Sirens of Old Town....followed by scones!

Finally the last day dawned, and with much sadness we packed up the last of our bits and pieces. Then we went to breakfast, it was later than normal and it was complete chaos. No cups, no coffee etc. They did restock items while we were there,  but we were really glad we had gone down earlier on previous days.   Once we'd eaten, we collected our cases, checked out and headed over to the Heritage Park to look at the restored houses. They are really beautiful, though at the moment you can only go in a couple. We had a walk around the site, and even found a trail in  one of the gardens that led us up into the hills. The view from the top was so lovely, I am glad I made the effort! We also decided to pop into the McConaughy House, just to have a peek. Its home to the Coral Tree tea room and we had wanted to visit later in the day for tea. I am SO glad we popped in. They were fully booked except for one slot which just so happened to be the exact time I wanted. Talk about fate!!! So we booked straight away and thanked our lucky stars that we had gone in.

We headed back into Old Town and decided to try the Sheriffs Museum one last time. We had been

twice but it had been closed. It turns out that its closed on Monday and Tuesdays which is why we had found it closed. I am very glad we persevered. The museum is free, though they welcome donations. And I cannot say strongly enough if you are ever in San Diego, you should go!! Its absolutely fantastic. We ended spending over two hours there and had to drag ourselves away in the end. There is so much to see, and the volunteers who man the place are wonderful. We were pretty much the only ones there and had great fun playing with everything and taking loads of photo's. Its a totally hands on museum, you are actively encouraged to touch everything. We climbed on police bikes, climbed in cars, set off sirens, had our police photo's taken....it was FUN!! There was a retired member of the Sheriffs Dept on hand, and she was wonderful. She took our photo, told us about the exhibits etc. The gift shop too is well stocked with interesting things.

Finally we did leave, and took one last walk through Old Town. We called into the Church of the Immaculate Conception to take a moment to reflect on our time in San Diego. We've been truly blessed to have had this amazing experience.

I had wanted to go to Rust's again for tea, but we just ran out of time. Instead we made our way back to the Heritage Park for afternoon tea, well actually tea and scones for us. It was a delightful experience but expensive. The building inside is lovely, and very much a National Trust property. All the table are beautifully set, and you are served your choice of tea in lovely tea pots. We had Darjeeling, and its probably the nicest tea I've ever had. The scones too were absolutely delicious, and came served with cream and lemon curd. The plates were decorated with little flowers, it looked so lovely. What a lovely way to spend our last couple of hours. Better than moping about and being miserable. Life is too short for that.

All too soon it was time to collect our cases and make our way to the airport. I found myself wondering, how can the holiday be over!!!!! The four hour wait at the airport was not so joyous, the crew for our flight were over an hour late turning up. Gee, thanks British Airways, like we haven't been waiting here long enough already. Not impressed!!! And that folks was it, a part from a horribly long flight home - not fun!!!

Last night at the Alamo

Thursday was sadly our last full day, so needless to say we were a little down. But in true Ivans style, we decided to make the most of it! It was a really warm day. probably the hottest day of the holiday. The plan was to visit Balboa Park as we had not made it there last year. It was probably the hardest place to get too by public transport, but we did it. The train to Santa Fe depot and then the bus - though we had a hard time finding the bus stop. The park is huge and very spread out,  our first stop was the visitor information centre, where we picked up a map. I was disappointed to find out the Marston House was closed for the day, but I do wonder how we would have gotten there from the Park! SO our first stop was the Japanese Friendship garden, which is very pretty. Its spread out over a hillside and involves a walk down a steepish path - not great on a hot day! But it was very pretty and worth the visit. There were so many lovely spots to take photo's. They have a little tea shop where you can buy lunch, drinks etc. I am glad we got to visit. It had a tranquil feel to it.

 

Our next stop was the Timken art museum which is free and definitely worth going too. Its not big,

but houses a fine collection of art. I love wondering around art galleries just soaking up the atmosphere and enjoying the artwork. When we left there we decided to take the free tram around the park, its only a short trip but serves as a nice sight seeing trip. There are many museums in the park, and some of them are quite expensive. While you can buy day explorers that will get you into any five museums they are expensive and I have to question whether you would even be able to do 5 museums in one day!? It had taken us all morning to do two small attractions! So we decided to leave the rest of the museums for another time. It was way too warm to stand around outside, once again there wasn't much shade. And I didn't particularly want to spend the entire afternoon shut away in a museum. So, after discussion Paul suggested we try and make out way to the Gaslamp Quarter.

 

We managed to find the right stop for the #7 bus and when we got on I asked the driver if she could tell us when we got near the Gaslamp Quarter. Her reply made me smile - I don't go near Horton Plaza, but I stop a couple of blocks away - has my reputation of liking to shops reached the other side of the Atlantic too??? I never mentioned the mall!! So we got off the bus and found ourselves passing the Gaslamp Tavern, seemed rude not to go in and drink beer. It was so nice and cool inside - bliss! We go on to Horton Plaza afterwards and had a wander around the shops. I couldn't resist another visit to the Bath and Bodyworks. Lordy, it smells so good in there. When we finally left the mall we walked through the Gaslamp Quarter and down to the station, we decided we would rather return to Old Town and spend our last night there.  So, that is what we did. With sad hearts we had our last dinner at the Alamo, and a last drink at the Old Town Saloon. Followed by a last walk around Miranda's Courtyard. Hard to believe that 12 days had flown by so fast. But wow, did we have some amazing memories or what!!

The kiss of a gunslinging Sheriff

 On Wednesday we decided to visit Coronado again, mostly because we love this beautiful town. We got off the bus along the main road where all the shops are, I want to say Orange Avenue, but I am not sure if this is the right name. We strolled down the road enjoying the sun shine, and looking in the shops. Though at this point I was determined not to buy much more. The panic over the weight of the cases was already setting in. We made our way down to the beach and spent a lovely hour walking on the gorgeous soft sand, and dipping our toes in the Pacific. I wish we could have stayed longer but the sun was merciless and once again, not even a teeny bit of shade to be found anywhere.

Once we left the beach we made our way back into the town and walked back to Clayton's coffee shop for lunch, the place is so cool. We sat in one of the booth's, chose songs from the table top juke box and enjoyed our lunch. The staff there are nice and I love the atmosphere.  After lunch we called into Walgreens to pick up a few things and then we headed back to Old Town. We decided to spend the afternoon in the National Park part of Old Town, and first stop was Rust's General store for tea. I love to sit out on their porch. While inside I ran into the sheriff, a rather dashing individual who very much looked the part. I commented on how smart he looked and the charming gentleman took my hand, kissed it and said how charmed he was to meet me. Sigh.......

 

We spent the rest of the afternoon there in the park, its hard to tear yourself away. I can't think of anywhere I prefer to spend time and I am so glad we chose to stay in Old Town this year. There are many museums, and this year we were delighted to find the old school house museum open. Sadly due to lack of volunteers, this is usually closed. We also managed to see the Old Courthouse.

We finally returned to the hotel to wait for a call from Suzi. This came around 5pm to say she was on her way. We met her outside the hotel and she very kindly took us to the Hob Nob Café for dinner. We met her husband Rick and his lovely mum Janice there. The Hob Nob is kind of 1940's styled with a very varied menu. Suzi and I decided to split a meal as you usually find they are huge. I have to say that even though Paul wrinkled his nose in distaste, the liver and onions was a good choice!!  It was a lovely meal with a lovely family and I am so glad we got to be a part of it. It was an early dinner, and we were back at the hotel by around 7pm so we headed out into Old Town for a drink at the Old Town Saloon and a walk around the town. There's always lots of people about, and so much to see. I totally want to go back.....like NOW!!!

Splash down in the splash zone

On Tuesday we headed to Sea World, a quick and easy journey on the number 9 bus. The crowds had already built up even though we got there early. I guess that's the joys of spring break. It was a very warm and very sunny day, this was to become a bit of a problem as the day progressed.  None of the stadium's are under cover or offer any shade. We had to leave one of the shows as the sun was unrelenting, and I could feel my neck burning, even with the Factor 50 liberally applied. I am not sure why a city know for its constant sunshine, would not consider providing some shady spots. We did manage to see all the shows in the end, and visited all the exhibits. I loved the polar bears and the penguins. We got some great photo's and had a lovely day. Sadly a few things were closed for maintenance, which was slightly annoying. The sea lion show was hilarious, especially the pre-show. The guy who did that deserves a show of his own. I couldn't stop laughing.

The Shamu show was good, but it has changed so much. Its shorter than it used to be, and also the trainers no longer get into the water with the killer whales. Its a very tame and toned down version of what it once was. The stadium was packed though, so obviously still very popular. There's been a lot of controversy regarding the Sea World parks, and I think people are over looking the good stuff they do, which is a shame.

When we got back to Old Town, we went to the Alamo for dinner. We had seen the place a couple of days earlier and wanted to try it. Loved the atmosphere and dinner was good, as were the margarita's!  After dinner we had a walk through Old Town, and wondered into the stores that were still open. The Five and Dime was always worth a wonder around.

Ahoy La Jolla

Monday the 21st dawned sunny and bright, so off we went on the number 30 bus to La Jolla. We didn't get there last year and I was determined to go this time. We headed straight to the Birch Aquarium first, and weren't disappointed. Its fairly small, but there is still a lot to see. We happily spent a couple of hours there wandering the various exhibits. The fish are amazing, and the gift shop was fun too. After leaving the aquarium we took the bus back down into the town of La Jolla, a lovely and by the look of it quite upscale town. Are first stop was a Thai restaurant for lunch, the food was delicious, and we got to sit at a table outside and watch the world go by. Once we were full of lovely Thai food, we headed off to explore the town, of course the first thing I found was a book shop....oh joy!! We eventually dragged ourselves away, but not before making some purchases. The Wonder journal and stationery for me, and a pen for Paul.

 

We then found a road leading down to the ocean front, there was no beach but a rocky coastline that Paul said reminded him of Cornwall. We walked along the coastline for some way, it was a beautiful day and many people were out enjoying the good weather. It was amazing we saw sea lions, pelicans, squirrels and all sorts of birds from the wall we were sitting on. What a wonderful experience. Its the sort of place you never want to leave, sadly we eventually had too and caught the bus back to Old Town.

 

We had thought about going to the Gaslamp  Quarter for the evening, but then a train to Santee came along, and I said lets go to Mission Valley instead. To be honest I much prefer it there. So we went to mission valley mall and looked around, oh I am so glad we went. I found the most fabulous Alice in Wonderland dress at Hot Topic, I fell in love with it and the rest is history. Its fate, I was clearly meant to have the dress. We also popped back into the Bath and Bodyworks and got some more lovely smelly things.

 

Lastly we went to the Tilted Kilt for dinner, I love this place....I know it doesn't make any sense! The girls who work there are totally sweet and our server Jamie was not only a sweetie but hilarious too. When the couple at the next table asked what something was she replied 'heck, I don't know I ain't never eaten it' -  I tried hard not to choke on my wine. Dinner was delicious, they do great chicken wings. As we were enjoying our evening we decided to order dessert, they don't really do many so we had the chocolate brownies which are really good. It came with ice cream, apparently the kitchen had run out and we got the last half scoop there was. Jamie put it on the table, declared - hell, that's pitiful I'm gonna speak to the manager - and off she went. In the end we didn't get charged for the dessert at all, even tho the brownies were lovely. The evening was one of the best we had, and I only wish we'd had the time to go back. Next time for sure!!

 

The whole day was perfect, as was everyday. There is such a variety of things to see and do in and near San Diego. I am already wishing we could go back, I miss it SO much!

Take me to the Haggis

So, what has haggis got to do with anything?? Be patient I will get to that!!

 

Here we are, Sunday and more than half way through our holiday. After breakfast we headed over to The Morman Battalion Historic Site, it was open at 9am and meant we could make the most of our morning. We visited the site last year and really enjoyed the visit so we were glad we had the opportunity to go back. We were greeted warmly and invited to come in and watch a short film about the history of the Morman Battalion. Following this we and a few other visitors were taken on a journey back through time to follow in the footsteps of the brave battalion. Using props and technology you retrace their footsteps, and learn their story. After this, you can have your photo taken and pan for gold outside in the courtyard. The guys that run the place are very friendly and happy to talk. We were there quite a while chatting, especially once one of the Elders came out.to talk. Lovely man, who had been to England many years ago. I came away with a photo, pieces of fools gold and a book of morman!

 

From there we walked down Harney street to the Sunday market, that was great. A few stalls selling jewellery and crafts - loved it. SO glad I knew it was there, I got a pretty glass pendent, a lovely souvenir.

 

At noon we returned to the hotel to get a taxi, it was late arriving and when it did turn up the driver seemed to have little idea where he was going. I was not impressed. In the end I was pretty much telling him where to go. Finally we arrived at the Shakespeare to meet my pen pal Suzi, I was so excited that we were going to finally meet. There she was outside with a big yellow bag! So the Shakespeare is a British style pub, I can only say they got the service spot on. Suzi ordered the Sunday roast, what she got served was unidentifiable. It sure was not a roast! Suzi had to wait till they went and got her a real roast dinner. It was kinda funny! I ordered the Cod's Bollocks, it just had to be done! LOL!!! After lunch we spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out at Suzi's house and got to meet her lovely husband Rick. It was such a cool way to spend Sunday. Suzi is such a sweetheart, and I am thrilled we got to meet. She very kindly made us dinner, now that was funny. For dinner we had a pasta sauce with canned haggis in it. Suzi did not miss the look of apprehension on my face and reassured me with a very firm - trust me!! Gulp....OK Suzi!!  Actually dinner was good, I guess sometimes you just have to trust and go with it. And now I can say, I have eaten haggis.  It was a lovely day! I was also really touched by the lovely and very thoughtfully chosen gifts Suzi gave us. Someone who hasn't known me that long, apparently knows me really well.  Fate sometimes brings special people into our lives. This is one of those occasions.

 

 

From Italy to the high seas......

Saturday was yet another very warm sunny day, after breakfast we headed down to Little Italy to visit the Saturday market. We certainly weren't disappointed when we got there. The market starts almost immediately as you exit the station, and carries for a few blocks. Each side of the street is lined with stalls each one selling some wonderfully interesting item. As you start your wander through the market you encounter stalls selling take away food, flowers (they were so vibrantly colourful) cheese, bread etc. Everything looked fabulous, so we bought a couple of things to have as a picnic lunch later in the day. We carried on walking enjoying the sites, sounds and smells of this wonderful market. Its clearly very popular judging by the crowds. As to get to the other end of the market I was delighted to find stalls selling jewellery and craft items, yippee! It would have been so impolite not to buy a little something. That's my excuse and I am sticking with it. I as very reluctant to leave the market as it was such a delight, but we had plans to visit the Maritime museum which is just a short walk way. 

 

The Maritime museum in San Diego is well worth a visit, its not expensive and you can spend all day there. There are several beautiful ships to explore as well as an American Submarine. The Russian submarine which looks in a pitiful state is closed to the public at the moment. The first thing we did was take the boat cruise around the bay, only $5 when you visit the museum!! It lasts about 45 minutes and is great fun, they take you around the bay, out as far as Coronado, and then back via the Midway, which they sail right under (and this time they got really close). Its a lovely way to spend the best part of the hour and you get some great photo's of San Diego's Toolbox sky line - the story behind that alone is fascinating. After the boat ride, we spent quite a while exploring the ships - the California, the Star of India, The Berkley etc. All beautiful, and with so much history.

 

When we finally left we headed down to Seaport Village and had a wander around the shops, its such a pretty area. Ofcourse we had to stop for coffee at the Upstart Crow, I love that place. And lastly we went to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner, something I had really been looking forward too. It was very busy and we had about a 35 minute wait for a table. The food was lovely, though portions were HUGE, and I had to take half my dinner away in a box, thank goodness for the fridge in our room. We did share a piece of key lime cheesecake though, how could you possibly go there and not try it! I have to wander why they choose to turn the lights down so low, I could barely see my dinner let alone Paul across the table. I had to keep asking if he was still there!!  Now the main reason for wanting to eat at the Cheesecake Factory was because of the Big Bang Theory, which I have recently become a huge fan of. Sadly this venue looked nothing like the one in BBT and Penny wasn't working - oh the disappointment, ha ha. We even tried....knock knock Penny....knock knock Penny...LOL!!!!

Sand, sea and ghosts

One of my favourite places to visit is Coronado, I love it there. So on Friday this is where we headed, we took the train to 12th & Imperial and from there hopped on a bus. The journey over the bay bridge is breath taking. By far a much better way to travel than the ferry! We got off the bus in town and had a happy amble down the road looking in the shops as we went. I found a wonderful 'There's no place like home' bag in the museum shop, its like the coolest thing! Love it!! Of course I had to visit the office supply shop for stationery.....woo hoo!!  Right next door was a gelato shop, it would have been so rude not to stop and try their goods! The panna cotta gelato was so goo - yum! We also found lovely coffee shop called clayton's , it really had a 1950's diner feel to it. We sat at the lunch counter and drank coffee....I love the way they just keep topping you up. If only they did that in the UK, where doing out for coffee can bankrupt you.

 

We bought lunch from Walgreens and took it down to the beach to eat. The beach at Coronado is beautiful, the sand is sparkly and soft. Someone told us that there is a teeny amount of gold in the sand, I could believe it! We ate lunch, chilled out and went for a lovely long walk along the beach. I was happily walking by the waters edge happy to dip my toes (who have not seen freedom for a long time) in the not too cold Pacific. The waves had other ideas, one minute I was at the water's edge, the next I was nearly knee deep in ocean....with very wet jeans....oops. It was a lovely day, being at the beach makes me so happy!!

 

We got back to Old Town fairly early and had dinner at the Old Town Café, good Mexican food and margarita's. What more can you ask for? Then it was time for our Ghost Tour, I was so excited. We were collected at 7pm along with 12 other people. Our ghost host was called Dante, he was in costume and very entertaining, despite the bad jokes. We started at the Whaley house, with stories of the family who lived there. Then we hopped on the bus, to head to the next stop which was the Villa Montezuma. More stories, and an interesting occurrence with a key! Next was a hotel in the Gaslamp Quarter, and finally the Williams-Davis museum.  We actually got to go in there, and the place was really spooky. Paul volunteered us to stay behind with Dante to lock up, not sure how thrilled I was about that.  We really enjoyed the evening a lot. We ended the tour at the El Campo cemetery.....BOO!!

 

Once the ghost tour was over and we'd been handed bags of ghost droppings to take away, we decided to go to the Old Town Saloon for a drink, Paul was very keen to frequent the bar. I liked the atmosphere in the air. It was a totally brilliant day, but so far every day has been.

St Patrick's day - the American way

This year we celebrated St Patrick's Day in Carlsbad. We got the Coaster train from Old Town, its a lovely journey along the beautiful coast line. I love Carlsbad, lovely place. It was a very misty morning, never seen it like that. When we got there we found a bakery and bought a few things for a picnic dinner, and decided to have a coffee. While we were sitting outside we got talking to a lovely lady, who turned out to be the Mayors wife. We ended up chatting for quite a while, she seemed genuinely pleased that we loved the city so much. Next stop was the bead shop, I love it in there. So much fun stuff to look at, and pretties to buy. We had planned to stop at 0'Shaunesseys for a drink, but the place was full. You couldn't even get in the door so we gave up on that idea and had lunch at Pizza Port instead. It worked out well, good pizza, and not expensive. And also no St Pat's day decorations!!

After lunch we headed to the beach, it was much busier than it had been when we visited last year. I believe it was spring break, and believe me a couple of weeks made a lot of difference. Last year we were the only ones on the beach. We found somewhere to sit, and just watched the waves for ages. So relaxing! But it was another hot day. Don't remember it being like this last year.

On the way back from the beach we stopped at the Village faire to look around the shops, and have a gelato. Nice place to have a wonder around. We went back on the 5pm train. When we got back to the hotel we headed to the Tequila factory for margarita's and green beer!  We had our picnic dinner, which was lovely and had a very chilled out evening.

Retail Therapy to soothe the soul

March 15th saw another beautiful sunny day dawn, blue skies and not a cloud to be seen. We had breakfast and then off we went to the station, traveling on their trolley is cheap and efficient. First we headed to Seaport Village. Its a beautiful place and its a joy to wonder around the stores there. All full of wonders!! I was delighted to find more Kellie Rae artwork, and fell in love with one piece in particular, so that left the shop with me. Of course we had to visit Mistletoe the Christmas shop and buy another decoration. We had to stop at the Upstart Crow for coffee, I love it there. Its a book store with lots of random tables inside. Always something new to look at!! We then walked along the Embarcadero till we got to Unconditional Surrender . Its an amazing and absolutely huge statue depicting that very famous scene from the end of WW2. We stayed there ages just soaking up the atmosphere, and talking to the locals. One lady in particular was so funny, really made me smile. We also discovered a Bob Hope Memorial we had not scene before. It was a lovely tribute to a great actor. Finally we walked back to the station at Seaport station and took the train to Mission Valley. We stayed here last year and wanted to visit the Corner House bakery. We had lunch there and reminisced about having breakfast there every morning last year. 

After lunch we headed to Target to look around, amazingly left without buying a thing....hmmm!!! So we wondered on to the Mission Valley Mall. First stop was the Bath and Bodyworks store, it smells amazing in there. I bought loads, mostly little presents for the ladies I work with cause I wanted to get them all something nice. Of course i had to get myself a few little things too....so I wouldn't feel left out. We were all shopped out by around 4pm and decided to head back to Old Town. When we got back we stopped at Rust's general store for tea. I love to sit on the porch and  watch the world go by.  We went back to the hotel for a while, and I am so glad we did cause I had a lovely surprise. My darling friend Don called to chat. Totally made my day, what a sweetie. It was so cool to chat to someone who I have only been in contact with via Facebook before. To hear the voice behind the words, and know they had taken time out of their day to call. I was really touched. 

Finally it was time to head out to dinner, oh my word, the queues outside the Mexican restaurants were ridiculous, so we carried on up the road and had dinner at O'Hungry's Irish bar. Good food, fun surroundings. Dessert (peach pie - yum) was HUGE, thank the lord we only ordered one! A lovely day but exhausting day. 

On March 16th we took the train down to San Ysidro to visit the Outlet on the Border, and it really is on the Border. You could have been in Mexico with a few more steps. But having done that last year, there was no chance of us doing that again.We had fun looking around the shops, and we got the new Sketchers that we wanted. I love my bright red GoWalks. We arrived back in Old Town at 5pm, the ghost walk had been cancelled due to lack on numbers, so we were rebooked onto friday's tour. So instead we went out to dinner at Fred's Mexican Canteen. Nice dinner, lovely patio area, fun atmosphere!! After dinner we had a wonder around Old Town, then headed back to the hotel to watch TV for a while. I got quite addicted to Forensic Files, ha ha. Another delightful day in San Diego, oh how I love that city. 

At last...the adventure is afoot!!

After months of waiting it was finally time to head to San Diego, a city both Paul and I love. After a very long journey we finally arrived at our Hotel - The Best Western  Hacienda - in Old Town. Its a beautiful place, several buildings set on a hillside. Our room was in fact a mini suite, and lovely. We were delighted when we saw it. 

On Monday when we got up it was wonderful to think we had the whole day ahead of us. So first stop was breakfast at the Tequila Factory, we sat outside on the patio where you can look out across the city. The view is amazing! Breakfast was good, a buffet that included hot food, cereals, muffins, coffee etc. You could even make your own waffles - now that was fun! 

We spend the entire day in Old Town, somewhere we are totally in love with. We visited the Church of the Immaculate Conception, so peaceful and beautiful.  At 11am we took the 11am walking tour of Old Town state park with a costumed volunteer. We did it last year, but it was interesting and well worth doing again. After the walk, we headed out to Bazaar del Mondo to do some shopping. I got the cutest bag, i had gone there especially to look at them.  From there we went to The Wells Fargo museum, Paul loves it there. By then we were hungry so we headed to Los Locos for lunch, fish taco's and beer for me. Yum!! Paul's burger was huge, he never learns. Ha Ha. 

After lunch I was eager to go check out the Kellie Rae Roberts artwork at one of the shops. I am a huge fan of her work and had a hard time choosing a picture, but in the end I found what I wanted. Another Kellie Rae for my wall of positivity at home.

The weather was absolutely amazing, very warm and sunny with the sort of blue skies you never see at home. I totally underestimated the effects of the sun and UV, by the end of the day my nose and shoulders were ever so slightly frazzled and red...ouch!

In the evening we had dinner at the Tequila Factory, it was the only time we ate dinner there. The food was good, and we enjoyed our free welcome drinks. The highlight of the day was speaking to my friend Suzi, she called in the evening and we had a lovely chat. We finally went to bed, tired but very happy. Some holidays are worth waiting for!!