Event Report
20130118
We had been sitting
around the house for a few days when we were informed that
Jessica's mom, Violet, was going to be in San Diego for a few
days visiting. We happily agreed to take her around town
to see the sights. We went to the marina district downtown
and north along the coast to Del Mar.
The photos below are what we saw.
I decided
that the correct thing to do for a visitor was to take them down
to the marina district on San Diego bay and buy them
lunch. So, we loaded up the M5 and headed south. We
parked at Seaport Village and then walked the short distance to
Roy's on the boardwalk. Above, you can see the Marriott
hotel with the mirrored windows.
The
Hyatt hotel looks like some kind of chisel.
The
girls posed for a photo. Both were over dressed for the
weather, which was off-the-chart nice: mid-seventies, sunny and
no wind.
We
passed a number of nice restaurants along the waterfront.
We had a
great, if pricey, lunch at Roy's and then left to hike around
Seaport Village. Above, we spotted some ducks in the pond
that was producing Van Gogh-esque patterns in the water.
Colorful
wind spinners for sale at one of the shops.
These
Asian gals were hamming it up for photos. They, too, were
grossly overdressed for the warm weather.
Seaport
Village is an interesting place and the area around this
fountain was popular with the tourists (like us).
We left
Seaport Village and headed to Point Loma and the Cabrillo Monument.
Above is a view of San Diego Bay from the end of Point Loma.
The
visitor's center at the Cabrillo National Monument provided
another nice view of San Diego Bay. Downtown is visible in
the distance across Coronado Island.
The Cabrillo Monument
commemorating the explorer's first visit to San Diego
Bay. Mexico is visible across the bay in the distance.
Next day
we continued exploring the beach areas with a drive up to Del
Mar. Above, the cliffs provide a nice view of the Pacific
Ocean north toward Camp Pendleton. Visible at the base of
the cliffs are the Amtrak railroad tracks. The ocean was
very calm with surf less than knee high.
Looking
south we could see the cliffs of Torrey Pines and the hills of
La Jolla.
From our
view point on the cliffs we could see some of the high-dollar
homes with ocean views.
We got
back in the car and headed to the Torrey Pines Glider port and
walked to the cliffs. Below is the famous Black's
Beach. Note the placid condition of the surf.
The
cliffs at Torrey Pines provided a great view to the north.
To the
south, we could see the Scripps Institute pier and La Jolla
cove.
Below us
in the calm water, we noted a seal making its way south.
You can see the shadow of the seal on the ocean floor below.
We
continued further south to La Jolla shores where we could see
the other side of the Scripps pier.
We were hungry so we
stopped for some excellent Mexican seafood at Su Casa in La
Jolla. When we were done, we continued south to the
Tourmaline Surf Park in Pacific Beach. The only folks
surfing were the windsurfers as the waves were non-existent.
The young girls with the paddle boards looked like they were
scouting the waves, but judging from their new designer bikinis,
the boards were more of a fashion accessory and they really
had no intension of getting wet.
Many places along the
cliffs have signs warning of unstable ground and landslides.
The windsurfers were
ripping it up pretty good.
To the north of
Tourmaline there were more high-dollar homes on the cliffs.
Some of the local
color.
We continued south
through Mission Beach to the jetty and then decided to walk to
the water. Above is the channel into Mission Bay from
the open ocean.
The late afternoon
sun caused the palm trees to cast long shadows on the beach.
Looking north from
the Mission Bay jetty. La Jolla and Mt. Soledad are
visible on the horizon. The beach area at south Mission
was virtually deserted.
What could be better
than running on the beach in your bare feet and shorts in
January? Not much, I expect.
The
weather in San Diego is normally good, but these past two days
it was excellent. Highs were in the mid-seventies with no
wind and no clouds. These are the days that the visitor's
bureau pray for.
We enjoyed
hosting Violet and hope that she enjoys her trip back to cold,
dreary Long Island.
Copyright Bill Caid 2013. All rights reserved.