San Diego in March

We had a fantastic time in San Diego.  Of all the times we've travelled down to Cali, this was the first time without kids in 13 years.  Instead of the typical tourist-type things to do down south, we headed to a conference, and slipped in a few fun things as well.  Two of our "newer" hot spots were a whale-watching cruise 12 miles out to sea from the San Diego harbor, as well as an afternoon in Old Town San Diego with all its Spanish/Mexican flavor.

We stopped for fresh fish at the Bay Cafe right on the water, and then climbed aboard the Lord Hornblower:

Dean was dreading the time away on the water - and I told him I was sure that when I booked it I had seen it was an hour and a half long.  As the horn blew and the boat slowly moved out to sea, the captain informed us that we had purchased tickets for the 3.5 hour tour - not the 1 hour harbor cruise.  Dean groaned, but I was kind of excited - there's certainly nothing similar to this in southern Manitoba!

 This was the first day since the tsnumani following the earth quake in Japan, that boats were able to get back out on the water.  Millions of dollars worth of damage had occurred along the western coast of the U.S. San Diego harbor is protected by a very large out cropping of land that moves out from the mainland and swings down southward.  It's called Point Loma.  Within the protective arm of Point Loma, the waters were quite calm.  The water traffic was crazy busy - all the privately owned crafts were getting back out to sea, and the military base was anxious to get their ships back out to the open waters as well.

These mine-sweepers are built w/o any metal - carbon and fiber-glass only.  There was also a small boat with rubber rims around it and a little tent-type thing in the back.  As it went by we saw a dolphin in the little tent.  The captain told us that these boats carried dolphins and their trainers out to sea - and they were taught how to detect mines. 

The bottom and middle level of our boat had bars and tables - serving pizza, hotdogs, hot pretzels and other snacks.

We also got to see a military submarine heading out to sea - lowering into the water, and then doing maneuvers off in the distance with the periscope peeking up and down. As we headed back into the other side of the harbor there was a submarine machine-shop of sorts (Point Loma in behind it).

There had been beluga whales spotted on the day before the Japan earthquake.  This was noted as very strange - never seen before along this coast.  Then, the grey whales - which are seen on a daily basis at this time of year, were no where to be found when we went out.  We were offered free tickets to come back - but Dean just put his head in his hands and groaned. 
I tried to get him excited about the hundreds of dolphins that jumped through the waters as we sailed by - he was more interested in remaining as still as possible... See, the original boat that is used for these longer tours out to sea was in for repairs (we didn't know this before we left shore), and that larger boat even has stabilizers - we had NO SUCH SUPPORTS! 

The captain was quick to point out the crazy weird currents racing through the waters - an after effect of the tsunami / earthquake fiasco.  We were tossed back and forth a fair bit!

I tried to get Dean interested in all the California sea lions with their new babies on the fresh-bait docks... to no avail!

I thought for sure the huge re-fueling ship being tugged out to sea would interest him, or the massive freight-carrier with 5000 Japanese cars bound for the San Diego dealerships... nothing could distract Dean from his whirling head and tilting stomach...

Finally I got a little frustrated and said, "I've done a lot of things for you, Dean!  I'm sorry you don't feel good, but I really wanted to see all this, and I've done things you asked me to when I didn't want to.  Just think of all those roller-coasters I've gone on and I was so freaked out - but I did it - for you!"

He groaned / growled with with his head still in his hands, "I'm not afraid!  I wish I was afraid - I'd rather be freaked out..."  And I couldn't stop giggling at him for 3 days whenever I thought about it:)
In the end he tried really hard to be a good sport, and got a couple pix of us together...

MUCH more to Dean's liking was Old Town San Diego - it was wonderful!  All the little shops and adobe buildings and tile roofs, and unique plantlife... 

Fountains in courtyards, and outdoor patios with open fires to warm all the diners in the evenings. 

Hanging lanterns and jewelry shops with semi-precious stones found in the area are interspersed with museums and historical buildings. 


The highlight of the trip (besides getting in a bit of time with Dean's family again) was dinner one night at an authentic Mexican restaurant in Old Town.  We waited almost an hour to get in, but it was worth it - and we got to watch ladies hand-making corn and flour tortillas on a large flat grill.  Boy were they delicious when it was our turn to eat!  That, the fresh salsa, and the two Spanish guys who seranaded us with "Amore" on guitars, made for a fantastic night!