Weekend in San Diego

San Diego may be 10 hours (and almost as many time zones) away but it is beautiful and charming and the sun was shining.

The lovely railway station.

We stayed at The Westgate Hotel, very close to the old Gaslamp Quarter, and I felt like a queen during our stay because the atmosphere and the surroundings reminded me of a grand European Palace with gorgeous flower arrangements, lovely lines, massive chandeliers and old world style furnishings, not to mention the gold taps!

After a very large breakfast we hired a car and drove up the coast to La Jolla.

A lovely, laidback coastal resort.  However, most people stay firmly rooted to the sand on this coast though as the water is cold right through to almost the end of summer, as it gradually warms up after it's long journey from Alaska.  We did catch sight of a Gray Whale not far off shore and really enjoyed watching the antics of the baby seals caught in the surf.

Also loved the laid back lifeguards.

Our final stop of the day was the Coronado Hotel, the world renowned building, home to the stylish and famous and the location for the film "Some Like it Hot". The hotel is accessible to the public but outside is the most amazing white sand beach.  The longest, whitest sandy beach in San Diego (possibly in California).  We just had to stop and enjoy a glass of bubbles and a beer.

After returning the car we headed down to the pretty Seaport Village area for dinner and found the excellent Busters.

A lovely walk afterwards gave us an excellent view of San Diego's iconic bridge, which we had crossed earlier in the day.

On Sunday morning, after another large breakfast, we walked down to the Waterfront.  Our first stop was down by the historic ships and here there is a genuine tall ship called The Star of India.  To me she is the STAR of San Diego Harbour.  She is in great shape for a sailing ship of this age and makes for great photo ops from ashore.  If you are a nautical buff this is a must sea.  Lots of history.  She began her life in the Isle of Man in 1863 and bore the name Euterpe, after the Greek muse of music and poetry.  A full-rigged iron windjammer ship she began her sailing life with two near disastrous voyages to India.  On her first trip she suffered a collision and a mutiny.  On her second trip, a cyclone caught her in the Bay of Bengal, and with her topmasts cut away, she barely made port.  Shortly afterwards, her first Captain died on board and was buried at sea.  After such a hard luck beginning she settled down and made four more voyages to India as a cargo ship.  In 1871 she was purchased by the Shaw Savill Line of  London and embarked on a quarter century of hauling emigrants to New Zealand, sometimes also touching Australia, California and Chile.  She made 21 circumnavigations.  The life aboard was especially hard on the emigrants cooped up in her 'tween deck, fed a diet of hardtack and salt junk, subject to mal-de-mer and a host of other ills.  It is astonishing that their death rate was so low.  They were a tough lot, however, drawn from the working classes of England, Ireland and Scotland and most went on to prosper in New Zealand.

We continued to walk down Harbour Drive and looked at the USS Midway docked just offshore.
This museum is a real naval aircraft carrier that served in the US Navy for 47 years.  Large and very impressive, it has real jets up on the flight deck.

Close by there are also a number of statues to commemorate service men returning home.  The most famous of these is the statue entitled "Unconditional Surrender" which shows a sailor and nurse embracing and was commissioned to mark the end of World War II.  Modelled on the iconic photograph taken in Times Square as Americans celebrated the end of war.  A short distance away from this is a much smaller, but equally beautiful, bronze piece, which shows a sailor returning to his wife and child.

And a tribute to Bob Hope.

We then decided to take the ferry to Coronado.  Just pay for your $9.50 for a round trip ticket at the Broadway Pier.  There are two levels on the boat but, of course, the top in the open air is the place to be.  (Phil plans on hiring a bike next time, as you can stow your bike below and then do the Bayshore Bike Path up through Coronado).  Gorgeous views and you can see everything...the Midway, Seaport Village, the Convention Centre, the Coronado Bridge and much more.  Glorious!  I wish the ride was a bit longer than ten minutes though.  But, yes, riding the ferry is something I suggest all visitors do.  A low-cost and scenic way to see San Diego Harbour.

As in much of southern California you are quite far south and it's important to realise that the sun is a lot fiercer than it initially appears, especially as the full blast of the mighty Pacific keeps you cool.  Very easy to end up sunburnt, as we did, after only a couple of hours by the pool.