March 5th - Ships Ahoy

This was our last full day in San Diego and as you can imagine we were both feeling a little down. Neither of us wanted the holiday to end. But we got up, went out for breakfast and then headed to the Embarcadero to make the most of our last day. We spent the day at the Maritime Museum, what a find!! Its not that expensive and there is loads to see. I thought it was all based on one ship...but NO!! There were several ships to explore and two submarines. We started by exploring the Dolphin, a submarine and then went on to look around the other ships - the Star of India, the Berkley, the Surprise and the Medea. All amazing and beautiful, being aboard them spirited you away to another era.....one of pirates and long sea voyages. The Star of India for example  was built in 1863 at Ramsey in the Isle of Man as Euterpe, a full-rigged iron windjammer ship. Oh, if only a ship would talk....this one would have some tales to tell. I decided against going on the Russian submarine, apparently it was very small inside and you had to climb thru the doorways, which was a real struggle for some people. Paul went on his own, but didn't stay very long. Your admission entitled you to come and go all day as you wanted. So we left for a while to have lunch at Anthony's fish restaurant a short walk away. The fish was very fresh and delicious! In the afternoon we went on a historic bay cruise. It was wonderful, as well as enjoying a bay cruise we got to hear about the history of the city, the bay front and its long connection with the navy. We sailed right under the USS Midway, which was pretty cool! It was a wonderful day, we loved every minute of it. The maritime museum was a real gem, not somewhere we had actually planned to visit, but somewhere we would definitely visit again. While we were there we saw a group of school children, all kitted out with sleeping bags etc. They had come to spend the night on the ship as deck hands. They were even being hoisted aloft in a boatswains chair. Lucky kids, it looked like fun!!

In the evening we made out way back to Mission Valley and had dinner at Gordon Biersch, lovely meal. For the time I have to say I wasn't impressed with the service, our waiter didn't seem very interested at all. His loss when it came to the tip!!! Finally we headed back to the hotel to print out our boarding passes, and to finish our packing. Sad times! I know holidays have to end, doesn't mean I have to like it! San Diego is the most amazing place we have ever been, somewhere we would both like to live. Maybe one day!

March 4th - Bridges and Gaslamps

Ah.....another sunny day in San Diego.....bliss! We loved Coronado so much we decided to go back again, only this time by bus. It was actually way cheaper and more efficient. We took the trolley to 12th & Imperial and from there caught the 901, which took us all the way to the Hotel Del. Much easier than the previous days journey. It also meant we went over the amazing and beautiful bridge. Its so high you feel like you're heading off to heaven! When we got to Coronado, we headed straight to the beach, we sat there for a while then went for a leisurely walk. I cannot express how beautiful it is. We did eventually drag ourselves away to look around the town, its a lovely place with some interesting shops. I stayed away from the office supplies store! 

We left Coronado mid afternoon and headed to the Gaslamp Quarter. Its spread out over a large area, and its a bit over whelming, restaurant after restaurant.  The Gaslamp Quarter extends from Broadway to Harbor Drive, and from 4th to 6th Avenue, covering 16½ blocks. It includes 94 historic buildings, most of which were constructed in the Victorian Era, and are still in use with active tenants including restaurants, shops and nightclubs. There are plaques outside the buildings, but some were so worn you couldn't read them. It was a bit like walking around London where there are also plaques outside so many of the buildings. We weren't very hungry at that point so we just kept walking and looking around. We eventually stumbled across  Westfield Horton Plaza which is a very pleasant and built on staggered levels. Unusual, and fun to look around it is a five-level outdoor shopping mall located in downtown San Diego known for its bright colours, architectural tricks, and odd spatial rhythms. It was fun to look around. Thought the Sanrio shop was very disappointing. 

By this point we were hungry and decided to have dinner at The House of Blues. They had live music which was great, though I am glad we were sat well away from the stage. The food was great and the staff very pleasant. We shared quesadilla and sliders.....double yum!  After dinner we made our way to the trolley station, and back to the hotel We liked the gaslamp quarter, but both agree we liked Old Town and Seaport village much more.

baa baa....little lamb

Today I think we could almost believe spring had arrived. We set off from home at about 10.15am and headed to Calke Abbey, I wanted to go early cause I knew it would be busy there. We were there a little after half past, and decided to go and have a coffee while it was still quiet in the restaurant. After our coffee we headed to the stables to check out the Vintage Craft fair. I love these events, but do think a lot of the stuff is over priced. One of the stalls was selling silver jewellery and some of the items were in excess of £80....really.....at a craft fair!!? We walked on by, this was a looking expedition.

Once we finished there we headed to the gardens, it was a beautiful day - much too nice to be inside. We walked to the church and spent a few minutes enjoying the quiet and solitude. People came, looked and left. No one stayed to soak up the atmosphere or enjoy the moment. On leaving the church we followed the signs to the farm to check out the lambs. Its lambing season, and though we didn't see any lambs being born, we saw several newborn lambs, oh my god they were so cute. I wanted to sneak one into my pocket and bring it home. Think they would have noticed?? We spent quite a while at he farm, then carried on exploring. We actually found part of the grounds that we had not seen before. Not sure how we'd missed it! I love Calke Abbey and the fact its not far away. By the time we were ready to leave, the place was heaving, so many people there!! Very glad we went early!!

This evening has been an expensive one, having paid for my car tax I kind of decided to treat myself to tickets to the Good Food Show in June. Paul and I have been before and its a brilliant day out! And then I was on a roll....looking at Lastminute.com I found tickets for The Railway Children for only £12.50!! God bless flash sales! I guess we won't be anywhere near the stage....or should I say the train tracks. But a night out at the theatre in London for £12.50? Not to be missed!

If you go down to the woods.......

Taking a short break from writing about San Diego to tell you about our adventure today. Whilst looking at the National Trust site earlier in the week, I noticed a new property. One you had to book in advance for as they limited the number of visitors. Ooh I thought, something to do at the week end. Apparently you had to book first, and then they email you instructions on how to get there. All quite mysterious! So I booked and off we went this morning. Nothing like an adventure to start your week end. We had received our email, and luckily found our destination without too much trouble. We had to park and wait for a mini bus to come and collect us. We didn't have to wait long, and were soon on our way down the road to Stoneywell. Built as a summer home by Arts and Crafts architect-designer Ernest Gimson for his brother Sydney, Stoneywell zigzags from its rocky outcrop, amid rhododendrons and heather. Every turn conjures childhood memories of holiday excitement, dashing down the winding steps –– one way to the fort, the other to the woods beyond. The house is a marvel, built into the side of a hill. Its built on several levels with steep stairways leading up to each level. Each room was an unusual shape, quirky and like something a hobbit would live in. The house was a family home and lived in till only 2 years ago. How lucky to live somewhere like this, its fabulous. After exploring the house, we headed back to the stables for a drink in the tea room. It was quite chilly outside and a hot chocolate was most welcome. I have to say tho that the current tea room is way too small, and they are so not geared up for potential crowds. There were quite a few people there today, so imagine what it will be like in the summer. So unless they are keeping the number of visitors to a minimum, the tea room is going to be over run. 

After a hot drink, we headed to the woods and had a nice long walk in search of those elusive teddy bears and the picnic goodies.....

If you go down to the woods today
You're sure of a big surprise.
If you go down to the woods today
You'd better go in disguise!

For every bear that ever there was
Will gather there for certain,
Because today's the day the
Teddy Bears have their picnic.

Possibly our singing scared the bears off.....who knows! The walk through the woods took us over 2 little bridges and across a ravine.....Paul tried to convince me it was just a ditch.....I know better!  From the woods, we walked around the garden, and a couple of hours later we bid a find farewell to the lovely house. The bus took us back to the car park. We decided to stop and have some lunch at the Flagstaff, a platter of starters to share...yum yum, all washed down with Stella. Good times!

Lastly, we went to Breedon Priory to look around the antiques fair. Nice end to the afternoon. Its been a fun day, it was almost spring like, a part from being rather chilly! But it was lovely to be outside, and the woods were beautiful, so quiet and peaceful today. Indeed a place to collect your thoughts and count the daffodils!

March 3rd - When is an island not an island.....

.....when its Coronado of course!! Today was the day I overslept and woke to find it was nearly 9am - unheard of for me to get up so late. But after dashing around we were dressed and on our way to the trolley station. We took the Trolley to Santa Fe Station and from there we walked to Broadway pier. We bought our tickets for the ferry and hung around in the sunshine till the ferry arrived. Its a lovely journey across the bay to Coronado Island, which is not actually an island. The locals apparently think of it as an island tho!! It was lovely to see the water front from the ferry.

When we got to Coronado we weren't sure where to go, after asking someone we found the famous Hotel Del Coronado was on the other side of the 'island' a couple of miles away. So in the spirit of adventure we hopped on a local bus and headed off, couldn't go all that way and miss out on the famous hotel!   When we arrived at the hotel we just had to check out the famous Babcock and Story bar, we stopped for a beer and tortilla chips, and what can only be described as the best guacamole ever! It was silly expensive for what it was, but an experience not to be missed. 

Next stop was the beach, oh my god its beautiful! We just hung out there for ages, soaking up the sun and enjoying the day. We did finally drag ourselves away to go look around the town. There are some lovely shops, including an Italian Gelato store. The pannacotta gelato was scrumpious! Next door was an office supply store and there I found....wait for it.....STATIONERY! Oh happy days, I bought several packs on A4 sized printer paper, they had some lovely designs. I wish I could have had it all, hee hee. Coronado is a beautiful place, boy would we like to live there. Maybe if we win a few million!!

We finally headed back to the ferry landing and got the 5.30pm ferry back. From Broadway pier we made our way back to Mission Valley and headed to Target to do some shopping. From there it was dinner at the Tilted Kilt. Ah, yet another day ended with good food and chardonnay!

March 2nd - Aboard a legend!

Unconditional Surrender

We woke up to a grey and gloomy day.....oh no!! But you know us, never been know to waste a day. After breakfast we headed to the Embarcadero, we strolled through Seaport Harbor and onto The USS Midway, we were both keen to visit. On the way we took a slight detour to see the truly amazing Unconditional Surrender, a huge statue on the water front. I absolutely love it, it takes your breath away! I finally managed to drag myself away. Next stop was the majestic USS Midway - an aircraft carrier that was involved in the Battle of Midway. The USS Midway was America's longest-serving aircraft carrier of the 20th century, from 1945 to 1992. Approximately 200,000 sailors served aboard the carrier, known for several naval aviation breakthroughs as well as several humanitarian missions. It was the only carrier to serve the entire length of the Cold War and beyond. Midway opened as a museum on 7 June 2004. The place is huge, and there is so much to see and do. You start the tour with a short film, and then with the aid of an audio tour, you explore at your leisure. We were there several hours, and finally left just before it closed for the day. It is really an amazing place, you learn so much. You also realise how much the British Navy have to be proud of!! At one point I got to sit in the 'Gators chair....woo hoo!! Won't tell you how hard it was to climb up into it. We had lunch on the Midway which was fun. And can I just say the gift shop is amazing! 

We decided to have an early dinner at the Kansas City BBQ, its a small place famous for being used as a set in Top Gun. We chose to sit inside so we could soak up the atmosphere, its not a fine dining establishment by any means. What can I say about the food....over priced and vile!!! Here is a restaurant that is relying on its fame to draw in the customers, they surely don't care about the food - soggy bread rolls, bland chicken and BBQ sauce that left an after taste! Not pleasant at all, i would never return. 

We returned to the hotel and made the decision to start on the packing, not something I wanted to do. But i didn't want to leave it all till the last night.  Once that was done, it was time to curl up with my travel journal, and an episode of Hart to Hart.....oh my gosh I love Hallmark. I wish I had access to it at home.

March 1st - Girl scouts, red shoes and machine guns

 the border fence and the silver arch

March arrived with a grey sky and rain, weather we're more than used too. We got up, headed to the bakery for breakfast and then hopped on the trolley. We rode it all the way to the end of the line to 12th & Imperial and there we had to change onto the Blue line which we took all the way to San Ysidro. The journey took an hour and we passed some run down looking places on the way. We were also the only tourists I could see on the trolley, mostly it looked like people heading to work. I knew the trolley stopped near the Mexican border, I didn't realise it stopped right NEXT TO IT!! We could have walked across on foot. On leaving the trolley there was a moment of panic, yes that was just after I saw the Mexican soldiers patroling the border with machine guns....but I soon spotted the pedestrian friendly bridge that leads you to the Outlet mall. So off we went, and luckily we found the mall easily. There are actually now two, the San Ysidro Outlet, and Outlets at the border. We stopped for coffee at Ghiradhelli's and bought a lot of chocolate. Yum! As we walked from one mall to the other we passed a cute little girl scout selling cookies, just like we have seen on TV. She was dressed as a cookie and looked so cute, we just had to stop and talk with her. She recommended the mint chocolate cookies, so we bought some from her. I hope she did well, and sold all her cookies. Bless her little cookie crumbs!

We of course had to stop at Sketchers, and we were in there for ages. We both bought new shoes, they are cheaper and not to be missed! I like mine, they're different! We had Chinese at lunch time at the food court and spent a couple more hours looking around. It was very similar to the malls in Orlando. It was so weird tho, as you walked around the mall the border fence was clearly visible, a constant reminder or what lay beyond. We could clearly the see the big silver arch we had stood under days before on the avenue de revolucion. SO close, but yet a world away.

Mid afternoon we got the trolley back to Mission Valley and went to the mall there. We went to the cinema to see Project Almanac. Good movie, but it was filmed on hand held camera's and the constant motion made us feel sick. I had to keep my eyes shut for the last part of the movie. It was an interesting story, but one that's been done before - for example the Butterfly Effect. After the movie we went to the Tilted Kilt for pizza and chardonnay. It was a wet evening, we were slightly bedraggled when we returned to the hotel. But an interesting day!!!

rainy day at the border!

Each day was an adventure, something new around each corner in a city that never failed to amaze and impress. This is truly a place where there is something for everyone!

Feb 28th - Tequila, Markets and Mormans

We woke up wondering what weather the day would bring, San Diego were battening down the hatches for bad weather.....still we had to do something.  So we headed to our favourite breakfast spot and then  hopped on the trolley to Old Town.  We ended up spending all day there, its by far our favourite place! There was a free guided walk at 11am which we can recommend. We decided to go on the walk along with a small group of people including a couple from Yorkshire. They had come to San Diego for a week end whilst staying in Mexico. A WEEK END?????? No understanding some people! The walk lasted an hour and took around parts of old town we hadn't seen on our previous visit. We learned more about the history of San Diego, it was fascinating. 

When the walk ended we had a walk around the Mexican market, I love these places they are so vibrant and colourful. We also discovered a coaching museum, and the Wells Fargo Museum, which Paul was very keen to visit. He's always wanted to open a Wells Fargo account, but at least now he has gotten to stand next to one of their stage coaches. 

Next stop was the Tequila Factory for lunch, its nestled at the top of the Best Western Hacienda hotel with stunning views out across San Diego. It had become very warm and sunny by then. We enjoyed BLT's and margarita's out on the terrace whilst enjoying the views. The tortilla chips they brought us out were so good, as was the salsa.

When we left the Tequila Factory, we noticed across the road a sign for the Mormon Battalion Historic site, so we wondered over to have a look. We were greeted at the door by a young lady in costume asking if we would like to come in for the tour - it was free. Turned out to be one of the best bits of the day. First we were shown into a little theatre where they were screening a film about Mormons who have gone on to do great things, it was interesting and filled in the time till someone came to get us and a small group of others to go on the tour. Using staff in costumes, pictures that came to life and staged rooms, they told the story of  The Mormon Battalion, the only religiously based unit in United States Military history who served from July 1846 to July 1847 during the Mexican-American of 1846-1848. The battalion was a volunteer unit of between 534 and 559 Latter-day Saints men led by Mormon company officers, and commanded by regular US army officers. During its service, the battalion made a grueling march of nearly 2,000 miles from Council Bluffs, Iowa, to San Diego. After the tour they took our photo for a souvenir and there was also the chance to pan for gold out in the courtyard. We even got to take the (fools) gold away with us. It was all free, and the staff working there were all friendly, and possibly looking for converts - though they were not at all pushy. If we got the chance we'd go again, it really is worth it. 

Next stop was the Church of the Immaculate conception. Its a beautiful church, peaceful and calm inside. I enjoyed sitting there soaking up the atmosphere. Next door there was a lovely gift shop, they had some beautiful things, and the lady working there was so friendly and spent quite a while chatting with us. After that we visited  Fiesta de Reyes, another Mexican market. Before we knew it, it was 5pm and we hadn't actually done the two things we had gone to the Old Town to do....oh well, such is life!

We stopped at the Fashion Valley mall on the way back, only spent an hour there. It had started raining, and was windy. I didn't particularly like the mall, and maybe we were just too tired to appreciate it. But we didn't stay long but decided to head back to Mission Valley.We ended up having dinner at the Bakery cafe, which was good! Cannot believe what a popular place it is. By the time we got back to the hotel we were dead on our feet. Oh, and the rain made the local news. It apparently only rains about twice a year in San Diego....and we were there to experience it! Water is a scarce commodity to these people so they were very excited about the drizzle....now if they want to see proper rain, they should come to Blighty!!

Feb 27th - Ocean bound!

I woke up excited on the 27th.....today we were going to Carlsbad. I had spent a while working out timings so we would have time to walk to the station, have breakfast and still catch the Coaster. Our first stop was the Corner Bakery Cafe - our usual breakfast of good coffee, croissants and banana muffins....YUM!! The we took the trolley to Old Town, here we had to buy tickets for the Coaster, a huge double decker train. Never seen anything like it, and we were both excited about the train ride itself. It took an hour to get to Carlsbad, we passed through several stations and through some amazing coastal scenery. WOW!! When we got to Carlsbad we stopped at Don's cafe for coffee and pancakes, it was fabulous to sit out in the sunshine eating pancakes! They were so good. We had a wonder around the town and looked in a few shops. We didn't buy much, just a few little things to remind us of our day. We found an Irish shop just selling items from the Emerald Island, apparently there is quite a large Irish community in Carlsbad. And of course with St Patrick's day just around the corner, there was a lot of green everywhere!  As we ambled about town we found an Irish bar called O'Sullivans - of course we had to call in to try the Guiness. We sat at the bar eating onion rings and enjoying a drink. The bar man was friendly and spent quite a while chatting with us.

Then it was off to the beach, the clouds were rolling in and I  feared it might rain, but luckily it didn't and the bad weather seemed to blow over. We loved the beach

and spent ages just walking, picking up shells and enjoying the beauty. Carlsbad is a beautiful place. It was hard walking on the sand, your feet just slid all over the place. I could have stayed there forever! California has a beautiful coast line, it seems to roll on and on with no end in sight. Personally I love the ocean, how can you not! When we got back to town, we had a while to wait till the next train so we headed back to the bar for another drink. We arrived back in Old Town at about 6pm. We were tired by then and decided to head back to Mission Valley and have dinner at the Tilted Kilt. Its a fun place to hang out, and I have to admit the food was good. The BBQ chicken bites are delicious! For those of you who haven't been into a Kilt, don't be put off by the girls ''costumes'' - the girls are totally sweet, and the atmosphere is fun. After dinner we dragged ourselves back to the hotel....one footstep at a time! Walking back over the freeway at night is a challenge cause its so dark. Its perfectly safe, you just have to be careful you don't trip over everything.

https://youtu.be/SEIDep_UMmk

Feb 26th - We're going to the zoo zoo zoo....how about you???

Another day, and more adventures waiting to be had. The day was slightly cooler but sunny. We were up early, and off to the zoo in a taxi. When we got there we took the tour around the zoo, it lasted about half an hour and gave us a good idea of what there was to see. We did a lot of walking, but we saw so much...panda's, elephants, koala's, polar bears etc. Its a huge zoo, and

beautifully laid out. There are a couple of  4-D shows on offer, but there is an additional charge for this. We decided to just do on, the Ice Age show, it was very good and we enjoyed it but its an expensive extra. There is also a Skyrail, which takes you in a cable car from one end of the zoo to the other. I have to admit I am turning into a right wimp, I was quite scared while we were up there.  But I did it and the views were amazing! We also went on a ride on the kangaroo hopper bus, its one of those where you can jump on and off all day at different stops. We just stayed on and went around the whole zoo. We got to see lots more! 

We left the Zoo mid-afternoon and walked to the Spanish Arts Centre in Balboa Park. Beautiful place, lots of little shops around a pretty courtyard. You could watch craftsman at work, making jewellery, artworks etc. It was a lovely place to while a way an hour or so. We were shattered by then, so headed back to the hotel for a rest. It was nice to put our feet up for a while. 

In the evening we decided to walk over to Gordon Biersch for dinner, we didn't have the energy to do any further. The place was buzzing, yet even though it was very busy the service was good as was the food.  Paul tried the beer sampler, they bring out a tray of 8 small glasses all with different beers and lagers.Its a great idea, and apparently the drinks were good too - so Paul says! And dessert was awesome, bread pudding with ice cream and whiskey sauce....to die for!!!

The one thing about an active holiday, you sure sleep well! I did like the fact the hotel was quiet and comfortable too. It was a haven to return to at the end of a busy day.

Feb 25th - Across the border, down Mexico way!

Corner Bakery Cafe

We woke up to another beautiful sunny and blue skied day. We went down to reception to make enquiries about trips to Tijuana. They phoned the tour company and apparently they had a trip running that afternoon and recommended we go on it as they don't run them every day. So we decided to go for it. The trip didn't leave till 1pm, so we had the morning to fill. We decided to go get some breakfast at our favourite spot, and then go look around the Mission Valley Mall. It was very quiet indeed, but we had a nice time looking around. We bought some candles from Bath, Bed and Beyond, and a few other bits and pieces. We stopped at Target for coffee at their in house Starbucks, and to do some shopping, then headed back to the hotel to wait for the tour bus. 

Downtown Tijuana

Well what an adventure we had, the tour bus was late but eventually we were off. After picking a few other people up we started to head south. There were 16 of us on the coach, us, 2 New Zealanders, some people from China and a handful of American's. A while into the journey the bus driver/tour guide informed us the trip didn't go very often as most American's are too nervous about crossing the border. Oh great.....now he tells us!!!  Anyway, he talks all the way there painting a very grim picture, we didn't know what to expect when we arrived. At last we arrived at immigration, where we had to get off the bus. The bus goes thru separately as its x-rayed, We had to go thru immigration on foot, not a pleasant experience....men with guns, and stony faced officials. But at last we back on the bus!! We were taken on a half hour drive around downtown Tijuana to see the sites, and then were dropped off at avenue de revolucion for a couple of hours to shop and soak up the atmosphere. The reality is that there are no tourists in Tijuana and when the shop keeps see a tour bus coming into town there was much excitement.They were out there shops in a flash trying to attract your attention. The novelty wore off very fast, every shop you walked passed, there was someone trying to lure you in! In the end we just had enough. We found a restaurant and hid out there with large margaritas, tequila and taco's. The restaurant owner was delighted, as on seeing us there a few other people from the tour stopped their too. I think he felt he had won the lottery. For us the food and drinks, were very cheap, but good. We were made to feel welcome, and before we left he shook my hand and thanked me for coming.....several times!! We only bought one thing, a Mayan mask which we really liked. Other than that we stayed in the central area till it was time to leave. As we were about to leave

our driver asked a young busker to come onboard and provide entertainment for us. Oh bless him, he was so funny. His guitar was held together with a hope and a pray, but he was happy and enthusiastic. He played several songs, and it was hilarious. Some of you might have seen my video on Facebook, every time i am feeling a little down i play it and I smile. It was the absolute highlight of the day. Ray the busker got off before the border, and wondered off up the road. We then had to face American immigration at the border, it was actually easier. Though it was commented that they rarely see British passports at that border. I am glad we went, but would I go again......NO!!! 

We got back to the hotel at about 7pm, and were so tired that we just walked to the Mission Valley diner for dinner. Great food, huge portions, but sadly lacking in atmosphere.....it had none. The staff were lovely, but the place was quiet. We did enjoy dinner though, and had to take half of it away with us....breakfast the next day, ha ha. 

And that folks was our adventure to Mexico!

Feb 24th....Seaport, Seal and sunshine

I loved waking up in San Diego, it is the perfect city. To draw back the curtains and see the sun shine makes your heart sing. Today we walked to the trolley station, on the way we stopped at the Corner Bakery Cafe for breakfast. We fell in love with this place, which was clearly very popular with the locals. We had breakfast here every morning. They did an amazing Anaheim scrambled eggs....YUM!!! After eating we hopped on the trolley - amazing way to get around the city. We headed to Seaport Village, a delightful place down at the Embarcadero. Beautifully laid out and landscaped. We had coffee 

at the bookshop cafe, loved it there. An assortment of tables and chairs dotted about the store and all kinds of interesting things to see. After a leisurely coffee we went on a Seal tour, one of those amphibious buses that takes you on a city tour then splashes down into the Bay for a cruise.  It was so much fun, and a lovely way to see San Diego from the water. Albeit, a very windy way, ha ha!!  During the cruise, we stopped to visit some seals who were sunning themselves on a jetty. Adorable! The tour lasted about 90 minutes, we really enjoyed it. We had lunch at Marions Fish Market, that was good - more taco's! We spent the rest of the afternoon looking around the shops. Its a lovely place! So many unusual stores, including one that sold hammocks - the owner insisted we try a couple out...oh the joy! I had such a great day, the sunshine makes you feel so good.

We then headed back to Mission Valley to look around the mall, some nice shops, a cinema etc. I found a wonderful Alice watch at Hot Topic, which is now happily on my wrist. While there we discovered a Tilted Kilt, so we went in for dinner. Its actually a fun place to eat, if you get past the scantily clad girls.I love the bar atmosphere, the food was good and the girls are so sweet! We had delicious stone baked pizzas, followed by a chocolate brownie and ice cream which we shared.  We actually enjoyed going there, they even had someone coming taking photo's and giving out souvenir postcards, which was a nice touch. 

But the time we walked back to the hotel, we were shattered. Can't believe how much walking we did. I always thankful to fall into a comfortable bed. At least our room was quiet and we slept well.

The beginning.......

At long last the day to fly had arrived, after breakfast at our hotel we took the shuttle bus to the airport. Sadly at check in we were told our flight had been delayed by 2 hours, this turned into a 4 hour delay with nearly 2 hours sat on the plane....not fun!!! The flight was long and tedious with little room to move. I did manage to watch a couple of movies, the first was Gone Girl - I just didn't get it, I must have missed something. I didn't like it much at all. Later I saw The Rewrite, this was much better. But then I love Hugh Grant, so I was always going to love it, ha ha!! Dinner was good, but then there was nothing else on offer till an hour before we landed. We were both hungry, all I can say is if you fly British Airways, pack snacks!!! 

At long last we arrived at our hotel, The Sheraron Mission Valley, our room was on the 9th floor overlooking the hillside. Lovely hotel, wonderful staff. We were greeted with a welcome back every time we returned to the hotel and nothing was too much trouble. The lobby are was lovely, we kept saying we would and sit down there and watch the world go by, but we never got around to it.

On our first morning we had breakfast at the hotel then set off to find he Trolley station.It was a 20 minute walk, and we had to cross the freeway, but it wasn't so bad and certainly improved out fitness levels. We spent our first day at Old Town, a place we fell in love with. There is so much to see and do, and its beautiful.Our first stop was the Whaley House, apparently one of the most haunted houses in America. Loved exploring it, but didn't see any spirits!! We loved looking around Old Town, so many shops, museums and markets. Something around every corner. We had lunch at a bar, sat outside in the sunshine enjoying taco's and beer! I found a shop selling loads of Kellie Rae Roberts merchandise and got very excited, bought a few things. 

When we finally returned to Mission Valley, we headed to Target to do some shopping and then went to Gordon Biersch for dinner. They do the best sliders, chicken in a walnut crumb with a pear chutney. Its a brewery restaurant, they brew their own beer.  We loved the place, buzzing atmosphere, good food and great beer/wine! Needless to say I was shattered when we returned to the hotel.