West Coast First Timers - Day 12, SeaWorld, Old Town San Diego & Segway tour of La Jolla

[abiknox]

Index here

I awoke at 8am today and Aaron followed at 9am. We were out of the hotel by 9.20am and stopped at a little shop on the way for snacks as I was determined we wouldn’t be buying average food at disgusting prices in the park I had really hoped we would be hungry for a proper breakfast this morning as Aims had given me some amazing suggestions of places to eat but our appetites never seemed to be there first thing in the morning. Such a shame because today, sat at my desk with a boring banana, I would give anything for a great big plate of syrupy French Toast!

We arrived at SeaWorld in time for opening and headed straight over to Manta.





The ride was very different to the one in Florida but very enjoyable; there was no queue so we were allowed straight back on for a second go.

Next up we popped over to see the dolphins, the trainers were going a little training session and it was lovely to watch.





Shamu Stadium was next, as we were only planning to spend the morning here we only had one opportunity to see the show. It was good as usual.



Next up was the pet show, I’m a really big fan of this, I can’t believe they manage to train cats so well, I can’t get mine to do anything he doesn’t want to do! Love the pig as well. We made our way down to the stage after the show and managed to fuss some of the dogs and the pig which was awesome.



This was followed by the penguins and then we went in the Wild Arctic and saw the polar bear, he was a lot more active than the one in SeaWorld Orlando ever was.













At this point we felt we were done in the park, it was a great pit stop but we had our fill with SW really earlier in the year in Orlando and we wanted to see more of San Diego while we were here so we head out to the car. We had spotted a Panda Express on our way in and after my Cheesecake Factory vote won over Aarons Panda Express vote yesterday we decided to head there for some lunch.

We both had the three entrée plate which turned out to be way too much food! It was soooo good though, always as good as I remember.





We shared a Diet Coke and the bill came to $19, amazing value!

Full up on Chinese we hopped back into the car and set the Sat Nav for Old Town San Diego. To be honest I hadn’t read too much about this area so didn’t know what to expect really. We parked up and got out of the car wondering what we were looking for. There were a couple of shops selling Piñatas and a café or two but we couldn’t see much else. We carried on walking and then saw a few people heading left from the road so we followed them.



Just WOW! Googling now I am told that the Old Town San Diego State Historic Park commemorates the early days of the town of San Diego and includes many historic buildings from the period 1820 to 1870. Not knowing what to expect this was amazing to come across.

We spent a really long time (well as much as we had spare really) exploring the buildings and shops. It was a beautiful little place and we loved our time here. Sorry for all the photos!























We bought a couple of bits in the shops and were really sorry that we weren’t hungry enough to sample any of the Mexican food. Before we were ready to go, we had to get moving as we had a Segway tour booked in La Jolla.

We arrived at the We Love Tourists office (a shed really just for housing the Segways) a few minutes early but before long we saw someone arrive and open up. I asked him if we were OK to stay parked along the street as it was a maximum 2 hour wait but he said he was risking it so we did the same.

We head through the gate onto the little patch of land and sat filling out all the necessary forms whilst we waited for the others in our group. There was us, a local lady on her own and another couple who I think were from South America. Before long we were all on Segway’s, scooting around trying to get to grips with how they handle. It came pretty naturally and they were very easy to control.

The tour was amazing, our guide Todd was really fab, he had snippets of information at each place we stopped and also told some pretty hilarious jokes along the way.

We went past the local high school; oh these Californian kids have it good! Their swimming pool overlooked the ocean! We went around a bit of the town looking at beautiful houses before we made our way onto the coast stopping at Children’s Pool beach & near The Cove for photos.

Children’s pool looked incredible, there were people swimming alongside seals and I decided we needed to come back here when the Segway tour was over. We also saw a few weddings on the seafront which looked beautiful.

Here’s a few pics I took along the way.





This was Todd











Far too soon the tour was over, we tipped Todd $20 as we thought he was really good and made our way down to Children’s Pool beach to see if we could get parked, it took us a few minutes to grab a space but we got one eventually and made our way down onto the beach. There was a rope up asking you to respect the seals space so we stayed behind that, a lot op people we ignoring it though and there was a local lady chasing after them and asking them to move back to allow the seals onto the beach. It worked and before long there were a few babies beaching themselves on the sand.







We stayed on the beach until it got too dark to see any more and head back towards the hotel. We relaxed for an hour or so and then got to thinking about dinner. Our big plans had involved one of our nights in San Diego being spent in the Gasslamp quarter but again we just weren’t up for it. I regret it so much now that we never got to see that area but I think we had our fill of city life in San Fran and were really enjoying being on the quieter Shelter Island area. We decided to grab some Mexican takeaway from one of the local restaurants. We drove up to the top of the road and after popping into the local liquor store for some beer for Aaron we popped into Miguel’s Concina to place an order.

One fish Tacos with Rice and Beans & one Beef Burrito. I have no note of the meal cost this time but I know it was cheap, about $18 I think. We were also given some warm tortilla chips & dips to go with the meal.

We made our way back to the hotel really looking forward to our Mexican feast. Unfortunately though it was a huge disappointment

The fish tacos were cold and chewy and the burrito was warm at best. It was a real shame as I had been sure we would get good Mexican food being so close to the border. Hey ho, luckily it was only cheap as the majority ended up in the bin.





I had a quick bath and we watched a new episode of the Big Bang Theory before falling asleep.

Tomorrow…. San Diego Zoo & move to Hollywood.

[MichelleS]

Another good day 😀 I wish we had researched San Diego a little better when we were there but also enjoyed a relaxing time there

[Enchanted]

Abi your pictures are showing as all mixed up on this report for me with lots of duplicates!
Another great day though

[abiknox]

Originally Posted by MichelleS

Another good day 😀 I wish we had researched San Diego a little better when we were there but also enjoyed a relaxing time there

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Its a shame isn't it. If we wever go again we will have to do it in the opposite direction and start there with lots of energy!

Originally Posted by Enchanted

Abi your pictures are showing as all mixed up on this report for me with lots of duplicates!
Another great day though

See more...

Oh dear, they are showing up OK for me so I don't know how to fix it!

[Guest]

Ah San Diego! We should have eaten more local food too. Old Town is lovely, had no idea what to expect!

[Guest]

Love La Jolla. Had breakfast there with Aims and her hubby, Larry.

And the Old Town - it's like being on some film set - except it's real!We ate at Coyote cafe - great Mexican and Tequilas the size of goldfish bowls.

[Enchanted]

Originally Posted by abiknox

Its a shame isn't it. If we wever go again we will have to do it in the opposite direction and start there with lots of energy!



Oh dear, they are showing up OK for me so I don't know how to fix it!

See more...

All look perfect now! Was reading on my iPhone but now on my iPad so not sure if that's why? Although often read on phone with no probs...never mind all sorted for me now x

[Maddie47]

Loving your reports -if you go back gaslamp is worth a visit, I feel it's more relaxing than San Fran.

Sharon

[abiknox]

Originally Posted by princess_chazy

Ah San Diego! We should have eaten more local food too. Old Town is lovely, had no idea what to expect!

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I know it was fab wasn't it. I can't believe I hadn't read more about it. I was just expecting it to be a quaint little area with a few restaurants / shops to look around but it blew me away!

Originally Posted by geoffa

Love La Jolla. Had breakfast there with Aims and her hubby, Larry.

And the Old Town - it's like being on some film set - except it's real!We ate at Coyote cafe - great Mexican and Tequilas the size of goldfish bowls.

See more...

La Jolla was incredible, If I ever win the Euros, i'll be there in a beach front mansion

Its such a shame we weren't hungry enough to try the Old Town food, it looked really good!

Originally Posted by Enchanted

All look perfect now! Was reading on my iPhone but now on my iPad so not sure if that's why? Although often read on phone with no probs...never mind all sorted for me now x

See more...

Glad to hear!

Originally Posted by Maddie47

Loving your reports -if you go back gaslamp is worth a visit, I feel it's more relaxing than San Fran.

Sharon

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Yea, I feel like there is a lot or reasons to go back to the West Coast! Who wants to tell my hubby

[SarahJayne]

This has made me soooooo excited about our San Diego trip!

I was really undecided about visiting Old Town but after seeing your pics we are definitely going now!
How long do you need there to do it justice do you think?

We have booked a town house in La Jolla for 7 days - I can not wait, it looks so beautiful!