San Diego
Yes, you heard it right. We visited the city of beaches during the month of December 2018. San Diego is situated on the coast of Pacific Ocean of Southern California and it’s was the first site visited by the Europeans on the west coast of the United States. San Diego is called the birthplace of California and is known for its mild year-round climate with extensive beaches and museums.
We didn’t have any plan of visiting San Diego until the last moment of our plan and it was decided by SAN instantly to spend a couple of days in San Diego as we thought that there are not enough places to explore in Las Vegas for 2 weeks. We flew from Burgh to Vegas and reached Vegas around midnight. We started to San Diego on the evening of the next day along with our friend, Saravanan. We started driving to San Diego around late afternoon and reached the city after 3 long hours. We stayed in the hotel – Ramada and I should stay that I haven’t expected such an ambiance in a reputed place – it was such a bad experience. We opted for a non-smoking room but the odor in the room was otherwise. We need to request the hotel staff to clean our room.
We had planned to decide the La Jolla Cove and the beaches on the next day. The first thing we noted about San Diego is the availability of Indian restaurants and other cuisines. There is a particular place called Indian Street which has authentic South Indian and North Indian restaurants. It might sound so childish but then having a typical South Indian breakfast – Idli and Vada at odd times in the night is pure bliss. When you are in San Diego, you can experience and enjoy this pure bliss every single day of your stay in the city.
The next day morning, we started driving towards the historic landmark – Mt. Soledad National Veterans Memorial. I loved the entire city as the homes resembled the ones back home with wide balconies and sea-facing windows. One could see plantain and palm trees everywhere. The weather was awesome – sunny with a mild cold and perfect to explore the place.
Mt. Soledad National Memorial is one of the most unique memorials in the US to honor the living and deceased Veterans. It also has a fantastic ocean view and one can watch the entire 360-degree panoramic view of the city and the Pacific Ocean from the Mt. Soledad which is 822 feet above sea level. We decided to explore the beaches in the city instead of Museums but I accept that the museums and the Zoo in the city are equally awesome and wish we had more days to explore the place in depth.
San Diego is known for 70 miles of beautiful beaches and mild temperature offering a perfect place for the visitors to enjoy the beach life. Our next stop was La Jolla Cove. The cove is known as the Jewel of San Diego and is loved by both the locals and visitors visiting the place. La Jolla Cove is the perfect place for family fun – with activities for every type of person. The beautiful place offers breathtaking sunsets, clear beaches, the sight of sea lions resting on the shore, various sea water activities and amazing seaside restaurants. We visited La Jolla Cove and witnessed a sea lion resting on a rock. You can climb down the steps to see the cove in a closer view. There is a boardwalk from the Lo Jolla Cove underway park till the Sunset Cliffs. We decided to explore the entire stretch of the shore by walk. The beaches are not the only reason to visit La Jolla but also the abundant sea life habitat. We witnessed a number of Sea Lions huddling up together, barking on the bluffs and swimming in the water. I have never seen so many Sea Lions before and was so excited to see them together at one spot – witnessing them swimming to the shore from the sea, barking and sunbathing on the rocks.
La Jolla beaches offer various activities like Snorkeling, Diving, Kayaking and Stand up Paddleboats. The man-made underway park in the cove provides Kayak, Snorkel and Tide Pool tours. We walked along the entire stretch of the boardwalk until the Children’s Pool.
The Children’s Pool is the place where the La Jolla Seals hang out in a bunch and viewing them from the seawalls is one of the most loved activities by the visitors. The visitors are prohibited from swimming in the beach due to bacteria levels and sometimes, walking on the sand is also prohibited especially during the pupping season. We walked on the sand and excited to see them in such a close view, touch and feel them. Yes, we did touch a Seal sleeping on its back. We also saw a number of seagulls along the entire shore. It’s aptly called as Children’s pool as it was flooded by little ones playing in the sand and enjoying the seals on the shore. If you have more time on hand, you can walk on the coastline further and visit the beaches.
By the time we completed visiting the Children’s Pool, we were hungry and decided to grab the lunch in any one of the seaside hotels. San Diego is known for Mexican and Seafood. You can see taco shops everywhere. We decided to have a typical Mexican lunch and visited the hotel – The Taco Stand. The food was delish and the variety of sauces they offer is outstanding. I ordered shrimp tacos when my friends ordered grilled fish tacos. And also, the entire West Coast offers various healthy options for your meals like Smoothies, bowls and superfood outlets. Yes, I was surprised to see proper breakfast shops serving acai bowl and superfood smoothies all through the day. I grabbed a Banana Berry Smoothie bowl and Watermelon cooler for me from one of such shop – Fresh.
Tide Pooling is another famous activity in San Diego and La Jolla Shores offers perfect spots to do Tide Pooling. Since we visited the cove during weekdays, it was not much crowded at all and hence, we decided to try tide pooling in one of the rocky spots along the coastline. We visited La Jolla Tide Pool spots and walked on the slippery rocks with a hope to view any one of the sea life habitats. The city experiences high tides and low tides twice in a day. One should visit the shore during low tides to witness the washed out sea life in the rocks. We witnessed limpets and chitons. They don’t move and stick around rocks but on a perfect day, one can see Anemones, Hermit Crabs, Sea Stars, Sea Hares, and Spanish Shawls.
We then drove to the Sunset Cliffs, the famous spot to watch Sunset. The Cliffs provide such a beautiful sight with orange and yellow cues on the sky as the sun sets in the Pacific Ocean. Sunset Cliffs is a 68-acre city of San Diego National Park which extends 1 ½ mile along the Point Loma Peninsula’s western shoreline. It was so exciting and surprising to view the dramatic cliff formations, surfers surfing in the beach, caves, expansive ocean views and native coastal sage habitat. We climbed one such dramatic cliff and decided to stay until the sunset. That was a wised decision made by us, as the sunset in the Pacific Ocean is such a beautiful experience to watch with color hues on the sky above the expansive ocean water.
We then drove to the Gas Lamp Quarter, a historical site in the Downtown San Diego. The historic site had restaurants of world cuisines. It has 94 historic buildings built in the Victorian Era depicting architecture and Victorian history. We walked along the entire district and grabbed my favorite Ghirardelli chocolates from their outlet. The place is an entertainment hub, where one can dine with world-renowned chefs, observe the beauty of Victorian architecture, dance all night in nightlife venues and take a stroll along the freeway. And the last stop for our way was the Coronado Ferry Landing which provides a beautiful view of the entire skyline. We couldn’t explore much as the day ended soon and the city was engulfed in complete darkness around 5 in the evening.
We visited the World Famous Sea World the next day and explored the Torrey Pines Reserve area. I will cover the Sea World in a separate post. Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve is a 1750 acres reserve dedicated to preserving the Torrey Pine Tree and is located on the cliffs above the Torrey Pine State Beach. We walked along the trail in the coastline along the Sandstone canyons and the breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean. It’s a perfect spot for family fun and offers hiking trails of all types. We walked along the coast, watched various types of colored stones and picked up a few colored ones as our remembrance. The tree – Pinus torreyana – found on the reserve is one of the rarest pine tree grown only on the Sana Rosa Island.
After our visit to Sea World, we started driving towards Las Vegas. San Diego, by no doubt, is a place with extensive beaches, World famous Museums, perfect mild weather, world-class restaurants, historic district, vibrant downtown, and abundant sea life habitat. But then, the only disturbing factor was the unclean environment – especially the washrooms could have been much cleaner.
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Thanks, Karthi
