Four Moretons Go West EASTER 2018 - Day 16 - San Diego Zoo

[LLKJDisney]

Day 16 - Monday 8th April – San Diego Zoo

Today is very photo heavy!
It was our last full day but in our opinion we had saved the best until last, our plan was to go to the Zoo and then eat at the Corvette Diner. The forecast was for temperatures in the high 80’s so we made sure we slapped on the sun cream before we left the house. It’s an easy drive to Balboa Park and we were parked up in the Parrot section by 9.15am.

It was very quiet when we first entered but we knew from experience the Zoo fills up very quickly. Lee was in charge of the planning today and he wanted to see the Panda’s first as the last time we were here they didn’t move a muscle, in fact Jacob thought they were fake. The theory was that if we went early on, they would be more active.

Despite having the map in his hand, Lee still led us down the wrong path and we ended up asking a member of staff the way. He directed us via the Tiger trial, which of course we had stop and look at.

The Malayan Tiger was knawing on a huge bone. We scooted past the Hippos and Tapirs and arrived at the Pandas. Although it was early morning they had already started napping and their movement was minimal but they are lovely to look at.

We came out of the Panda exhibit and decided to go and see the Polar Bears, however on the way we were the target of a fly by pooing! Out of nowhere a big pile of bird poo splatted on to the ground and went all over our legs, it is funny now but wasn’t that funny at the time. Lucas got hit the most, after a quick visit to the restrooms to clean up we were on our way to see the polar bears.

Our experience of Polar Bears is generally seeing a lifeless bear at Seaworld in Orlando, so we were pleasantly surprised to see all 3 of the polar bears up and about. In fact, 2 were very active, chasing each other around and jumping in and out of the water. We stayed for a while to watch them. It was strange because it looked like 1 bear was trying to sunbath but was also rolling around in the snow/ice they had put into the enclosure.

The sun was now well and truly burning through and the boys were thirsty, so we stopped for a slushy and found a nice patio area to sit and enjoy it.

The Zoo is massive and you definitely do as much walking as you would do in a theme park (if not more). It is also very hilly and you seem to be constantly walking up hills to get to enclosures. However, you do not have to walk all the time, they have an excellent bus tour which is a must do if you want to see the whole Zoo, they also have the cable cars which allow you to view the Zoo from above and they also do a hop on and hop off bus, so don’t worry about the walking you can still see the animals. I won’t bore you with listing the animals we went to see but I will add some of the better photos we took.

We went on the skyfari (cable cars) and Lee had great fun shaking ours much to my annoyance, the outback area was new since the last time we came and the boys enjoyed pretending to be Koalas and climbing trees.

Last time we came we didn’t get to the reptile house so we made sure we went and had a look this time. They have some huge snakes in there and although it’s not my cup of tea, the boys loved it. I think they watch too much ‘Snakes in the City’ at home.

It was now the middle of the afternoon and the heat was beginning to get the better of us but it was our last day and we wanted to see as much as we could. We stopped for an ice cream @ Sydney’s Shoppe. I had a cookie sandwich which was amazing but I had to eat it quick before it all melted, the boys enjoyed large soft swirls.

Lee wanted to see the Sun Bears which had their own section but once again Lee’s map reading skills let us down and we ended up in the Urban Jungle section! When we did eventually get to the bear section, none of them were visible!
We spent a bit of time looking at the Gorillas and Orangutans but this was by far the busiest area of the park.

We decided to finish the day with the bus tour which goes all round the park and an excellent commentary is provided as you pass each enclosure. It is a double decker bus so you can sit up or downstairs. Despite the heat we sat on the upper deck as that is where you get the best views from. As it was the middle of the afternoon and really hot most of the animals were sleeping although the Polar Bears were still playing. The tour was as good as ever but a little hot for me on the top deck.

It was now just before 4pm and we had seen almost everything so we decided to call it a day, we exited via the gift shop. Lucas bought a Panda for his friend while Jacob got a hanging Monkey for his bedroom.

As mentioned earlier the choice for our final dinner was the Corvette Diner, which is about 6 miles away from the Zoo. Last time we were in San Diego we met Aims (Dibb Member) here, she is a San Diego resident and was so helpful when we were planning the trip. The Corvette Diner is very lively with a great atmosphere, all the waiters and waitresses are very loud and entertaining and it is definitely worth a visit if you like those types of restaurants. As it was only 4.30pm it was quiet inside the restaurant which didn’t bother us, we enjoyed the air con and the surroundings. Gloria was our Waitress; she was a larger than life character who definitely enhanced our experience. Lee and I both had chocolate shakes which were huge and very filling. For dinner, Lee had the breakfast at Tiffany’s burger, I was boring and had the Chicken Burger, Jacob had a huge Hot Dog and Lucas had Chicken Strips. We paid $16 each for the kid’s meals which included a $10 each gift card for the arcade area which is attached to the restaurant. The food was quickly demolished, amazingly the boys eat quite well when there is a promise of an arcade afterwards 😊.

The bill came to $75 which included the game cards for the arcade. It really is a nice place to eat and we would recommend if travelling with kids. We spent an hour in the game room afterwards, Lucas won some more tickets which enabled him to get some more tat from the shop.

We asked the boys what they wanted to do next and they both said go the beach and play, so that’s what we did. The wind had now got up and the waves were crashing against the rocks which meant we had to be quite selective where we sat if we didn’t want to get soaked. The boys had a great time and said they would miss the beach the most when we went home.

We buried Jacob in the sand, Lee ventured into the water (well he paddled), we took more pictures of the sun setting. It was a lovely way to spend the last evening in the place we love so much.

We eventually dragged ourselves back to the house as I still had the dreaded packing to do. The boys watched TV and stayed out of the way while Lee just got in the way! We did have ‘I bought a Zoo’ on in the background which is a great film and was very applicable to our day. I took some more photos of the house we had rented; excuse the mess

Our feet were hurting and our legs were tired but it had been an amazing last day of our West Coast adventure and a perfect way to end our last day – making memories

[spenners]

A great last day

[KayLouise]

Brilliant last day. The zoo looks fab and sounds massive, I didn't realise how big it is. Lovely pics 😊

[smithlane]

A perfect last day Kerry!
The zoo looks great fun, I would love to see the pandas.
The diner sounds fab too, another one for the list! As a huge Top Gun fan I’m surprised you didn’t get to Kansas City BBQ, the only thing from the film we did visit 🙄

[LLKJDisney]

Originally Posted by smithlane

A perfect last day Kerry!
The zoo looks great fun, I would love to see the pandas.
The diner sounds fab too, another one for the list! As a huge Top Gun fan I’m surprised you didn’t get to Kansas City BBQ, the only thing from the film we did visit 🙄

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I know gutted but my family don't like BBQ food so it was slightly pointless but i do wish we had just gone in for photo's
Corvette Diner was a great recommendation from the lovely Aims