San Diego 2008 recap

Now that the Olympics are over, it is back to the regularly scheduled program of my never ending story about San Diego.

After the frustration of Comic Con 2008, we were eager to explore other attractions in San Diego, especially since Flocons and Royal had never been there.

La Jolla

Described in travel guides as a beautiful, retirement mecca, La Jolla was deemed car rental worthy by all. We arrived at 9am and already found it difficult but not impossible to park the car. Impossible came later, at noon, when one driver was willing to wait patiently for half an hour to take over our space.

The majority of La Jolla beaches consisted of narrow strips of sand with an overhang of cliffs. The crashing waves were impressive but hardly conducive to swimming. We settled on La Jolla Cove (seen above), which was very popular with snorklers. Even with our two swim goggles, shared between five people, and spit on by Alex, we could easily see the vivid Orange Garibaldi fish, the size of one's hand, as well as some smaller, unknown silver fish.

Mission Beach

In spite of its beauty, Joe and I did not like La Jolla as much as Mission Beach. With some coaxing, we convinced our friends to visit Mission Beach after a stopover at Roadrunner Sports and In-N-Out Burger, and they were not disappointed. On a side note, the Roadrunner Sports located in San Diego was purportedly the biggest running shoe store in North America but was seriously understaffed and understocked. Alex and Flocons ordered the 4X4 Burger from the secret menu at In-N-Out Burger and claimed to feel okay afterwards, blaming only the cheese for the time they served in the washroom later.

Mission Beach is a more traditional beach than La Jolla Cove, to be sure, but even with the high pedestrian traffic, the sand was clean and there was no sense of exclusivity. While strolling on the boardwalk, we took note of the websites for the rental units facing the beach and seriously dreamed of preparing food while watching a flat screen TV, like that guy with the open glass wall that we stared at from the boardwalk.

Many locals choose to take the public bus to Mission Beach in spite of the fact that parking is readily available. Later in our trip, we returned to Mission Beach by public bus (a mere 17 minute ride) to take surfing lessons. Our Surfari instructor knew he had his job cut out when he realized that none of us skateboarded nor snowboarded nor swam very well. He patiently guided us individually while the rest struggled to walk their boards into the waves, buffeted back one step for every two we advanced. I managed to 'pop up' with the instructor's assistance and I can now confidently say that I could not surf if my life depended on it.

Balboa Park

Joe and I had chosen to skip the San Diego Air & Space Museum during our last visit but it became our first destination this time around thanks to Star Trek: The Exhibition. Clearly a trap aimed at Comic Con attendees, we ran in gleefully when it opened at 10:00am. This exhibition was superior to one we had experienced in Las Vegas thanks to the many set recreations including the bridge of the original Enterprise, Picard's quarters, the hallway of the Enterprise D and the Transporter Room. We yucked it up while Royal covered her face in shame when she wasn't being forcibly posed in photographs that we later paid $15 each for.

The only other stop on our Balboa Park excursion was the San Diego Zoo. Flocons and Royal have a 'taste' for panda and, therefore, made a point of lining up to see them. Joe and I reluctantly joined them and were rewarded with a better view of the pandas than our last visit (see below).

All in all, a very enjoyable visit to San Diego, Comic Con 2008 notwithstanding. A bonus for vegetarians: San Diego restaurants offer a wide range of veggie burgers that are tasty. Minus for food connoisseurs: there are few true 'ethnic' food options.

Next up: my never ending story of our trip to San Francisco!