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Published: August 4th 2011
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As our departure from San Diego approaches, Peter and I sit waiting for Shanes ‘Speciality’ barbequed Burgers…Hungry and tired after a fun day. Actually, a fun week!
After leaving Los Angeles, we rented a car and things didn’t go exactly according to plan, we got ripped off at the car rental joint, got a flat tyre and then ended up at the wrong ‘Date Avenue’! Anyway, apart from all that, the 3 hour drive took us about 7 hours! It was so beautiful along the coast road. We passed Huntington Beach, Newport, and Laguna Beach to mention a few. Looking back now, we wished we had spent a few days doing that drive and stopping overnight in a few places….maybe some other time!! Eventually, after getting to the correct ‘Date Avenue’ and driving past the house like 3 times, we were greeted by Shane and Shaleen! At last, we were there!!
So after a brief catch-up with the McCabe’s, we set out our itinery for our time in San Diego. Whilst we had been planning, the McCabe’s had also been doing some planning in preparation for the Royal arrival!!haha…
Thursday, Shaleen had to work a half day so ourselves, Shane and
Foster, headed for the USS Midway, which is an old Navy carrier with many exhibits like fighter jets and uniforms etc! It was really interesting actually and had lots of cool things. Lots of people who are retired Navy Veterans, volunteer there and love to chat about their time as pilots or whatever they done on these ships. Across the water, we could see the ship that had Osama Bin Laden on board, which was in the dock. San Diego has a huge naval port, the ships are so huge!! Was pretty cool seeing them all lined up and some getting repaired etc! That afternoon, Shaleen met us in the Balboa Park and we had lunch at the impressive El Prado Restaurant. We spent so long chatting that when we went to the exhibits at the park, they were closing! But no worries, we enjoyed catching up. That evening, there was a car show in the village of La Mesa, where we were staying. We had a walk round. There were some stunning cars.
Friday, we arrived at SeaWorld and went to a number of different shows. It was so good. We saw seals, dolphins, birds, whales and people all
preforming doing various tricks which was so much fun. The animals were amazing! It was actually much better than what we expected. It was actually so hot that we decided to sit in the front row of the whale show and we got so wet! The whale so kindly soaked us….That evening, Peter and I got the train to the city and had a wander around the Gaslamp area and shopping centre. As usual, we saw some interesting characters on the train!!
Saturday, we had a relaxing few hours and then we got all dressed up to head for the races! It took place at the Del Mar Race Course. Ian, Shaleens son, was our driver! We had a few drinks, placed a few bets, and then went across the parking lot to the Reggae Concert where Ziggy Marley performed. It was fun. My cousin Conor McCabe, who is currently in the Marines and whom I haven’t seen in about 10 years, came and met us.
Sunday, we were up and at it early and off to Mexico. Shane’s mate, Juan, who speaks Spanish etc, drove his car down and we drove also. We went to Porto Neuevo for a
seafood feast followed by a walk round the stalls. Mexico is exactly the way we thought- people coming into the restaurant singing in Spanish at the tables, men in white suits walking around… Then we headed back for Tijuana to cross the border. After Mexican police turning us back twice, we were finally in the correct line of traffic and after 2 and a half hours in traffic and a not very funny customs officer, we finally got back onto US soil.
Monday, all 4 of us went to San Diego Zoo and spent the day in the blistering heat. This zoo was really good. A massive selection of animals and we thoroughly enjoyed the experience! We saw various animals interacting with each other like one Orang-utan smelling where the other one had just urinated! NICE!!
Tuesday, our last full day, car packed, sun cream on, we went to Coronado beach. According to Shane it’s rated as one of the top 10 beaches in the world. According to Shaleen, it’s rated as one of the top ten beaches in America! Shane definitely liked to promote tourism in San Diego, he would do very well in sales!!haha….Peter tried out body boarding
and American football with Shane whilst I topped up my tan with Shaleen!! Whilst sunbathing, we saw dolphins swim in the ocean and many pelicans were diving for fish. Not something you see at Rossnowlagh (Donegal)!! After sweating it out we went to the Elite Coronado Del Hotel for some cooling drinks. We people watched and talked and laughed. It was our last night here in San Diego and with Shane and Shaleen. Over the past week, we have had such fun, watched many movies at night (avoid The Abyss!!), had lots of good food- California Burrito etc and had great hosts. Vegas awaits us but for now, in the words of Ron Burgundy,
“You Stay classy San Diego!”
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