July 25th - Old Town

The day after the wedding, Eliza and Brett went to a one-day honeymoon.  We gladly took all four kids and made a day of it.  Our first stop was Old Town San Diego.  We wanted to give them a taste of the local culture as best we could for as young as they all are.  We looked at a couple of shops and the kids all got to eat fresh, warm hand made tortillas,  Then we all got ice cream cones and watched some ladies doing dances in traditional dresses. That was about as much culture as they could take, so we ran out to Ocean Beach.

After playing in the sand and tide for a bit, collecting shells, we all walked down to the south end of the beach past the pier to the tide pools.  I think the kids had a great time watch the crabs and such and getting demonstrations of sea anemones.  we even saw a couple of ugly sea slugs.

Back up the beach towards the car, there were a couple of people with this large string and stick device making huge bubbles that would drift all the way across the street.  The guy also demonstrated a boomerang that he threw out to sea and it would come back to him to catch.

After that, it was back to Nana's for bed.

April 3rd - An afternoon in La Jolla

With just about a week left in SoCal, we ventured to La Jolla to scope out the cliffs and a nice park area where our daughter is planning on getting married.  On the north end of the beach is the La Jolla Cove area and Seal Beach.  There were a lot of seals and sea lions lying on the sand.  People were down with them in some areas taking pictures and such.  The main part of the beach was covered by many, many sea lions and sea gulls.

After being there for a while, we checked out the one craft brewer there, and, unimpressed, ran down to Ocean Beach hoping for a sunset.

South end of the cove area

Local lady watching the seals

Seal Beach

La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art

Ocean Beach

April 2nd - After the fools

Had a couple of days in San Diego now that our truck was running right.  We took an afternoon to see Ocean Beach.  We really didn't get out there too many times this year.  Parked on Newport about four blocks from the beach, in front of Culture Brewing.  They usually have a good selection though too many IPAs for my taste.  Culture is a place that has art work on the walls by a particular local artist.  Nice big and open room, lounge chairs, and a bar across the front with the front wall open, so it's like a patio and you can watch people walking by.

We left there and went to Belching Beaver, a brewery out of Vista, CA.  They have  3 or 4 places in the county.  This was our third one visited.  Pretty nice.

A quick walk down the street to Helms.  We'd never been there before and enjoyed a couple of tasters.  They had an okay Irish Stout on nitro and a passable Dopple Bock.  They also showcase local art talent.  On display were paintings of various comic book and sci-fi heroes. 

We continued down to the beach to visit one of our favorite restaurants, Shades.  Shades is closed and the owners are converting it to a new place called San Diego Surf Club.  We had some appetizers there before heading home for the day. 
It was a warm cloudless day and the crescent moon could be seen hazily in the sky.

A great day for cruisin'

Helm's Brewing

Local art

March 16th - Sunset Cliffs

You come to San Diego and you are doing the whole sightseeing thing.  Of course, you want to experience the SoCal beaches.  I've done little of north county beaches, because I usually don't live up there.  However, the coastline from La Jolla down to the end of Point Loma has some of the greatest beaches in the world.  Every beach has it's own look and personality.  Our favorite beach is Ocean Beach.   Not only for the wide beautiful sand and sun, but the the pier offers fishing, a great view of both sea and land, and a beautiful backdrop for the sunsets.  On the south end, there are tide pools during low tide.  On top of that is a community which combines a 50s and 60s style living with today's culture.

The day before St. Patrick's Day, we were out traveling, and decided to catch the sunset a bit further south where Ocean Beach becomes Point Loma at Sunset Cliffs.  A natural cliff created by wave erosion and a stone foundation, there are a few parking areas, and on any nice evening, the cliff fills with people and photographers catching the sun sinking past the horizon.

It was beautiful and amazing.  I confess, I have only ever been here a couple of times.  A flock of pigeons nest on the actual side of the cliff away from anyone's ability to bother them.

We had a great sunset and experience.

The Community of Sunset Cliffs at Point Loma

Sol says goodnight

A crowd watches

March 4th - A tale of two beaches

We drove out to La Jolla Shores Beach.  Laurie and I used to take long walks and spend time at night talking and getting to know each other long before we became a couple.  There was a storm coming in, so the waves were breaking pretty high.  We walked and talked, and we even picked up a geocache find, "La Jolla Shores - GC1QNFT "

After a bit, we drove down to Ocean Beach and sat for a bit longer.  I walked to the south side of the pier and walked through the tide pools.

A quiet afternoon, but it was fun and full of memories.

La Jolla Pier