May 8, 2016

May 8  La Jolla (San Diego)

  

    We had breakfast at the hotel. The morning temperature was 15 C. There was a short period of drizzle from the light gray clouds, but they were clearing before we left the hotel. We finally connected to the hotel Wi-Fi and prepared the May 7th blog. We left around 9:30 for the 12 minute walk to the Old Town Transit Hub to catch the number 30 bus to the suburb of La Jolla.  We each bought a four day transit pass for about $23 Canadian each. The pass can be used for buses as well as the trolleys. The bus ride to La Jolla was about 45 minutes. We followed a self guided walking tour which took us along the scenic cliffs with breath taking views of the ocean.  We found several places where we could watch the sea lions and seals either bask in the sun on rocks or a beach or watch them playing in the waves.  With a gentle breeze blowing, you did not need a jacket in the 20 C sunshine. The path along the cliffs narrowed into a sandy path. From the lookout places we watched 6 or 7 groups of 8 or 9 kayakers paddling along the shoreline near the La Jolla Cove.  For 20 minutes as we negotiated the sandy path high above the water, we even watched a strong swimmer; about 500 meters from shore, swimming the crawl then turn back in the direction from where he had come.  We saw many flowering trees and bushes, especially trees with bright purple flowers. The walk lasted a leisurely two hours.  We found the way back to the town center passing the 90 year old pink stucco La Valencia hotel where such Hollywood actors as Charlie Chaplin and Greta Garbo had stayed. For lunch we decided to try the lively restaurant on Wall Street, Puesto Mexican Street Food  The large glass garage doors “windows” were open, so we could see the customers on the patio, too. We ordered fish tacos to accompany Pacifico beer plus Mercado salad with a side of herb lime rice and a fresco made from mango and lemon juices. Our table was near the kitchen and you could see the chefs at work through a glass wall.  It was very entertaining watching them work as the activity was constant.  One lady constantly made taco shells and she had a hard time keeping up to the demand so others would assist to get her caught up.  We caught the 2:30 pm bus back to San Diego Old Town then from there the Green Line trolley to the Santa Fe station and walked to the Embarcadero.  We arrived too late to get tickets for the final two hour afternoon harbour cruise. 

   We decided to visit the Maritime Museum further down the waterfront, buying the tickets at the Tourist Information Booth for $1 each less than at the museum. We spent close to 3.5 hours learning about San Diego’s history and the history of different ships in the sail age, steam age and up to the late 20th century including an American submarine. The first European to see the San Diego Bay was Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, who had served with the Spanish conquistador, Cortez.  We were able to board the submarine, a retired ferry, a World Cup winning yacht, a reproduction of an 18th century Royal Navy frigate as well as a restored 19th century merchant sailing ship that transported English passengers immigrating to New Zealand.  The gift shop had many ship and maritime related items.  We completed a 10 question survey about the Maritime Museum and when we turned it in at the gift shop, we received a 12 inch ruler decorated with sailing ships.  The Maritime Museum is only about 600 meters from the cruise ship terminal.

  We returned by trolley to the Old Town San Diego terminal and walked almost to the hotel to a Greek restaurant for dinner of Greek Salad, Dolmades - grape leaves wrapped ground pork lightly seasoned served with roasted potatoes and seasoned green beans. We were back to our room by 9 to write up today’s blog.

Total distance walked 12.5 km