San Diego: Being There

 So I had planned on a series of three posts about San Diego, but as I looked through my pictures and thought back to our time there I realized that every day but our first day (and second day, obviously) was a repeat of the day before it. Instead of three posts, there are two. This one will be long and FULL of pictures.

Matt's conference started on Thursday so when he left early Thursday morning, Thomas and I left too! Well, after some snuggly time, that is. Our hotel was downtown and just a few blocks from San Diego Bay. T-baby and I strolled through the somewhat intimidating hotel lobby (everyone else in the lobby was in a business suit) and out the side doors, crossed the street, and joined the legions of walkers/runners of California. I've never seen so many active people in one place before without an organized event. It was crazy. And neat. I should have taken samples of sunscreen. I could just see the skin cancer forming.

Anyway.

We walked along the bay and down any open pier we came to. There were pelicans and seals!! 

The U.S.S. Midway is decommissioned and available for tour and viewing right downtown! We didn't tour it because it's pricey and not exactly stroller or baby-friendly, but I did look at it as much as I wanted from the outside. It's huge. It was an aircraft carrier from right after the end of WWII. It's so big that it can't get through the Panama Canal. Huge. 

Right beside the Midway is this statue. It's huge too. It is one of several statutes called the Unconditional Surrender. It was pretty neat discovering it. We were just strolling along and then BAM, there it was. It was so surprised at seeing it that I literally stopped walking.

Thomas slept.

To illustrate just how big the statue is, here's my shoe beside it. I should tell you that everyday but the first day, I wore tennis shoes instead of flip flops. Lesson learned. 

Just beyond the U.S. statue is a memorial to Bob Hope. They actually piped in lines from his performances. I sat by the memorial for awhile and listened. And laughed. It was pretty funny. I'm not sure if you can tell but the statues are of wounded soldiers with Bob Hope up on the platform. 

 Thomas slept.

I didn't see many overweight people in California. I decided that the reason for that is the benches. There are dividers on every single bench downtown. Basically, one cannot sit on a bench until one can fit on a bench. Obesity epidemic is solved. Also, the food is so expensive that one cannot afford much of it.... 

After we strolled away the morning, Thomas and I would go back to the hotel and cool off. We'd play in the room for awhile until I got cabin fever, then we'd go exploring again. 

 We'd sit by the pool for a couple of hours. They had these great covered areas with overhead fans and canvas walls. I just pulled the walls closed, turned on the fans, and read to T-baby. I've gotten to where I don't really care about reading in public (or singing in public, much to Matt's chagrin). Whatever it takes to keep Thomas happy.

On Saturday, one of the piers had a fresh fish market down it. Look. The fishing boat is right beside the stand. It doesn't get much fresher than that. 

This yacht/sailboat is one of the biggest in the world. I know it's hard to tell, so just take my word for it. And Matt's. He heard about it and told me where it was. I went and found it. I'm not good with estimating size so I won't even hazard a guess but it's reeeeeaaaalllllyyyyyy big. It may not be able to sail through the Panama Canal either.

One day, Matt was free for lunch so we went to the Gaslamp Quarter. Exactly what you'd think it is... We had a pretty good lunch but then we had dessert. Oh. my. goodness. Side note: our hotel was right beside a Cheesecake Factory. Two things: I had way too much cheesecake and the waitresses don't wear denim skirts with yellow vests. Bummer. 

 Thomas slept.

There is also a little shopping center close to the hotel - kind of like Perkins Rowe, actually, but smaller. There was an amazing paper shop there. I wish I had had hours to spend looking around. They had Rifle, Kate Spade, Emily Ley... It was amazing. I bought an Emily Ley planner, a card, and an anchor ornament for our Christmas tree. I could have spent way more but I didn't have much time.... The store wasn't really stroller friendly either.... 

The sun started setting about 4:30 there. As you can see, it was amazing. I made sure we were back in our room on the 36th floor for the sunset. 

 There you have it. San Diego: A city in two parts. I'd go back, but I don't think I'd want to live there. The weather was glorious. The food was just okay. The people didn't open doors for me and my stroller. Give me ol' Louisiana any day. With San Diego weather....