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Cabrillo National Monument
Great views from up here, this guy is aparently the first european to visit San DiegoHello all,
After 3 great days at Disney we headed south to San Diego. We stayed at a lovely park in Mission Bay which had trees and picnic tables (some of these RV parks are just carparks). The afternoon we arrived we went to the supermarket, we were there for an embarrassing length of time but our efforts were rewarded with Vogals bread and Cadbury chocolate! (We were very excited).
Cabrillo National Park:
The next day we went to explore the city and found a national park quite by accident. Cabrillo Nat. Park is thought to be the site were the Spanish first set foot on American soil in the 1500s. It has a small museum which tells you the full story, a huge monument and a lighthouse from the 1800s. The lighthouse is decorated inside exactly as it would have been in the 1800s. The whole park is set on a cliff top with spectacular views of San Diego city. It is also near the site of a huge Navel base so we got to see some navy boats and submarines (albeit from a distance). On the way back down we stopped at the Navy cemetery, it was so
so big and covered both sides of the road (thankfully not all these men were killed in battle). There wives are often mentioned on the opposite side of the gravestone.
San Diego Zoo:
The following day (Monday) we went to the zoo! It was great but the best parts were definitely the shows - particularly the one where the sea lion clapped his flippers, howled and slid in and out of the pool on demand. The kiwi and NZ tuatara got a mention which was cool but the NZ pics on the tuatara display looked a little dated. The reptile section was enormous I kept thinking I had got to the end of it only to find more! The strangest thing by far was the massive albino python (white and yellow) it just didn’t look real!
SeaWorld:
SeaWorld was definitely worth the trip! They had roller coasters and a motion master however we enjoyed the shows far more than the rides.
First we saw the dolphins which were spectacular! They brought a family up on stage, and the father ‘accidentally’ fell into the water twice and the dolphin pulled him round the pool. He turned out he
was one of the dolphin trainers (to Melanie’s surprise).
The Sea Lion and Otter show was hilarious, and continually made fun of the dolphin show and their cheerleader like trainers we had just seen as well as mocking American idol and survivor.
They also had some shallow pools, where we could reach in an touch stingrays and dolphins. The dolphins were so friendly and we both got to touch them, even without bribing them with food.
One of our favorite parts wasn’t even water related. Because the park is owned by Anheuser-Busch (who make the famous Budweiser beers) they have a Beer School and Brew Masters club. At the Beer School they teach you how beer is made - it is a much more time consuming process than I thought. You can also do some beer tasting. Brew Masters Club we enjoyed a lot more, you sit and sample beers with various foods chocolate, strawberries, crackers and cheese etc - quite sophisticated. The guy serving us was really chatty and we learnt a lot more about San Diego and the latest sports results from him.
Finally the Shamu Show was fantastic. We got a sneak preview
Meerkats
Melanie wanted to take one home, but I am allergic to cats. of their latest show “Believe” which was about to be launched the next Saturday. It featured three killer whales, their ‘behaviors’ (a pc term for their tricks) where awesome, the photo’s speak for them selves. It was amazing to see such huge animals interacting with the trainers who to them would be no bigger than a seal sandwich.
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Gabe
non-member comment
COOL!
COOL! I'm so jealous, wish I was there too! San Diego is one of my favourite places in the world! Great pics - the navy gravestone looks like something out of 'Saving Private Ryan'. And the Sea World pics are great - Shamu is so cute!! Very cool that you got to see some of the new show in advance. :)