Just last week, I had the opportunity to head down to our neighboring city just south of us and spend time eating, walking, eating, checking out venues (for Comic Con), eating, sailing on the Bay, being a tourist, and eating again. I know, I like to eat! I was already in a good mood when I arrived in San Diego (it only took me 2 hours to get down there-no traffic-yay!), despite the madness and throngs of people checking in for the Rock n’ Roll Marathon. And no, I didn’t run in the race. I am not that healthy and I value my knees!
The rooftop lounge at the Hotel Indigo
First stop,the Hotel Indigo Rooftop Lounge. The bar overlooks Petco Park (an open-air stadium) where the San Diego Padres play baseball. And there was a game going on when I was there-it was like you were sitting at the ball park, minus the annoying crowd and plus having a yummy cocktail (champagne for me) in hand. Why can’t more bars be built overlooking stadiums? I would “attend” so many more games, no matter what the sport!
Se San Diego lobby
Then it was off to dinner at Suite and Tender (inside the Se San Diego Hotel) in the downtown Gaslamp district. The trendy restaurant is an American Bistro with a little bit of everything. The shrimp ceviche was delicious and perfectly light. And definitely order the basket of fries….so good! The restaurant is modern, can be romantic, and a good place to have a couple of drinks before hitting the town. The last time I was there during Comic Con 2010, Jerry O’Connell was having a great time in the bar with friends while promoting Piranha 3D.
Sea lions playing in the Bay
The next day, I had a great lunch at a Mexican Gastropub in the Gaslamp called La Puerta. The veggie burrito wasn’t overly huge which was nice and the guacamole appetizer was fresh and could have fed 4 people (instead of just the 2 of us!) Then it was off to the San Diego SEALS tour which takes you in an amphibious vehicle around downtown (passing by sites like USS Midway Aircraft Carrier, Navy Ships including the vessel used in Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Seaport Village) and then into the water! While cruising around the Bay of San Diego, the tour takes you past the Navy SEALS dolphin training area where you can see wild dolphins (they do not live in cages but rather unrestricted in the ocean itself) being trained for covert opps, and you make your way along side a few floating piers where families of sea lions lay out in the sun and play with one another. Adorable! Sometimes it’s nice to be a tourist. We had an extremely knowledgeable tour guide, who was really nice, but bore an uncanny resemblance to sociopath/murderer Scott Peterson….and his name was Scott and we were sailing in the Bay! I’m just sayin’…weird coincidence? We survived the trip without anyone being mudered, so that was good.
Hotel Del Coronado image: wayfaring.info
We had to wrap up the day with sunset cocktails at the Hotel Del Coronado, which was lovely. The architecture in the Victorian style hotel dates back to over 120 years ago. And they have one of the best mojitos that I have ever tasted! All handmade and so good! After that, we headed back to the downtown area and had dinner on the waterfront at Anthony’s. The view was great, too bad the food wasn’t. It didn’t seem fresh, which was a bummer considering we were sitting right on the water.
The next day, upon the recommendation of Scott our tour guide from the boat, we went to his “favorite seafood restaurant” in San Diego called Point Loma Seafood. And let me tell you, it was delish! It is extremely low profile and not fancy in the least-it also serves as a fish market with wood chips on the ground-but the seafood is amazing! Totally fresh and prepared to order-from sandwiches to even sushi. The reason why the seafood is so good there is because it is the first point the fisherman reach when returning from sea, so they get the best picks off of the boat. Highly recommend it. You can even purchase wine or beer to go with your meal which is nice.
Then it was off to the San Diego Zoo. I have mixed feeling about zoos. Of course, I prefer for all of the wild animals to remain in their natural habitat without human interference. But it seems like the animals are very well taken care of at the SD Zoo (I witnessed an elephant receiving a pedicure from one of the staff members). The giant pandas are especially revered here, as only a handful of people can view the pandas at a time and there are no loud noises or talking permitted around these endangered creatures. They seem quite happy and peaceful in their surroundings. Also interesting to see were the koala bears passing out in the trees, monkeys fastidiously grooming one another, and being so close to snow leopards that you could clearly see their whiskers!
All in all, good times in San Diego. But, it is nice to be back home.
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