Last Friday was our last full day in San Diego, since we were leaving Saturday night. We knew we were doing the zoo in the afternoon, after lunch with my mom, so we had to fill our morning. The boys suggested going back to Old Town to do a little shopping. We had also missed the jail the first time around, so we made sure to check that out.
Plus, I was on board because I really liked this pig planter, but I knew there would be no way to get it home. Luckily, my mom had space in her bag- and since she'll be driving down here with my brother next week for Thanksgiving, she offered to get it for me for Christmas and bring it when she came. We wrapped him up really good, so hopefully he gets here ok!
Then we decided we'd try heading out to the Children's Pool at La Jolla to see the sealions and the seals again, since there weren't too many when we had been there two days prior. Turns out a sunny day was all we needed. We arrived around 11 on a sunny morning and there were TONS of them. I was super excited about it, so I took a few pictures. Hey, don't judge me.
There was a lone seal up on the rocks where we saw some before, he must not have gotten the memo to go around the jetty. He slid off when a wave hit him, and then tried in vain to get back up. I felt bad for him.
Anyway, super glad we made another stop. It was Calib and Peyton's idea, so thanks for that, guys!
Calib REALLY wanted to have a California burrito in California(they're filled with french fries instead of rice), and so we went to the Luche Libre Taco Shop near the hotel to pick some up. (It just so happened it we parked on Kettner Blvd). It had some fun decor.
We brought the burritos back to the hotel so we could have lunch with mom who was on a break from her meetings. California Burritos: I am a fan!
After lunch we headed out to the San Diego Zoo. We only had about 3 hours to spend at the MASSIVE zoo, which wasn't nearly enough time to see it all.
So our plan of action was to take the double decker bus tour around the zoo. That way you can see a lot of the zoo in about half an hour.
Then when we got off the bus we had a plan of action to go see the things that were on our list that the bus tour doesn't cover. It is a SUPER cool zoo, but it is also really spread out, so there's a ton of walking- and all up and down hill.
But, um, did anyone else know that penguins and sharks are competitors not predators? Peyton and I were like 'wait.. what are they doing together? This is weird!"
The boys also wanted to hit up the children's petting zoo section, because you're never too old to pet goats.
And the insect house is there, which was Peyton's second 'must see' section. (I picked the penguins and the wombat, Calib picked the Sun Bear trail).
His first must see was the Fennec Fox. It's a tiny little fox that looks like a chihuahua with huge ears that lives in the Sahara. He'd never seen one in real life, and was super excited when he found out the zoo had one. Our phones didn't take a good picture of the little guy (he just kept pacing and would not sit still), but Peyton ended up getting a small stuffed one in the gift shop to remember him by.
That night we had dinner in the Club Level and I helped Jane with one last reception. Of course, we had to deal with the leftovers, so mom took care of that.
The next morning Calib went to breakfast with my mom when she got her Lifetime AMATYC membership. Mom must have those pictures though, maybe I'll try and get them and add them in later.
Peyton slept in, and I had one more Club Level Breakfast.
Then, mom had a meeting, so we put on our official AMATYC badges and went to the exhibit hall to pick out some fun tshirts and have a look around.
After mom's meeting she was able to get out with us for lunch and we did a quick stop at Cabrillo National Park on the way. We were hoping for good tidepooling while we were there. But, the tides didn't cooperate. If we had come in earlier on Tuesday we might have been able to catch some, but other than that they weren't visible the whole time we were there. We did find pieces of a lobster though.
We did walk down to the rocks to climb around and so mom could stick her feet in the Pacific real quick. A little climbing and some photo ops later and we headed out. We had to get mom lunch and then get her back for the rest of her meetings.
Cabrillo sits at this little point at the end of San Diego. It's surrounded by a Naval Base, and the National Cemetery, which offers stunning views of the water and the city. It was fitting that we were there, since it just so happened to be Veterans Day.
My Aunt Linda recommended we eat at Point Loma Seafood. Seafood was my choice (Calib wanted the California burritos and Peyton wanted In-N-Out), and it was really close to the hotel, so we figured Saturday with mom would be a good time to go.
It's a counter service place with a little indoor, but mostly outdoor seating, but it doubles as a store where you can come buy seafood and cook it yourself. They have some interesting options, too.
While we were sitting waiting for our food outside we noticed a dog with a blue Mohawk, and sunglasses. Peyton snapped one picture of the dog, then noticed other people going up to the dog to take a picture.
So Peyton looks at us all excitedly and says 'I'm going to go ask if I can take a selfie with the dog'. I'm pretty sure this picture wins for the most 'Californian' one we took all trip. Peyton came back, showed us the picture, and announced 'I've peaked. This is the best it gets'. Apparently, the dog has an Instagram and Peyton got his card (and then downloaded Instagram just to follow the dog).
Lunch was good, too. Mom and Calib both got clam chowder, I got the crab cakes, and Peyton got eel sushi, which I refused to try (and he of course gave me a hard time about). He liked it, but said it was really different.
We headed back to the hotel, dropped mom off and then went down to the pool. It was a little chilly for me and Peyton (the air, not the pool--- that was heated!), but Calib was all about it.
After awhile I said I was going to go get gas in the car (the rental car return was just around the corner from the hotel- and there wasn't really gas inbetween our hotel and there), and try and catch the sunset over at Sunset Cliffs. The boys weren't interested, so I let them stay at the hotel and just hang out. (My rental car, by the way, was awesome. I needed a tiny car to drive in LA and all that traffic, and I sure got one).
It was a cloudy evening. But, I did get a tiny bit of a sunset. And at least the clouds kept the crowds away and it was easy to find a parking spot. (Also, holy geez the sun sets early there! It was like 4:50)
We had a red eye flight back so we packed up, showered, and put on some comfy clothes to go home in. Our flight arrived back in Orlando just after 4 in the morning, when shockingly enough the airport was PACKED and it took nearly an hour to get my bag. I'm going to be avoiding that airport like the plague! But, shout out to Hayden and Asa who were kind enough to come get us from the airport basically in the middle of the night. We all promptly went to sleep when we arrived home just before 7, followed by nachos and football (and hey, the Bucs won!)
Speaking of Asa and Hayden, they had a nice time. They did some grocery shopping for us, and went down to the lodge for some games.
Hayden's also been asking for an aquarium, so he went to the pet store to do some research on what would live well together and how much it would cost.
Also, without Calib here, Ellie and Porkchop needed somewhere to sleep. After hardly having any space on his bed after the fist night we were gone, Hayden decided to pull out the trundle for them to sleep on- so he didn't have to share his space.
I unpacked on Sunday, even though I was SUPER tired. My souvenir hull included penguin socks from the zoo, some magnets and some presidential campaign buttons (I got an Ike & Nixon one!) and the jelly bean jar from the Reagan library.
That's it for my trip- I flew through this last blog, because I need to get back to countries!
Next Up: It's Explorer's Week here, but other than that, we're all just happy to be home.
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