San Diego

Well, it's 1:30am Eastern Time, 10:30 Pacific. TaTa and I are watching some TV after getting back from a long day in San Diego. We got up around 8:30am, got ready/dressed, and headed to the local Starbucks for some Java. Starbucks out here in the West is like Dunkin Donuts in the East, i.e. on every corner. Starbucks is not just a coffee shop, it is a lifestyle for the folks out here. The stores are bigger and offer a plethora of both indoor and outdoor seating. Additionally, I also noticed their prices seemed cheaper out here. Maybe it is because the volume is that much higher.

After getting Starbucks, we headed down to San Diego, a trip that was roughly 1 1/2 hours (95 miles). We headed through Laguna and the hills of southern California. The ride was beautiful. Much of it felt like we were driving through the White Mountains, though, the White Mountains look like hills compared to what is out here.

Once we got into San Diego, we headed right over to the San Diego Zoo. Before getting to zoo though, TaTa and I came across two funny signs, which are below. When looking at the first one, look at the 4th line down. The concept is ingenious, however, I do not know if I would go to a barber that also grooms dogs. The second sign was from a clothing store. "Honey, where did you go today?" "Frock You!" We also saw another sign, however, could not get a picture of it. It was for a hotel, which advertised that is rented for the day, week, month, oh yeah, and hour.




We got to the zoo about 12pm. Both TaTa and I could not remember that last time we went to the zoo, so it was exciting being able to go to the San Diego Zoo. The slide show on the right are pictures from our zoo expedition. If you want to see the pictures larger, just click on them. We saw so many animals and exotic plants from all over the world. By each animal, there was a sign that provided detail on the animal, where it is from and a classification of whether it was endangered or not. The Flamingos were funny....they dragged their heads on the ground and swayed, and when they slept, the slept standing on one leg. What an amazing sense of balance. The monkeys were also funny. There was one in particular Chelsea would have liked....it pooed, picked it up and started to break it apart and eat it! TaTa loved the orangutans. One is particular was hilarious. There was a small black monkey who wanted ths orangutan to play, so to get his attention, he was swinging from a branch just above where the orangutan was sitting and he kept on swinging while slapping the orangutan's head. The orangutan, who did not want to be bothered, picked up a blanket and put it over his head. When the monkey stopped, the orangutan slowly peeled back the blanket to peek out to see if the monkey was there. As soon as he caught sight of the monkey, he immediately put the blanket back on his head. I found the orangutans to be amazing....how they ate, interacted with each other, walked, used their hands and feet, etc. Our other favorite animal was the Koala bears, who as you will see to the right, were all sleeping. They were so incredibly cute!

After walking through the zoo, I took TaTa to Balboa Park, which is this well known park next to the zoo. The park has several museums on it as well as impeccable grounds with beautiful flora. There is also a long pond with a bridge over it in front of the botanical gardens. As we walked the ground, people were lying on the perfectly manicured grass, relaxing in the 65 degree, breezy afternoon. On the way to the botanical gardens, I took this picture of a older man standing up against the railing over the pond, playing his saxophone. I thought it was a really cool picture. We spent a while in the botanical gardens, reading up on the various plant species from just about everywhere in the world. I took some incredible close up pictures of the flowers....some look so fake when you look at the pictures but incredibly beautiful. TaTa and I want to have the printed so we can frame them. After we walked the botanical gardens, we walked across the grounds and headed to the museum, which was showing artifacts from Pompeii. On the way to the museum, I took another picture of a violinist playing in the street. He, along with the sax player, where some of the many musicians playing all over the grounds of Balboa Park.

When we got done with Balboa, I took TaTa over the Coronado bridge to the island of Coronado. The bridge to get there is massive. It is high enough so that cruise ships and navy fleets can pass under, and it spans the San Diego bay. It takes about 3-5 minutes to get over the bridge going about 50-60 mph. Once on the island, we drove down the many streets, which were filled with shops and restaurants. We then headed to the famous Hotel Del Coronado, which has been open since 1888. Much of the entire building is original from 1888 (with renovations). The hotel itself is massive and breathtaking both inside and out. TaTa and I walked through the lobby, which has huge ceilings that were made of solid wood with intricate designs carved into it. The elevator, an original, is a brass cage, controlled by a man who controls which way the elevator goes by moving a large arm/lever. We then walked downstairs, which was like a mini mall. There was a section downstairs dedicated to the history of the Hotel Del, which as noted above, began in 1888. Through the life of the hotel, it was a destination for royalty, celebrities, and those of the upper class. It's history also consisted of being in movies. Today, the hotel is known all over the world, and it attracts an eclectic crowd, both young and old. Below is a link to the Hotel Del's photo gallery:

http://www.hoteldel.com/raves_and_reviews/raves_gallery.cfm?CFID=13339783&CFTOKEN=541becb86fda672d-29269051-1321-B350-56CADD014548BD48&jsessionid=c830adadcaed62f544d5

After walking around for a little while, TaTa and I went to eat at Sheerwater inside the hotel. We sat outside, overlooking the Pacific. The view was amazing, with the sun slowly sinking behind the mountains that seemed to have rolled into the Pacific. Our food was great too! TaTa got a pasta dish and I had Chilean sea bass. After dinner, we walked the beach as the sun set before getting in our car for the long drive back north to Huntington.

All in all, it was a great day! We saw so many things, learned a lot, but most of all, enjoyed our time together! It is about 7am Pacific time and Tata is sleeping. As soon as she gets up, we are going go for a walk down Huntington Beach and head up to Main Street, which is about a 1/2 mile down from us. Main street is filled with shops and bistros etc. From there, I think we are going to go sit on the beach for a while and read/listen to music, and maybe spend time by the pool. As an FYI, in case you did not see, there is a blog from our first day below.

Have a good day!