San Diego, California. Sunny. Blue sky. Slower and a bit
cranky morning. We drove to the area of Embarcadero and Sea Port
Village. Luckily not really busy area so “early” in the morning.
Ocean – Big Bay. Unfortunately there was a lot of construction
going on along Embarcadero and we saw that recommended pleasant and
scenic walk along it will not happen. Too bad. Drive along the bay,
missed turn and GasLamp Quarter. We returned to the bay and parked.
Small park with a restaurant and fish market. Peaceful views of the
bay, interesting cluster of statues to honor military personal and
Bob Hope. Really close as well big statue of “kissing couple”
after the end of the second war. It was really big statue. Next to us
was the museum of USS Midway ship. Walked along the Embarcadero,
Broadway Pier (later we learned it is cruise ship terminal). At the
end: views and no people. We saw some kind of duck diving and hunting
for fish and a lot of tiny fish swimming there. Blue sky, ocean, sun
and pleasant temperature – really nice life. Quite a few people
exercising in the park. Moved and parked in GasLamp Quarter. Parking
was fine, there were parking meter (1.25 per hour). It was about 16
blocks of historic area. It was somewhat early and restaurants were
just opening but unfortunately there was not much else – few shops
but nothing else. The area was clean, nice, and lively but not as
charming as portrayed. Still nice. It was relatively compact and easy
to drive. We were heading to Balboa Park. Unfortunately the main road
into the park was closed (work on bridge) so we had to take a detour
and had a neighborhood tour (nice houses, green gardens, pretty
streets). The park is huge and there are zoo, naval hospital, sports
fields, and the quarter with museums and garden. The last was our
aim. Parking was free and plentiful but not really close to our part
of the park. Though we were lucky and parked almost next to the
entrance to the park. Warm and sunny. We walked through several
gardens, many of them blooming, and enjoy it tremendously. There was
a bit of drawback – too many schoolchildren running and screaming.
The buildings were very beautiful, ornate, and majestic. Palm canyon.
Cactus garden. Japanese garden with very large koi fish
– apparently the oldest one known lived to be 226 years old. Across
the road, there was a rose garden (not blooming) and really nice
(another one) cactus garden. It was sad to see many agave and cacti
with people's carvings. Damn people. Quick visit to artistic Spanish
village. Looking down into the valley from the cactus garden, we
could see so much brown and gray, apparently big part of South West
is experiencing horrible drought. There was an incredible cold in
North East. Texas had some snow and ice. New York is hitting 50s. Do
we really think that there is no change in climate? Are we fools?
Anyway, it is warm and sunny here. We drove to Cabrillo National
Monument at Point Loma. It is federal land with sizable naval base.
Military cemetery. Active light station. Other military monkey
business – radio towers, fenced yards, buildings etc. Amazingly
impressive views of ocean, bay, and the whole area around San Diego.
Seeing that it is easy to see why San Diego is classy. Visitor
center. Walk to the lighthouse (the original one built on the top of
the hill). The whole area was incredible. There were also tide pools
within the park. We checked the tide chart and arrived (probably mile
down hill from the visitor center) properly at low tide. The cliff
were probably the most amazing thing there – layer by layer of
intriguingly carved rocks. We walked on rocks by the ocean and enjoy
the view. There were bunch of people by the parking lot and tide
pools but as we walked further it got emptier and more pleasant. It
was nice. When we were done we left and drove to Pacific Beach. We
were going to meet J.'s previous recruiter - she got us jobs in
Stanford, Syracuse, and New York City. Traffic. Pacific Beach –
quite busy, less parking. We had to park three blocks away from ocean
and almost missed sunset. It was really nice. We still had an hour
before our dinner so we walked along the beach and enjoy it. Many
people running. A guy running and juggling three blue glowing balls.
Many dogs. Dinner – it was great and interesting to meet a person
J. was dealing with for almost a year. We had fun and really enjoyed
it. Back at motel at 10:00 pm.
