San Diego

23Mar10

Just got back from San Diego last night. Absolutly love that city. It was stressful getting there though. We only had 1 hr and 15 min from the time our flight landed in Calgary until we our connecting flight to SD left. We got on that plane w/ only 10 min before take off. Not a great start but at least we made it.

The first night we went to the gas lamp quarter and had some mexican food. Later we ended up at the Whiskey Girl (a pub) and sat on the patio. On Friday we headed to the zoo. I guess I wasnt that impressed. I mean its better than Calgary’s for sure. We saw the panda exhibit (so cute, unfortuatly the baby was sleeping), the monkeys, the tiger, went on the gondala, ate some gross food. My least favorite thing was the flamingos. Those things stink so bad. We left there for shopping at the outlets. No amazing deals, but still better than home. Got most ofmy kids summer clothes.

That night we went on a dinner cruise. It was pretty fun, a little on the pricey side and music wasnt all that great, kind of put you to sleep. But it was romantic and it was neat to see the city from the water. I dont think our waiter like us, not quite sure why.

Next day was my favorite. Seaworld. Shaun dragged me onto one of the water rides. I was not looking forward to being drenched. Plus I had only a purse to protect my camera. We ended up on the ride w/ a family of 5. I did luck out and didnt get too we, same as the father from the family. The rest were drenched. And we kept my purse dry!! Then Shamu, oh I love shamu. Those killerwhales are so amazing and so smart. I got some good pics. The whole time I was just thinking how much my kids would love this. We stayed at the park for the better part of the day. That night we just went for an amazing dinner at a place called Marbles. It is a restaurant w/a burlesque feeling. They were all dressed from that time period. It was so nice to eat good veggies and meat that didnt make youwonder what was really in it. It can be so hard to pick a good restaurant when travelling. Next we went off to sit on another patio. Met a nice couple from North Carolina, and Shaun made some friends w/ guys that were there to set up for some sort of event. Shaun spotted some marines there so he bought them a drink. They came over and they were just finishing up training before heading out to Afghanistan. Really nice kids. Shaun wanted to thank them for fighting for us. One thing Shaun learned in the Army was that Canada looks up to the Americans as our big brother. Seeing him w/ those guys just reminded me how well he would have done in that line of work. Yes I would have missed him like crazy but he loved it. You can see it in his eyes when he talks about basic. He really would have liked to have finished it and actually served our Country.

Next day was our day to relax. Took a tour of the air craft carrier. Pretty crazy big. The smell kind of got to me. Cant imagine what that thing would smell like after being at sea for a bit w/ 4000 men on it.

One thing I would not recommend is staying at the Sheraton Hotel and Marina. The room itself was great. But we were in the Bay tower (not known to us til we got there) and it was a 5 min walk from the main tower which held the conceirge, restaraunt, better pool. Plus the hotel was a $12 cab fare from downtown where we spent most of our time. Would have been the same amount to stay at a hotel right downtown and not pay cab fare. At least the cab drivers down there were very friendly. crazy drivers but friendly.

I did miss my babies like crazy. Stacey was able to figure out how to get them to sleep in!!! For that alone she is the best nanny ever! She just moved their nap to the afternoon and put them to bed 15 min later. Conor even slept in til 8 one day, much better than his regular 5 am. She took them to the park alot and to the petting zoo at beacon hill. She has video of that which Im looking forward to seeing. Aparantly Keira chased the goats and ducks while laughing her crazy lady laugh. We cant wait to take them to SD. Shaun really wants to buy a condo there, obviously down the road, but we want a vacation spot we can go back to and SD isnt that far.

Some pics are posted below from our trip