The American Pye Coast to Coast Adventure – Aug 2015 - Day 11 - San Diego Zoo

[SarahJayne]

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Day 11 – San Diego Zoo

So the original plan for today was to go for breakfast at Crest Café in the Hillcrest area of San Diego. Adam is a big fan of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives and had seen the café on the show about 6months ago. It was only about 10mins away from the zoo so we thought we’d check it out before heading there for the day.

But it wasn’t to be . We got there about 9am and found it with no problems and parked for free across the street. But the queue was huge and the wait system was pretty disorganised. You just had to put your name down on the list and wait but the whole time we were there the list never got checked and nobody’s name was called or crossed off! They did sit a couple of tables of two when we were there but that was about it. We waited for a good 20mins but no one could tell us how long the wait would be and time was ticking away into our zoo time and Adam decided in the end to give up (I didn’t want to be the one to make the decision because he was really looking forward to eating there). He was pretty disappointed and I was gutted that I’d missed out on their signature creme brulee French toast

We grabbed croissants and granola from the Starbucks across the street. I’ve got to say too that the area itself was a bit more bohemian and run down than the rest of the city we’d seen so far and there were quite a few homeless people wandering around so I was glad to be heading out to the zoo and the kids were just glad to be getting fed!

We made it to the zoo at about 9:45am and parked for free (again!) I had no idea what to expect in terms of crowds but the car park was fairly empty and while there was plenty of people about that day the zoo didn’t feel busy at all which was really nice. I think coming late summer definitely has its advantages. We’d paid extra on our southern Californian city passes to have the zoo added on so we got to go straight to the turnstile.

Thanks again to Dibber Amy I’d picked up a few zoo tactics and knew that the zoo was huge which meant that we’d be walking a lot but also that the 35min guided tour bus that you can jump on at the entrance is a great way to see the whole zoo quickly so that you can then plan where you want to go and what you want to see in detail. So that’s exactly what we did. The bus was there waiting and we hopped on and opted for the top deck on the gorgeous sunshine (today was a much cooler 28 degrees!)

We had a family pic taken before that we purchased at the end (we are totally suckers for pics like this! But did get the package with the picture and magnet for $32)

You get to see loads of animals from the bus and it’s a good way of figuring out where everything is. After toilet breaks and water (lots of water!) we decided to head to the Urban Jungle area of the zoo as we all really wanted to see and feed the giraffes and needed to make sure that we picked up tickets before 12pm for this. Giraffes are my favourite animal so this was a must for today!

After bagging tickets we had a look around the rest of the area and saw the kangaroos and koalas. A lady from the zoo showed the kids the skulls of a koala, kangaroo and tasmainan devil, it was really interesting. She asked where we were from and said that we were the 3rd English family she’d spoken to that morning and funnily enough we heard and saw a few English families that day which was more than we did for the whole time we were in California!

The queue for the giraffe feeding was starting to build so we joined at about 11:45am. Just before 12pm the keeper explained how we would feed and hold the biscuits ($10 for 3) and not to pet or try and stroke the giraffes as they didn’t like it. We were about the 5th family in so we didn’t have to wait long and it was just amazing! They were huge animals with really long, rough tongues. It was lots of fun and we all really, really enjoyed it.

We grabbed some lunch then and sat out in the shade. The weather was much more manageable today and Anna was coping much better with it.

We headed over to the pandas then. There was a little bit of a wait as we filed along the walkway in front of them. None of us had ever seen a panda before (well not in real life!) so it was great watching them, but we had to wait a little bit while the keepers coaxed them out of their air conditioned bedrooms by turning it off!

The gorillas were next and they were brilliant too! There was a huge gorilla that wandered right over to the glass where we were looking through, he took one look at us and then sat with his back up against the glass right infront of us. I tried to peer around with my camera to take a pic but as soon as I did he bent over and put his giant butt up against the window! Obviously we all laughed, the kids thought it was hysterical! He sat back down, still with his back against the window, so I tried again with my camera and each time I did he’d just bend forward and show us his butt! We got the hint and gave up with the pic but could have stayed all day watching that very smart, very human like gorilla!

We spent the rest of the day seeing the monkeys, orangutans, zebras, flamingos, turtles, elephants, tigers, hippos and the reptile house (Anna’s personal favourite!) a loads more. It was absolutely the best zoo we’ve ever been to and we had a truly brilliant day.

View from the cable car

We had originally planned to eat in one of the zoo’s restaurants but we didn’t fancy the menu on the one table service restaurant there so after a quick discussion we decided to go to the Cheesecake Factory as it was only about a 10min drive away. We were planning on going in a couple of days (Day 13, after Seaworld) but who says you can’t go to your favourite US restaurant twice in one trip?!

So after buying gifts and souvenirs in the shop we headed out of the zoo at about 5:30pm and found the Cheesecake Factory in the Fashion Valley mall area with no problems. It was only a 10min wait (which was actually more like 5!) and we opted to sit on the patio as the weather was perfect at this time of the evening.
We had a great waiter, really good services and stunning food (I had my favourite orange chicken – I love it from here and could soooooo eat that right now!) The only downside was that they had run out of salted caramel cheesecake that I had been waiting weeks to try! So I had to settle for my usual white chocolate and raspberry – it was such a hardship! Adam got the tiramisu cheesecake and the kids got a slice of chocolate tuxedo to share.

We were stuffed so took them to go and headed back to La Jolla. After showers and clad in PJ’s we enjoyed cheesecake infront of the tv having a well-earned rest!

It had been a brilliant day topped off with our fave restaurant – perfect!

NEXT: Day 12 – La Jolla Shores

[mrsdjh]

Great that the zoo wasn’t too busy. My youngest daughter loves giraffes – she’d love to feed them. How funny of the gorilla - he must be fed up of posing for photographs!

The food at the Cheesecake factory looks delicious.

[florida girl]

A great day at the zoo,we saw the pandas for the first time last year they are just adorable. DD's wants to go back in October they would love feeding the giraffes do you book on the day?

[SarahJayne]

Originally Posted by florida girl

A great day at the zoo,we saw the pandas for the first time last year they are just adorable. DD's wants to go back in October they would love feeding the giraffes do you book on the day?

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Yes, there's a little cabin next to the giraffe enclosure that sells the tickets and biscuits. Get there early though as they sell out fast! And I think they only do it on certain days so you might want to check the website before you go...

[SarahJayne]

Originally Posted by mrsdjh

Great that the zoo wasn’t too busy. My youngest daughter loves giraffes – she’d love to feed them. How funny of the gorilla - he must be fed up of posing for photographs!

The food at the Cheesecake factory looks delicious.

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We all loved that gorilla! He was hilarious!

Thanks for reading!

[florida girl]

Originally Posted by SarahJayne

Yes, there's a little cabin next to the giraffe enclosure that sells the tickets and biscuits. Get there early though as they sell out fast! And I think they only do it on certain days so you might want to check the website before you go...

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Thanks Sarah I'll check that out 😊.

[Aims]

Hi Sarah! That looked like an absolutely perfect day at the zoo. I'm so glad to hear that some of my tips came in useful. It's always cool for me to find out if anyone uses any of the advice I've given lol. I am sorry your husband didn't get to try the cafe he had been looking forward to- that's disappointing! I have to agree with your assessment of the Hillcrest area...not one of the best places in San Diego, and I usually try to steer people away from there if possible.

[SarahJayne]

Originally Posted by Aims

Hi Sarah! That looked like an absolutely perfect day at the zoo. I'm so glad to hear that some of my tips came in useful. It's always cool for me to find out if anyone uses any of the advice I've given lol. I am sorry your husband didn't get to try the cafe he had been looking forward to- that's disappointing! I have to agree with your assessment of the Hillcrest area...not one of the best places in San Diego, and I usually try to steer people away from there if possible.

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It was a really wonderful day. I still think of those beautiful giraffes often and it makes me smile.

[Erial]

I'm so jealous that you saw pandas. They're my most favourite animal in the world but I've never seen a real one!

Cheesecake Factory looks yummy. We've never actually made it to one yet but in October our hotel is right opposite one and so I'm sure we'll pay it a visit.

Glad Anna coped better today. I guess there's a bit more shade in a zoo!

Claire
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[SarahJayne]

Originally Posted by Erial

I'm so jealous that you saw pandas. They're my most favourite animal in the world but I've never seen a real one!

Cheesecake Factory looks yummy. We've never actually made it to one yet but in October our hotel is right opposite one and so I'm sure we'll pay it a visit.

Glad Anna coped better today. I guess there's a bit more shade in a zoo!

Claire
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The zoo and the pandas were amazing. This was another favourite day.

And you must try the Cheesecake Factory - hands down our favourite chain restaurant in the U.S.!

The weather broke a bit during the night (the hurricane in the Pacific was cooling it down) so we were all much more comfortable in the high 20's rather than mid 30's!