I’m so far behind, as usual, but in this post I’ll tell you of our first stay at San Diego. It was originally going to be just a week but we extended another week because there’s so much to do here. In the end we’ve decided to come back again at the end of the month for a second stay to see the annual airshow at Top Gun School, USAF base Miramar. Here’s our Sand Diego post but for now check out this video of the sand dunes that we had to cross to get here. I mentioned these in my last post. We had no idea these were between us and our goal so we were quite surprised. I would have loved to have had a dune buggy to ‘test’ these suckers out but because it is a National Park I would have the Park Rangers chasing me.
We had actually been to San Diego (SD) before when Karen & Stu joined us for a few days (check out the bottom gallery here). We wasted no time in heading down to the city for a better look and as is normal here we started at the Gaslamp Quarter. We travelled in by train as the station was next door to our RV park and at $1.25 each very inexpensive to ride. That 2nd photo is the main rail interchange named Santa Fe for some reason.
Anyway SD has some lovely architecture both new and old. The major attraction in the city is the USS Midway which we saw with the kids last month so we skipped it however you cannot walk the city without a walk around the waterfront. The Maritime Museum looked interesting but time was our enemy. Alongside the wharf they have sailing ships, submarines, tenders and more. Another area of the city we visited was Little Italy. It is funny walking the city and seeing large airliners landing at the city airport right on the edge of the CBD. You’d swear they are going to crash into the highrise buildings they are so close.
On one particularly fine day (as every day is here) we got the train to Historic Old Town. This marvellous place is a National Park site which is free and open 24/7. They have restored old buildings to recreate old San Diego from over 100 years ago. There are all manner of stores and displays but mainly cafes and gift shops. We enjoyed it so much here we actually returned for a second visit.
On Monday (Sept 9th) we got up early to drive the coastal roads from near the Mexican Border up to Oceanside. This entailed going south to Imperial Beach, turning north over to Cornado Island and crossing the huge bridge joining the Island back to the mainland. This bridge is huge so that ships including US warships can get under it. We then wound our way through suburbs and State and National Beach parks till we got to Oceanside. On this trip we passed numerous classic American style houses that we just had to photograph.
Sea World
I will write up our Sea World story a bit differently by including 4 galleries, one for each paragraph/section including a video with each part. We had a two day pass (the minimum if you really want to have a good look about) and of course this means millions of photos but I’ll cut them down to the 4 galleries.
The Seal of Approval and Rides Aplenty.
This first part will be a general view of Sea World (SW) from the aquaria to the rides and I’ll include the seal show as well. We start off with the pink flamingos before looking at the various tanks with turtles, sharks, rays and other fish. Some of these tanks allow or I should say, encourage you to reach in and touch the animals.
From the touch tank we wandered over to get good seats for the Sea Lion Show. Initially I thought that the character that opened and compered the show was a rank amateur but as the show progressed he actually raised a laugh or two. The Sea Lions were fun before we headed to the ‘wild’ non-performing seal pen. (Video of Seals here)
For a bit of manufactured fun those needing an adrenalin rush can ride on the roller coasters or other rides available. We stuck to the lift on the tall mast in the centre of the park (at Shane’s request. I haven’t been able to get her on a ride since the Hogswart roller coaster at Universal last May). By the end of the two days here I was stuffed.
I see Icy World.
Another exhibit here at SW is their icy World where animals from the colder climates live. The whole set up is set up like a polar research station and in fact has items from those facilities. Animal wise we started at the seals and our timing was spot on as the keepers arrived as we did. This meant we got to see the animals go through their morning rituals of feeding, weighing and vet inspections.
From the seals we moved on to the Walrus’s and again we watched the keepers do their daily routine but with these gigantic critters they were a bit more cautious. You’ve got to love the photo of the little boy and the walrus interacting through the window. As we stepped away to the next pen Shane stopped to put her foot square into the massive, real size, footprint of a polar bear.
The next pool was what we were both looking forward to, the Beluga whales. The Belugas are a beautiful animal and we watched them for ages as they swam in and out of the caves and under the ‘ice shelf’ built for their entertainment. They are incredible to watch up close and they were happy to act up for the keepers as they were fed and checked.
The penguins and puffins were next up. There were mixed species of penguins behind their glass enclosure and again there were handlers there doing physicals on some of the birds. It is incredible how quick they move through the water yet are slow and clumsy on land. As we got outside the icy world hall SW has put an outdoor pool for the warmer climate penguins. A good display all up before we shuffled on to the ‘big’ whales. (video of Penguins and Belugas here)
Having a Whale of a Time
This brings us to arguably the main attraction at SW and that is the Orcas or Killer Whales as they prefer not to call them. Originally we caught sight of them in their holding pool through glass walls. They truly are an awesome creature. We were surprised to see that the dorsal fins on several were totally curled over but it happens that the fin is all cartilage and no muscle so as they grow they can get too heavy to stay upright.
From there we settled into row 10 (thereabouts) to watch the show. I have posted some video here. The show is terrific with the whales leaping, breaching and beaching themselves to the delight of the crowd. But the loudest screams came when the whales drenched the crowd with a powerful kick of their tail or a directed breach next to the pool edge. Even where we sat we copped a splattering. To add to the show a child is ‘volunteered’ from the audience to interact with the Orcas and unbeknown to them to get soaked to the skin.
Flipper is Alive and Well
Finally, we made our way to the dolphin area. The handlers were spread around a holding pen in the water working with the dolphins and allowing people to touch and interact with them. Needless to say the crowd, in particular the kids, were ecstatic. The dolphins certainly were having fun. They were leaping and squeaking and one even had a basketball and was passing it to the trainer.
After the wetting down we got from the Orcas we sat a bit higher in the stand at the dolphin show but that didn’t stop us getting wet again. It was a much more up tempo show than the whales and the trainers were in and out of the water for the entire show. Again some poor kid got soaked but no one ever complains as it is all fun. Watch the video to see some of what they did for the crowd.
Cheers for now and watch for the next blog.
Garry and Shane.