Good morning, San Deigo!
By this point, we've figured out that when the forecasters say that "it will be cloudy", what they really mean is that "it will be cloudy until about 10AM, and then you'll get the sunshine that you always get". Sweet deal.
In order to have the energy to enjoy this beautiful day, we started of with breakfast at 222 Cafe. This place was AWESOME.
Check out breakfast:
Yes, folks, that's a pumpkin waffle (made with buttermilk and pumpkin) and a peanut butter and banana french toast. Freakin' delicious.
I had already convinced Jimbo that we needed to come back the next day (we did, and I got the strawberry pancakes ;)
The hotel was right next to the convention center (where ComiCon is hosted each year, and where Jim's conference was being held). Across the street was a train/trolley stop. And this little machine that just about cracked us up each time we pressed the button. Had to take a video for the kids.
On the bay-side, there was a beautiful jogging path. We took a walk out to enjoy the view.
Here I am inspecting a leaf to see if it is practical to bring it home for the kids. (It was not. I ended up finding some bark instead.)
But we did take this picture of the turtles in the hotel stream:
We were dying to get out to the beach and check out the Pacific for ourselves. We've been to the water's edge in Hawaii and Alaska... but this was a first for me in CA. The hotel had its own water taxi that gave you a 7 minute ride across the bay.
Nice view of our hotel (two towers in the middle).
Once on Coronado, we walked about 16 blocks down the main strip: Orange Ave. I am not sure if we saw orange trees. But we did see so many neat ones that we had to stop and photograph them. Some are below:
Upon getting to the beach, we were happy to see that there were working restrooms, soft sand, and ample space to spread out. Of course, the section we ended up on soon became crowded... and the water was ice cold... and get this-- we were the ONLY people there with bathing suits on. I do not understand, really. It was at least 70 degrees in the sun, and a Saturday afternoon... but there were really only a handful of people on the beach.
Oh, and this thing:
Just when we thought things couldn't get any stranger... Jim says it might be some kind of seaweed. Any guesses? Some kind of Pacific kelp?
Took the picture below to illustrate the amazing bridge that was built to connect Coronado with the mainland. The US Navy maintains a base nearby, and houses the battleship that "dumped Bin Laden's body in the ocean".
That night, we went out for dinner at a little fish place, that ended up having pretty good food but not great service or ambiance. But it was in the cool "Gas Lamp District" part of town. With lots of shops. That were open late.
Check out this police officer. When I first saw him there, talking to that guy (who was clearly high and snacking on peanuts), I thought it looked neat with his hand up on that window. The class was already cracked, of course, but it looked like he was punching it and making it so. Anyway, as I snapped the picture (with the sloooowest camera ever....) he moved! So I actually explained to him what I was doing and asked if he could re-position himself so that I could shoot it again. So both guys are kinda smiling in this shot. Probably think I'm a crazy tourist.
We peeked in here for some gellato, but ended up getting $3 beers at a hookah bar down the block. I have decided I do not like the smell of hookah bars, and that when I am on the West Coast, I have an inability to stay awake past 8PM. I made for a cheap date ;)
We returned to the hotel and enjoyed some time by the fire pit.
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