CORONADO, BALBOA = SAN DIEGO

Tall Sailing Ships in San Diego Harbor

As we dropped down out of the desert and into California, the terrain immediately became greener.  We had been fortunate to see Spring in the desert and had marveled at some of the wildflowers and blooming succulents and cacti, but now suddenly the flowers became carpets of flowers and I do believe that Californians can make a hedge out of any hardy plant!  Close to the state line we saw a solar collector that used mirrors to focus the sun toward towers that then used the heat to generate electricity.  Dave, the engineer, was very curious, but after driving down to it, they would not allow us to stop, tour, or even take pictures except from afar.

Solar mirrors

We did a “stop and drop” in San Bernadino.  It was not memorable except that we really liked the county park.  It had full hook ups, lots of shade and we had fun segwaying around the park and ponds.  The sites were configured so that some of them could accommodate 2 big rigs for families traveling together.  This was the first time we had seen that. 

 Arriving the next day in San Diego, we were able to park and do an initial exploration of the city.  We really like San Diego.  It has it all – great history and shopping for Deb, breweries for Dave, and the magnificent Balboa Park for both of us. I thought we would have a relaxing 4 days, exploring a little and cooking out in the RV Park and generally “chilling”… but there was so much to do, that every day we would leave out  (ok we did manage to have some leisurely starts!)  and not come home until it was time to fall into bed!!

Thursday afternoon we explored Coronado Island.  The segways earned their keep once again.  We were able to transverse the whole island several times and admire the historical houses and grand hotel. 

Friday we spent the day in Balboa Park.  Adjacent to the San Diego Zoo (we did that last time), it is 1400 acres of urban park originally built to commemorate the opening of the Panama Canal in 1915.  The Spanish architecture is interesting and the park rivals Central Park in NYC.  The buildings have been repurposed as urban museums and they have a top notch art museum (actually several of them), an air and space museum, science museum, natural history museum and several specialty history museums.  We bought a day pass and actually split up so that we could cover more of what each of us wanted to see.  In the Natural History museum we both went through a special exhibition about the Titantic with several hundred artifacts brought up from the sunken site.  When you entered they gave you a “boarding pass” and at the end you could see if the name on your pass died or was rescued.  (David and I were both among the lucky third).  I especially liked the Anthropology museum with a replica of “Lucy” and the cave in France with the early cave drawings.

Dave on Segway under plane
 at Air and Space Museum in Balboa Park

 Even with the segways, we were able to work up a thirst, and San Diego provided us with more breweries than we could visit!! LOL The most fun and the best beer was at White Labs.  This is the yeast grower David and Clay use for all of their yeast in brewing.  It reminded me of Del Dotto for brewers.  Instead of tasting wine aged in different barrels, we were able to taste the same wort (brew) done with different yeasts.  It was a lot of fun and the chemist in David really enjoyed the tour. After 2 more stops, we realized we had only scratched the surface and Deb was driving the 14 lane interstates!!  At each of the breweries we visited that day and the next, they all had food trucks parked outside.  This is to get around an ordinance about serving food in a tasting room.  Some of the “roach coaches” were very gourmet, others earned their nickname.

Taps at White Labs

"Chandelier" at White Labs

 Saturday we explored Old Town, the Seaport Village and the Gaslight District.  Old Town was the original site of San Diego and it is an interesting mix of shops and history.  Many of the old buildings have been preserved and are used as tourist/”art” shops.  Often the shop keepers will be in period dress and will share some of the history with you as you shop.  We especially enjoyed Heritage Hill where they had moved several Victorian houses to protect them from demolition.  One was owned by Sherman’s cousin. Only one of them were occupied and the city was recruiting shops instead of residents.  It was an interesting concept, and had potential. Dave had a few errands to run, so Deb “shopped til she dropped” and when Dave came back she had found a street fair with real artists (as opposed to the chotsky shops) and we found a tile piece for the back courtyard.

Sherman's House in Heritage Village

Artist with Tile Piece:  3 Moons

Down by the harbor, we marveled at the tall sailing ships and Deb rode a  carousel.  The Gaslight district provided us with a several pubs to choose from.  The Knotty Barrel suited us just fine.

Sunday was our busiest day yet.  We went to First Lutheran Church downtown.  They obviously have a large ministry to the homeless and hungry and feed folks on their patio several days per week.  After early church we did a brunch at Family Restaurant.  One of our tourist magazines had mentioned a home tour out on Coronado Island so we thought it would be fun to see how another Historic District organizes a tour.  We saw 7 houses for $40 (each!  They charge more!!) And all of the houses were built prior to WWII.  The outdoor gardens and kitchens were very special as was the Spanish architecture.  As we were finishing the tour, we realized that we had just enough time to return to Balboa Park for the Sunday afternoon free organ concert on the Spreckle Outdoor Organ (its in a open air pavilion).  We had heard it once before and quite frankly this organist wasn’t as good as the one we heard before, though she thought she was.  She was a professor at San Diego State but both David and I thought her tempo was erratic.  We hung out in the park, enjoying an art glass show in the Artists’ Village and eating supper at the Prado Lounge  (yummy calamari!) until a play began at the “Globe” theater.  It was a new musical about reality TV entitled Nobody Loves You.  The theatre was small and in the round  and the musical was hilarious.  The musicians were top notch and the score was a lot of fun.  Again we drug our bodies home just in time for bed!!

Deb on Home Tour

Organ at Balboa Park

 Monday morning Dave had a conference call at 8 am and we prepared to leave after the bulk of rush hour was over.  As we were taking I-5 up the coast, it began to veer inland so we got off on the coast road.  Within 10 miles we passed Carlsbad State Beach and noticed that there were rigs as large or larger than ours in the campground.  (When we researched it, the literature had said nothing over 25 feet).  David’s arm didn’t even need a twist, to turn around and see if they had a space for the night.  I write this from our picnic table right on the ocean.  LA can wait another day.  This is too beautiful and I’m having fun watching the surfers.   

Deb "chillin'" at the Pacific Ocean, Carlsbad, CA

Sunset at Carlsbad State Beach, CA

Surfers at Carlsbad State Beach, CA