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Old 30 Sep 18, 09:09 PM  
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Pumba75
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4 go La La in La La Land - Day 9: Stay Classy San Diego

Thursday 9th August

As with every other day here in San Diego, we started off in our usual place on the balcony with coffees in hand. And as with most days, I was rewarded with the sight of another big boat sailing into the bay. Today was significant for a couple of reasons - firstly, it was our last full day in San Diego, and secondly, it marked the halfway point of the holiday.

The relatively relaxed pace of the previous day meant we were all up early and raring to go - we were in the car and pulling out of the hotel parking lot just after 8.30am. Today was all about the beaches - we were going to head up the coast north of the city and had already planned the spots where we were going to stop. But first, breakfast was needed - again, with the help of Aims’ thread, we had decided to head to Kono’s Cafe at Pacific Beach. Thank you Aims. It was a popular place, but we managed to snag a parking spot on the street outside the cafe, and we joined the queue to order.




It didn’t take too long, and soon we had placed our orders, and went to find a seat on the outside decking area. The food arrived quite quickly and was fresh, hot and tasty. We had the following:

E&M - Breakfast Sandwich




Melissa - Pancakes




Me - Breakfast Burrito






It won’t be a surprise, but the portions were quite large! Honestly, the Burrito weighed at least a pound, possible nearer to two - it was ridiculous! But also very tasty. I didn’t, however, manage to eat it all. It was only when we had finished that we realised there seemed to be another part of decking, across the boardwalk that had an even better outlook on the beach and sea - Doh!

With breakfast eaten, we felt we ought to make some effort to try and walk some of it off! This made us smile.




We went for a wander along the boardwalk/prom that runs along Pacific Beach, which was lined with numerous hotels, restaurants and tourist shops.

It was shaping up to be another lovely day, and was already getting very warm. As we wandered back, we decided to head on to Crystal Pier - there are a number of holiday units actually on the pier, and we all agreed that we would like the idea of staying in one of these one day. It still wasn’t even 10am, but the surfers were out in force, so we stood for a while and watched them from the pier. Once we’d wandered around a bit more, we decided to head back to the car and venture further up the coast.





Another fridge magnet purchased!






If only...




The next planned stop was La Jolla Beach - as we drove up the coast road, it became apparent that the area was becoming more “exclusive” - the parking at La Jolla was more tricky, but we eventually found a garage in the town itself and walked back down to the beach. It was a different kind of area than Pacific Beach, with smaller beaches, and more rocky outcrops. The reason for coming here was to see the Seals/Sealions that famously inhabit the coast here. There were a lot of them, and as fascinating as it was to see them, it was also very smelly!








However, we enjoyed our time watching them, there were a number of pups as well which were quite cute. You can get very close to them, although we did feel that some people were getting too close and weren’t very considerate of the fact that this was their natural habitat.




We were now quite thirsty so headed back to the car and decided to head to a 7-11 we’d passed on the way for a “Big Gulp” cup - we love these and hadn’t had enough of them so far this holiday! 99c only. Bargain.




Cups filled, we got back on the road, heading back down the coast to Mission Beach. Again, parking was a bit tricky, but we managed to find a spot on the parking lot as someone left. Mission Beach was very similar to Pacific Beach, again with a boardwalk/prom running along the beach. We went for a wander along first of all.




Now, one of the things we’d noticed in our time in SD was the abundance of electric mini scooters - these operated on a similar basis to the bikes you can hire in London. You set up an account, and then hired the scooters to get yourself around. When we’d been in Balboa Park and downtown we’d commented about how they were a bit of a nuisance - people riding them didn’t seem to be too considerate of pedestrians and other road users. Apparently, you are supposed to wear helmets whilst riding them, but we didn’t see many users in them, and a lot of people seemed to be just using them to mess about on, rather than as a means of getting from one place to the next.

There were a lot of people using them on the boardwalk, but there were also a number of police officers about who were stopping the scooter users and issuing tickets where required.




There were also other officers patrolling the beach on quad bikes, and seeming to confiscate alcohol. The beach was very busy by now and it seemed like a nice area. The other thing that Mission Beach is famous for is Belmont Park - an amusement park with a huge wooden Roller Coaster. The rest of the rides weren’t really anything special, but Melissa and the girls wanted to ride the Roller Coaster. Tickets for all 3 cost $18 in total, and soon they were on - they all really enjoyed the ride. Ticked off the list.








By now the area was beginning to get really busy, and it was also very hot. So, with plenty of beaches seen, we decided to head back to the hotel.




After a bit of time resting in the room, we headed down to the pool for one last visit around 5pm. The girls were enjoying pool time and Melissa and I decided we’d like to have a drink. Melissa really fancied a cocktail, and perused the menu, finally settling on a Shelter Island Iced Tea, a bold choice given the time of day, and I went for a Barrio Lager. The Iced Tea was VERY strong, and with the hot sun and having not eaten since breakfast, it quite quickly went to Melissa’s head! It was quite funny!




After the girls were done swimming, we headed back to the room to shower and get ready for dinner. We’d decided to go to Point Break Cafe, which we could walk to from the hotel. Thursday night was “All you can eat Pasta night”, and that sounded good to us! When we arrived we also discovered it was Pub Quiz night! The quiz had already started, which was probably a good thing, as otherwise I might have been tempted to join in - I love a good pub quiz!

The first thing to say was that the food was delicious - there was a choice of Bolognese or Marinara sauce, along with garlic bread and the portions were plentiful. We really really enjoyed the food, but one plate was enough for all of us. The service was excellent too.




The rest of the experience was…erm…different! The place was like a large open room ( a bit like a village hall) with a bar on one side, and didn’t look like it had been decorated in around 30 years! For those that watch “Stranger Things” it could have easily been somewhere you’d find in Hawkins!




The quiz was going on as we ate and the quizmaster kept giving the contestants a “30 second warning” whenever their time for answering a question was nearly up - it made us laugh as he sounded like Ros from Monsters Inc - Everytime he said “30 second warning” we’d look at each other and say “I’m watching you Wazowski…always watching” .

With bellies full, we took the short walk back to the hotel.




The girls headed to bed, and I had one more beer on the balcony, looking out over the lights of downtown.

We’d loved San Diego - so much to see and do, and we’d barely even scratched the surface. We’d got into a bit of routine in our time here - out and about in the morning, back to the hotel to relax in the afternoon, and then out for dinner in the evening. We’d definitely love to return one day - if only for more Tacos from Freds!

Tomorrow: Heading to Anaheim

Edited at 09:41 PM.
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Old 30 Sep 18, 10:14 PM  
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I thought from the photo that todays pancakes looked a more reasonable size - portions are so big aren't they? I love the chunky dunk sign!

The beaches look nice.

Sounds like you really enjoyed your stay in San Diego? Looking forward to reading what you thought of Anaheim - I loved seeing some of Melissas photos on IG.
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Old 1 Oct 18, 08:02 AM  
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i love jack
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Another lovely day, the beaches look gorgeous and some great food
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Old 2 Oct 18, 05:44 AM  
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We stayed about 250m from Kono’s last Christmas and were on the beach every day! We loved ot there!

Lots of memories today for me then!
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Old 2 Oct 18, 02:04 PM  
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Lol again at Melissa's cocktail! It must have been the sun eh Melissa?

Thoroughly enjoyed reading about San Diego and I can't wait to visit!

Jo xx
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Old 5 Oct 18, 12:21 PM  
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I am really enjoying reading your trip reports and reminiscing about our trip this year. Upon reading yours I feel we missed out on so much! Definitely a place to revisit for longer than a few days for us!
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Old 6 Oct 18, 08:33 AM  
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A fun day. The seals at La Jolla are fab aren't they? It's been nearly 30 years since I went there, lovely to see all your photos.

That ice tea looked strong, yummy, but strong!
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Old 6 Oct 18, 07:30 PM  
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Originally Posted by i love jack View Post
Another lovely day, the beaches look gorgeous and some great food
The beaches were amazing - definitely another reason for us to go back to SD.

Originally Posted by Melbatb View Post
We stayed about 250m from Kono’s last Christmas and were on the beach every day! We loved ot there!

Lots of memories today for me then!
Oh, what a great place to stay in - glad it's brought back memories

Originally Posted by slow.jo View Post
Lol again at Melissa's cocktail! It must have been the sun eh Melissa?

Thoroughly enjoyed reading about San Diego and I can't wait to visit!

Jo xx
Ha - yep, she'll keep blaming the sun! Just be thankful she wasn't drinking them last Saturday night

Originally Posted by ribena View Post
I am really enjoying reading your trip reports and reminiscing about our trip this year. Upon reading yours I feel we missed out on so much! Definitely a place to revisit for longer than a few days for us!
We did go full on, to see as much as possible. Glad you're enjoying the report.

Originally Posted by Goldia View Post
A fun day. The seals at La Jolla are fab aren't they? It's been nearly 30 years since I went there, lovely to see all your photos.

That ice tea looked strong, yummy, but strong!
The seals were great - smelly, but great! The Ice Tea incident is now firmly written in our family folklore

Thanks for reading all!
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Old 6 Oct 18, 11:16 PM  
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So many beautiful beaches! I absolutely love the photos of the seals and sea lions, so cute... even if a little smelly!

That rollercoaster looked fab, although I bet it was a bit of a bone shaker being wooden!
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Old 16 Oct 18, 09:55 PM  
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Originally Posted by Lisa_Lollipop View Post
So many beautiful beaches! I absolutely love the photos of the seals and sea lions, so cute... even if a little smelly!

That rollercoaster looked fab, although I bet it was a bit of a bone shaker being wooden!
Yes really beautiful. Shame we didn't have time to stay longer.

Correct. Glad we did it though, however it wasn't as bad as Space Mountain!

M x
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