San Diego, CA Part 1

If you would have told me a month ago that I would be spending my 6 year anniversary in San Diego, CA, I would have laughed at you so hard, but guess what, I DID, and it was Awesome!!!

Ricky's work wanted to send him to a conference in San Diego, CA, so we cleared it with both jobs, and I was able to go with him. We leave bright and early on Wednesday Morning to head to Texarkana, to catch our flight to Dallas, then from Dallas to California.  I was a nervous wreck, on the inside, because the last time I flew was in 2004. Back in 2004, I didn't have a child, and responsibilities waiting for me to come back home, so I was very anxious, but we made it safely.

 We land in San Diego, with a temperature of 75 degrees, and NO humidity. At that moment, I wanted to move there. We took a shuttle to our hotel, and set out to tour the surroundings. We had dinner at this place right down the road called The Lazy Dog, and it was wonderful, I wanted to go back. After that, we decided to scout the land, since I would do most of my traveling via tram, and bus, we wanted to make sure I knew where I was going. Although we got lost, we finally found the Mission Valley Center Station, which took us about an hour and a half, but the weather was so amazing, we didn't mind.

The next morning, Ricky didn't have to be a his conference till 10:00 so we went to Dennys for breakfast, right down the road. The best thing about our location, everything we needed was within walking distance which also became a small problem. I'll get to that later. After Ricky left for his conference, I began my day set out to do a San Diego Trolly tour. I make my way to the Tram station, buy my travel card, and hop on the Tram. Once I am at my location I head to Old Town to begin my Trolly Tour. Let me tell you, this is the way to go to tour a city. They will take you to all kinds of  tourist places, and you have the option to hope off at each stop, visit, and hop back on a trolly when you are done, or ride the whole tour and not get off. I chose to get off.

First Stop: The Harbor:
It was beautiful:

This was the ship they used to film Pirates of the Caribbean.

One thing I did miss at this stop was the main attraction, the USS Midway. After I seen, what I thought was all of the Bay Area, I decide to hop back on the trolly. We turn a corner, and there is the USS Midway, and the big statute of the Navy Shoulder Kissing the Nurse. My thoughts are WHAT, I can't believe I missed that maybe at the next stop, I can hike back, but that didn't happen. I was sad that I missed it.


Next Stop, and my favorite: SeaPort Village:

I love these trees, look how beautiful, and big they are. I knew I was a long way from home, when I saw these trees, and once again the weather was perfect for such a day at the seaport.




I saw this bridge in the distance, and was amazed by its size, and length. I thought it sat perfectly in the distance. One thing about this tour that I took, it was self-paced, and self guided, which I loved, but there was no tour guide around for you to ask questions, like, where does that bridge lead to, or to give you a heads up, that in a few hours, you will be crossing that bridge. EEEKK!!!

How does Seaport gets it name, this is it, the seaport. I thought this was a great view of the port, docked ships, and the large buildings behind it.

Is it just me, or do you also thing about the gazebo in Gilmore Girls when you see this??







Next Stop:  Gaslamp Quarter:

Once I got off the Trolly in the Gaslamp distract, I really didn't know where to go, and I really didn't want to get lost, so I stayed  pretty close to my trolly stop. Fortunately I found an old house that was open to tour, and possibly haunted. Since I had time to kill, I decided to go inside. I love looking at old houses. There was not much to see, during the daylight, but I heard the night life was awesome.

Next Stop: To the Island of Coronad:
Remember that bridge from earlier, well we were crossing, and it gave a great view of the San Diego Bay, and skyline. There were 2 stops on this island, but I was tired, my feet hurt, so I had planned to stay on the trolly and see the island from the trolly, untill we passed the beach.
I knew that that I would be making a stop. The Hotel Del Coronado was gorgeous, and had a front row view of the ocean.

They even had their very own herb garden. I want one of these some day.
The beach was amazing, I didn't want to leave. It was so nice and peaceful, but I didn't want to left on the island either, so I decided to head back to my trolly.

Next Stop: Balboa Park:

I didn't get to see much of this, because I was tired, and my feet hurt, but I didn't want to miss it either, so I didn't take as many pictures as I should have, but that's ok.  Here are a few of the sights.

After I left the part we headed back to Old Town, and I was ready to get back to the hotel, and rest.
Once Ricky got out of his conference, we headed out to eat downtown at this Mexican Restaurant called La Puerta, and OH MY, It was delicious. It was a sports bar/ restaurant and the wait was 45 minutes long, but worth the wait.  Here was my meal, a combo of 3 kinda of tacos: Ranchero Shrimp, Carne Asada, and Grilled Veggies, and OH MY, I want to go back, just to eat there again. It was delicious. 

 

With everything that I needed within walking distance, and a cab fee being outrageous, I felt safe enough to walk where I needed to go, as long as I had Google maps.