We headed out to our accommodations, which happened to be the Lodge at Torrey Pines. Mrs. Lime had helped us out and printed out directions to the Lodge. Tom played co-pilot and we followed the directions just as they were printed. We finally reached the end of the directions and found ourselves in the middle of a bunch of condos which bore no resemblance to the pictures of the Lodge that we had seen on the website. We were obviously a victim of false advertising, or were we??? Tom quickly figured out that Mapquest had been unable to find the exact address, so Mrs. Lime had actually printed directions to the center of the zip code where the lodge was located, not directions to the actual lodge. We got some directions from a couple of locals and finally were pointed in the right direction.
The Lodge at Torrey Pines was wonderful. Drive-up valet service. Bellboys dressed like they were still in the 1930's. They actually reminded me of the attendants at the 'Tower of Terror' rides at Disney. That ride is set in the 1930s as well. Inside, there was wonderful wood everywhere inlayed with various stone and tiles. Lots of stained glass and a beautiful view of the famed Torrey Pines Golf Course (which will host the 2008 U.S. Open) and the ocean and cliffs beyond the course. Our room had a wonderful view of a huge courtyard with large pine trees and abundant flowers. Kali's crib even came complete with a teddy bear for her stay. The room was very large as well, which was great since we had 4 people plus a baby in the room.
View from the balcony over the courtyard......
We slept well and were ready for our first day in San Diego. We headed down to the restaurant in the hotel to have some breakfast. I ordered a WONDERFUL asparagus omelet with potatoes and sourdough toast. They brought out strawberry jelly with pepper mixed into it. Sounds really odd, but it was actually quite tasty. There was a great view of the golf course from the restaurant. It was a really relaxing place to sit and eat.
For the afternoon, we headed out on a 60 foot yacht for a 4 hour cruise around the San Diego Harbor. Really nice boat. It had a ton of space above deck and 2 bedrooms and 2 baths below deck. It even had multiple flat-screen TV's on board. It was pimped out.
Needless to say, it was a lazy day on the harbor........
As we drove along the harbor, the Stars and Stripes boat that won the America's Cup sailing race passed by us......
We also passed by the USS Ronald Reagan, which was in port for some minor upkeep work. The pictures do not do the size of this carrier justice. It's enormous.......
A view of downtown, which is right on the harbor.....
A great replica schooner that takes visitors on rides around the harbor. It was built in the early 1980s........
A picture of the Del Coronado Hotel from the water. It's on the National Register of Historic Places........
This man is actually riding the wind on a sail. Basically, the bottom rope of the sail is allowed to drop in the water. Then, a person sits down or stands on that rope. When the wind blows, the sail and rope rise, pulling the person out of the water. It's hard to see with the boats in the background, but if you look closely below the sail, there's a person floating in mid-air on a rope hanging from the sail........
Some pictures of the USS Midway, which is now a floating museum.......
A statue commemorating the famous kiss picture in NYC at the end of WWII......
In the center of this photo is the boat that played the central role in the 'Master and Commander' movie starring Russell Crowe. To the left of that is a WWII-era sub, which is now a floating museum.......
In this picture, we were passed by a large Navy cruiser. It was out on a cruise to show off the capabilities of the boat to Navy family members, hence the reason for so many people on the boat......
After a long day on the water, we were ready for a nap.......
We went to a nice restaurant in Del Mar for dinner with a great view of the ocean. During dinner, I ate quickly and then took Kali 0.5 from Mrs. Lime so she could eat her meal. As I was walking around the restaurant keeping Kali busy, a lady motioned me to come over to their table. I walked over to the table where a couple in their 60s was sitting.
Lady: I just wanted to tell you how nice it was to see a father taking care of their child.
Me: She's easy to take care of.
Lady: Back when I was raising my children, fathers wouldn't lift a finger to help out taking care of their kids! We were on our own!
Husband: Yeah, we didn't have to do all that stuff 40 years ago! We were too busy playing cards and stuff!
Lady: (glares at husband)
Me: Well, I don't think my wife would be too happy with me if I didn't help out here and there.
Lady: Well, she's a very lucky mom. Your daughter will love you for paying attention to her.
Me: (laughing) I've taped this conversation and will replay it to her to remind her of that fact.
Lady: (laughing) Good! (shoots glare back at husband)
The next day, we headed over to La Jolla (pronounced la-hoi-ya) to do some shopping, walking and eating. There are several blocks of shops and restaurants in the area. There's also a big concentration of art galleries. We walked around the area for awhile and then had a great lunch on a rooftop high above the ocean and the public beach below. Great food and easily the best fish tacos I've ever had.
Here's a pic from the street overlooking the ocean and some shops in La Jolla......
After lunch, we headed back to the pool at the lodge. Great pool with cabanas located right on the world-renown golf course........
Next to the pool was a wonderfully manicured croquet lawn, which was always being used by guests........
View of the first tee from the pool. Note the brown area beyond the tee, which is a large valley that falls to the ocean. More of the golf course is visible beyond the valley.......
We finished off the day at an Asian restaurant where they brought us all kinds of different foods to try out. Some of it was really good, while other parts of it was not all that good. It was fun to try out the different foods. It was different than anything we have at home. We headed home for another night of solid rest.
On the third day, we headed back down to the restaurant for another fine breakfast. We had some time to burn before Blondie and Tom's flight left, so we headed over to Castillo National Monument.
Castillo was a Mexican explorer who was one of the first explorers of the west coast of America and landed on the point of land where Castillo National Monument is now located. At the top of the hill is a monument to him and a lighthouse that was in use for most of the 1800s, which is now a maritime and lighthouse museum. Far below the monument, you can see the ocean and some boats........
In this picture, the Naval base is visible. It occupies a large portion of the land strip that separates the harbor from the ocean. I should also mention that any recreational boats that stray too closely to the base are quickly run off by naval patrol boats, which we saw happen numerous times......
A couple of great ocean views.......
You can faintly see land in the distance in this photo. That's actually the mountains around Tijuana, Mexico, which is only about 20 miles from San Diego.
Some pictures of the tide pools at the base of the hill......
We also went over to go inside the Del Coronado Hotel. Pretty neat woodwork inside the main lobby......
Kali enjoyed the view from the restaurant......
We took Blondie and Tom back to the airport for their flight home. We had another 3 hours or so to burn until we had to get back to the airport, so we headed back up the hill to go to Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery. It's a wonderful military cemetery overlooking the Pacific Ocean on one side and the Naval base on the other side. Over 50,000 men and women are interred in the cemetery. One thing that I did note is that there are a lot of soldiers buried in this cemetery who did not die in combat. It would appear that this great vista overlooking the Pacific Ocean with Navy F-18's flying overhead and Navy ships floating below is a popular final resting place.
The cemetery holds soldiers killed from all combat operations. Of special note is that there are quite a few combat fatalities from the Spanish-American War (due to the proximity to Mexico and the battles). Also, in the early 1900s, the USS Bennington steamship had 2 steam boilers on board unexpectedly explode, resulting in the death of 65 crew members and severe burns on the 46 survivors. Many of the dead from that explosion are in this cemetery and a marker memorializes the event.....
Here's some of the rows of graves which are always great in pictures because of their arrangement, much like rows of soldiers lining up to march into battle. Two things to note are the ocean views from the cemetery and the palm trees, which you don't often see in a military cemetery........
Note the stone in the foreground with the wife's name on the back of the stone. This is pretty common in this cemetery. The military allows the spouses to be buried together. The only catch is that they are actually buried on top of each other. The first person to die is buried at 9 feet deep while the second is buried 7 feet deep. Arlington National Cemetery actually allows '3-deep' burials on it's plots to save space........
These two men received the highest military honor: The Medal of Honor.......
This was a tribute by family in front of a grave. Evidently it was the soldier's birthday. The family and friends left multiple birthday cards and a partially eaten cupcake with a candle in it.......
Another great tribute that we noticed was the number of graves that had been 'kissed', likely by the spouse of the soldier. Some had left multiple signs of love all over the gravestone from their visits to see their loved ones........
We spent a couple of hours at the cemetery and then took our flight home after a weekend filled with lots of relaxation and fun. We had a great time.
