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Published: January 9th 2013
5:50am
Headed to LAXWhy did we choose to spend our Christmas Day in San Diego? Because the zoo is open, of course!
(Not just any zoo, but arguably the best zoo in the U.S., if not the world.)
Our vacation began with a 3.5 hour 5:50am flight on a regional jet to LAX airport, landing in overcast and rain, then connecting on an even smaller turboprop hop to San Diego. Grace was thrilled that we got to walk out on the 'platform' where planes are (because the turboprop was too small for the gates). Landing in San Diego, the weather was more of the same, and we braved the constant drizzle to our first stop...breakfast...at 11:00am PST. We had been awake 10 hours already and were just getting started. Welcome to traveling with the Wildes!
Our itinerary for the day was pretty blank - find our hotel, drop off bags, find a grocery store for some quick meals later, and go to church at Mission San Diego. Our first few nights were at an Embassy Suites just a few blocks from the waterfront. The suite was really nice--our kids had their own room, we had free hot cook-to-order breakfast
every morning, and a free 'happy hour' with drinks and snacks every event. Luckily our hotel had an available room, so we also got the chance to catch a few 'z's before heading to church at 4.
The Mission was a bit of a trek across San Diego via light rail, which was a fun way to see the outer 'burbs. Mission San Diego was one of many started by Blessed Junipero Serra, who is responsible for many California missions - San Francisco, San Jose, San Diego, and Santa Clara being the most popular. Even though we arrived over 20 minutes early, there was no room in the actual mission, but we were able to walk through it on the way to the chapel, where a children's mass was being held. It was a very calm and peaceful service for our kids, and the view of the surrounding hills from the chapel was nice.
Arriving back in downtown after dark, we knew very few restaurants would be open on Christmas Eve. To our surprise, a 'Kansas City' BBQ bar/restaurant, squeezed into an odd-shaped corner between the light rail and another building, was still rocking. The food wasn't great,
and the place is probably still open only based on the claim that 'The sleezy bar scene from Top Gun was filmed here', which is proudly displayed by the front door.
Day 2 started with a few small gifts left by Santa, which completely surprised us all 😉. After a good breakfast, we headed to the zoo.
Our kids really enjoy zoos, and this one didn't disappoint. The crowd was not bad (it was Christmas morning, after all), but the park is large enough that you probably wouldn't notice a much larger crowd. Highlights included the panda bears and polar bears, with a cool view of some hippos swimming underwater as well. We brought a lunch (remember that visit to the grocery store earlier?), which probably saved us about $30 of concessions.
Day 3 involved a 50 minute bus ride along the coast line through La Jolla (pronounced 'La HOya'😉 to the Birch Aquarium, hidden in the Oceanography Institute in UCSD. We had some discounted tickets, thanks to a daily deal site, and got to see some pretty cool creatures. Highlights here included being able to pet starfish and see lots of seahorses. It was a much
Peace
Enjoying some downtime at a waterfront park. smaller attraction, but that might be comparing to the impressive zoo. Overall we had fun and learned quite a bit about seahorses. After another 50 minute bus ride home (the kids slept), we explored Seaport Village, which is a low-key shopping district with lots of small shops and restaurants. Our kids had a blast just walking around the grassy park in this area, and we had some down time just people watching and enjoying the beautiful view of the bay.
We planned for Day 4 to be a 'free day' after the Holiday Bowl balloon parade, which happened to end by our hotel. The parade ended up being pretty cool and long. Our kids actually sat through the whole event, which was at least an hour. We then headed to the Gaslamp Quarter, which is a historic commercial area of town with lots of bars, nicer restaurants, and shops. The food here was more pricey but interesting. Lunch was also a good idea here, since many of the restaurant/bars did not serve children after 3pm, and the restaurants were much more expensive for dinner.
Moving to a Doubletree (the Holiday Bowl caused problems with availability at Embassy), we
U.S.S. Midway
Trying out a chopper found an upgrade to a double suite, thanks to Gold status 😊. The next day we only had to catch an Amtrak at 1pm, headed to Anaheim. Having some free time in the morning, we decided to visit the U.S.S. Midway, which is a prominent aircraft carrier that served in WWII through Gulf War. Lunch was on the ship, then we enjoyed the relaxing and beautiful trip on the upper deck of an Amtrak train.
Next stop: Anaheim...ok, it's really just Disneyland!
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