San Diego: Hopping to Adventure

I naively thought I would blog while adventuring in San Diego, but that didn't happen. We were non-stop, and I took almost 1200 pictures to vet!

I already shared  my first day in La Jolla (including the Scripps Pier below) which takes us to...

Scripps Memorial Pier

San Diego Hop-On Hop-Off Trolley!

My boss, Jackie, and I were gifted trolley tickets, and we had a hoot! Each driver shared San Diego history, fun stories, short musical interludes. 

Muggle Jackie and the Trolley

That was worth the cost alone, but then there were the stops! The Hop-on Hop-off trolley has 10 stops along around San Diego, and we stopped at 4 of them. And, guess what? There were Virtuals at each of them!

Coronado Island

With gentle surf, sparkling wide-sand beaches, charming main street and great hotels, including the famous Hotel del Coronado, this island paradise is perfect for a family vacation or romantic getaway. [Explore San Diego]

Coronado on the left - mainland San Diego on the right
View from the bridge

Trolley driver said the dunes spelled
out Coronado - correct!

Virtual: BOC Hotel Del Coronado GC7890B

The trolley driver told us to grab a handful of sand and run it through our fingers. The sand literally sparkles like gold due to the mica interlaced with the white sand. Unfortunately, it proved impossible for me to photograph.

Tijuana in the distance

I'll be watching you...

Balboa Park

Ever changing. Always amazing.  Where culture, science, and nature collide, Balboa Park is home to more than 16 museums, multiple performing arts venues, lovely gardens, trails, and many other creative and recreational attractions, including the San Diego Zoo. With a variety of cultural institutions among its 1,200 beautiful and lushly planted acres, there is something for everyone. [Balboa Park]

Supporting the local arts!
"Take my picture?", Jean Pierre asked in a French accent.
"On a day I didn't wear my make-up?"

The Spreckels Organ is the world's largest pipe organ in a fully outdoor venue.

Two fascinating facts from our trolley driver. First, Balboa Park is larger than New York's Central Park (and my legs can attest to that). 

Botanic Building in front of the lily pont

Shelley has me seeing shadows everywhere!

Botanic Building and lily pond

Moorish fountain in side garden

San Diego Museum of Art

At the other end of the pond

Second, the park contains The Old Globe Theater, modeled after Shakespeare's Old Globe Theater in London. However, the theater is on the flight path of San Diego airport. To this day, when there is a show, a spotter sits in the audience looking for the next landing plane. He hits a button and the cast will freeze, mid monologue or song, until the plane passes!

Virtual: Specialty Cache Hall of Fame GC7B68P
California Tower, constructed for the 1915
Panama-California Exposition

Old Town, San Diego

OLD TOWN is the historic heart of San Diego. Created in 1769, Old Town San Diego was California’s first settlement with only a mission and a fort. [Old Town]

I was most excited about this stop - it's the only real memory I have from visiting San Diego 30 years ago. The Old Town San Diego State Historic Park was the same, but the town is hyper-commercial (same reaction as Salem last year). Jackie and I were planning on spending the afternoon and dinner here, but we decided the drunken revelry & teems of tourists did not bring us joy so we made two quick stops before leaving.

First, Virtual: Gunfight at the Old Town Corral GCGE40 right in the middle of town.

Not a spoiler

And then the historic El Campo Santo Cemetery. Originally with 477 tombs, many of which did not have or no longer have headstones. During a down period for Old Town, the cemetery was abandoned and chapel here was destroyed by fire, In this state, a streetcar line was built right through the cemetery! Luckily, efforts have been made to restore and preserve this cemetery, but you can see grave markers outside on the sidewalk and the street!

End of Days GC432AY

Embarcadero

Located adjacent to Downtown San Diego along the Big Bay, San Diego's Embarcadero is a testament to the region's colorful maritime history complete with historic ships, museums and harbor tours, as well as a working fishing harbor, cruise ship terminal and plenty of hotels, restaurants and shops. [Explore San Diego]

With a little time left on the trolley tour, we decided our final disembark would be at the Embarcadero. So much to see and do!

The trolley driver said this area can dock 4 full-size cruise ships, and that each ship can bring in $2M A DAY in revenue to the city! Cruise ship watching is a spectator sport here - there were lines of people watching this Disney ship (very silently) back away from the dock

A little further along were great ships of a more historic vintage.

Virtual: Figureheads GC7B6HA

And no tourist can come to San Diego without seeing the Midway and Embracing Peace. Again, from the trolley driver, this statue was not supposed to be a permanent display. However, it became such a populate tourist spot, that San Diego kept it!

Here I found my last cache of the day. It's called Hope & Happiness GC12H9D. Here is the Happiness.... 

And here is the Hope! Bob Hope! His statue is atop of the hill West of the statue which plays a piped-in monologue to statued members of our armed forces! Really neat spot.

With that, Jackie and I returned to our hotel for showers and food. Even with a hop-on hop-off trolley, Jackie estimated on her fitbit a walk of almost 12 miles!

BONUS: Broadway Fountain in Horton Plaza

Of course, it can't just end there. Food for us meant walking over to the historic Gaslamp Quarter, and, eight blocks from the restaurant, was the Broadway Fountain in Horton Plaza. Does "Horton" make you think of anything? Theodore Geisel (Dr. Seuss) lived in San Diego. I wonder if this plaza inspired him...?

I wanted to detour here because we saw this beautiful fountain in the daytime, and the trolley driver (and their tour book with coupons!) said it lit up at night. It was worth the trips! We even found a Zero Milestone marker on the path!

What's even cooler is that the water also cascades down from the top!

Our driver said this fountain was quite controversial because it combined water with electricity, much to the dismay of the local citizenry. 

It's located (another trolley trivia) directly across the street from the U. S Grant Hotel. Story has it Grant's son built it to honor his father, but Ulysses died before the hotel opened.

Can you believe how much we packed into a day? Conference starts tomorrow so we had to get most of our touristy shenanigans in today!