9th and 10th January in San Diego

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We have just competed our two days in San Diego. We really enjoyed our time here and think it's a great place. It was great having a hire car and being able to get our own way around as we visited a lot of different places during our stay.

On Friday our first visit was to SeaWorld. The entry was included with a pass we had for Disneyland. Driving out there we weren't to sure what to expect. When we arrived we were stung for $16 parking for the day, a bit rich considering people pay to visit the park. We didn't expect the park to be anything like Disneyland or as busy but it was almost empty. It was a nice change to be able to move around freely but it was a bit sad for the park. There has been a fair bit of media and controversy around the parks in the US. Even so we decided to visit a few of the attraction. When you enter they had the fish which nibble at your fingers, a strange sensation where Ryan could not leaf husbands in there as the fish would tickle his hands too much. We then headed to see some sealions and a seslion show. The sealion show was surprisingly good. However, there was a section outside where you could feed the sealions. This seemed unfair as they just sat there and begged the audience all day long and of course the loudest one got the most donations. After that we decided to have a look at the polar bears. On the way to the polar bears we saw the walrus which was humongous. We knew they were bis but didn't expect them to be that big. It seemed happy eniigh but just swam in the same cycle over and over again. Next the polar bear was napping, his partner was taken out of the enclosure as she dens when she is pregnant. They are not sure if she is but are hopeful. We sae the Sharks and turtles before visiting the biggest and most controversial attraction which are the killer whales. The animals themselves where stunning, so big but they looked so gentle. They had four pools for them but we realised they had 11 all up, including a 6 week old. They are pack animals in the wild so it is good for them to be with a group which was mostly family but it was an awful lot in a confined space. We watched the whale show which was good and pretry impressive how well they are trained. Here they went on about his they are working for conservation and how they help wild animals. They shared a story of a baby grey whale they saved, it was 31 foot by the time they successfully released it into the wild. As we left we were still unsure of how we felt about the whole place, it is good that they have the resources to support and conserve animals in the wild and hope they treat the animals well which are in their care. We are pretty sure they would. awhile leaving we decided to have a competition with the nibbling fish which Theresa won comfortably.

After SeaWorld we headed to Balboa Park, a public reserve at the top of town which has all of the towns museums in one place. The park was stunning and well worth a visit. Like Stanley Park, a visionary in the late 1800's set the place aside as a designated public park. There were plenty of people there and it had a Venetian feel about the place with outdoor cafes and architectural building everywhere. After that we headed for home and went for a walk along the harbour shore at sunset which was very nice. Here we grabbed dinner and enjoyed it in a public park before Theresa enjoyed some Ben and Jerry's for dessert.

On Saturday we again had a lot to achieve which was made easier by our hire car. First we visited Coronado Island, which is the island which opens up to the harbour. It had mikes of pristine beaches and a great feel to it. It was nice walking along the beach again and soaking up the sun. After that we continued to explore the island stopping at a few more little places until we reached the end of the road where we could see Mexico. If the road kept going we were onky 5-10 minutes away. After that we headed for San Diegos little Italy. They had markets on which we walked through and felt like locals instead of tourists as we were doing normal things for a change. We enjoyed a tradition Italian lunch and headed for Old Town San Diego. There was a major difference between Old Town and modern San Diego with a much larger Mexican influence at Old Town. After a full day of sightseeing we had to fuel the car up and return it to Hertz. Let's just saying that stopping at the ' Gas Station' was an experience, from trying to find how to pop the fuel lever to paying for fuel and Ryan needing a toilet!



After that experience we were able to walk back into town along the harbour. We assume this must be one of the only major airports where you can easily walk into the city. We headed to the shops where we had to buy extra luggage so we can bring everything home.



On arrival to the airport this morning to head to San Fran our flight was over booked and they were asking for people to spend day there. We were not going to nominate ourselves and had a nervous wait hoping we wouldn't be the unlucky ones. We worried for nothing as we had a smooth flight to San Fran. In San Fran we got of the bus a few stops early and had to walk about 25 mins to our motel which was an experience. Our judgement will be reserved but it is definitely nothing like San Diego.



Thanks again to those leaving comments! The reply mode isn't the best but we do read and enjoy them all. A blog full of photos will be uploaded shortly.

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Comments

[️Val]

9 th and 10 th January in Dan Diego
Thank you for the good read,I also relived a few memories!!! of my trips to USA!!!! I'm not a lover of LA, but you should Like San Fran, make sure you go over the bridge to Solsaleado not sure that's how you spell it,!!! you can hire bikes and ride over the Golden Gate Bridge to there. All sounds like you both are having some great experiences ....x