much of a tourist attraction but the food is fantastic. Unfortunately, we were still pretty full from the lunch we had at the Old Town Mexican Cafe. However, that didn’t stop us from stopping at Sogno Di Vino, which advertises itself as a place for wine and appetizers. We ordered some first-rate calamari and a glass of wine. The menu said they were famous for their cannolis and a debate ensued about sharing one or getting two. After over two decades of marriage, I know what “I’ll just have a taste of yours” means so I ordered two. It’s a good thing we did, otherwise we would have been in divorce court fighting over custody of the cannoli. They were superb! This is the standard by which all future cannolis will be measured. There are many more restaurants to try but they’ll have to wait for another time, as our trip to San Diego is over. For now, it’s back to our southwest snow bird adventure.
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