San Diego Vacation - Walking the Distance

Jacaranda  - Purple Haze covers the trees and sidewalks of San Diego

 My first trip to the west coast started when my son picked me up at the San Diego International Airport, a short driving distance from where he lived in the East Village adjacent to the Gaslamp Quarter.  Here I would stay for two weeks in my son and daughter-in-law's upscale condo that they recently moved into a couple weeks before she was deployed in the US Navy.  I was to help my son unpack and check out the local sights and venues while he was at work during the day and report back so he can use the info when his wife's ship comes home in a few months.  It also happened that my niece chose this location for her destination wedding and family would be together here in San Diego the following weekend traveling from the east coast and mid-west to celebrate.  It would be six days after I arrived before I would be in a car as I wanted to check out everything of interest within walking distance which for me would be about a mile and a half and return; equivalent to my regular three mile walk in rural Missouri below the Pomme de Terre Dam but oh, so different!

Since I love to do photo journaling and blog about it, I will have several posts related to my time here in San Diego as it is too overwhelming to include in one post.  Please check out the other posts as you have time as they all will begin as "San Diego Vacation."  I think there may be six different posts for 2016 from how I organized the photos and the time frames.

We started the afternoon of my Sunday arrival with a couple shopping trips which were within a couple blocks from the condo to get food at a wholesale grocery and personal items I didn't bring on the plane at CVS Pharmacy.  Then we had a delicious pizza at the nearby restaurant. The next day was the Fourth of July and we started it with a great breakfast at The Mission, Conscientious Cuisine.  A restful afternoon was in order for the holiday and my son and I got caught up with visiting.  By evening it was time to walk to the waterfront for the fireworks.  The display was awesome launched from four barges in the San Diego Bay as we sat on blankets on the lawn by the Hilton Hotel several feet from the water.  The people-watching was interesting!  By dark the show began with a bang...

On Tuesday, my son went to work and it was me and my two fur-grandbabies all day.  I had my work cut out beginning with organizing the kitchen as there was only about a square foot of space open on the counter.  That was fun but I was done by noon and decided to venture out on my own for the first time besides walking the dogs which I did 2-3 times a day during my visit.  I walked a little past the spot we watched the fireworks the night before and got a frozen yogurt and some baklava.  Then I stopped and got some treats and toys for my fur-grandbabies and some additional groceries to make dinner when my son came home from work.  Now that the kitchen was in order, I could see what I needed!

The street where I stayed - mostly upscale newer condos with businesses below.

Two blocks away was this footbridge over the train tracks and busy Harbor Drive.  It let out in front of the Hilton Hotel on the waterfront.

View from the footbridge of Petco Park - home of the Padres Baseball Team and the site of the 2016 All-Stars Game which took place the second week I was visiting.

This is the Convention Center across the street from Petco Park.  There was a Student Leadership Conference going on this first week and the week after I left was Comic Con.

The Hilton Hotel is on the left.  The bridge goes to Coronado Island.  My daughter-in-law's ship will be docked near this bridge when she gets home from deployment as it will be her new workplace everyday. This "concrete boardwalk" continues to the airport, I think, but I didn't walk that far.

Along this Marine Walk (concrete boardwalk) I walked most days.  Seaport Village became my favorite destination as it has many shops, restaurants, and interesting people.

By Wednesday, I was really getting brave and ventured a full mile from the condo to Seaport Village along the waterfront.   

Walking map of Seaport Village

My favorite restaurant was Harbor House

I enjoyed this restaurant so much for lunch by myself that I treated my son that evening when he came home from work.  Outdoor seating is plentiful and as the weather is always good!

Another favorite restaurant is Edgewater Grill.

Even a simple salad and crab cakes were a special treat!

One of the many interesting people and vendors in this area was a Zen Man who wanted to enlighten people with an awareness of what we all have within us.  His attraction was balancing rocks and he invited you to try too!  I must have been a little unbalanced as mine kept falling over!

My brother and niece joined me for one of my walks when they arrived on Friday.  Here we have a real man dressed and acting like a soldier statue.  It was amazing how we almost walked right passed him until I noticed he may be real.  When I donated a dollar he put his arm out for a photo.  

Of course, there's always the familiar places and we took the opportunity to spend some money for souvenirs!

I saw a SEAL Tour and decided this was how I wanted to spend the next couple hours.  It was one of the highlights of my visit! 

I'm ready to see some more of San Diego in this tour on land and water!

The mountains in the background are in Mexico about 17 miles away.

This is a bait barge where fishermen go to net up their bait before they go out into the ocean.

That's some really large bait fish!

Skyline of San Diego and watercraft that some people live on and rent the spot for a lot of money!

Lots and lots of gulls!

Navy fuel vessel loading up.  There were several military aircraft around the area coming and going.  

All lobster traps

Another SEAL Tour vehicle passes by our vehicle.

Brown pelican on the bait barge

Brown pelicans and some gulls

Lazy Sea Lion

Lady Sea Lion strikes a pose.

Big Daddy Sea Lion babysits the kids.

The guide said we were lucky to see such an active sea lion display today!

Dole Atlantic cargo ship unloading lots of fruit!  I love fruit!

Many historic ships! The Star of India is in this area too.  I believe Little Italy is near here.  It was one of the original settlements that thrived from the tuna industry.  I would like to check it out another time.  

The WWII Midway (way in the background) which was just a little too far for my walk but has tours which I'm told lasts 2-4 hours!

Walking back is as much fun as getting there and always something different to see.  At the Hilton is where I turn left to cross the walking bridge again then it's about 2 blocks to my son's condo or....

...I can cross over at Seaport Village and walk east through the Gaslamp Quarter which is a historic district of interesting pubs, restaurants, and shops.  That walk is about 10 blocks long, 2 blocks wide and I can take a long time checking out.  It all comes full circle and I end up where I started.  I hardly made a dent in it but did find a great place to get a mani-pedi for the upcoming wedding.  It's called Style Lounge Salon and Randi did a great job!

I'd like to conclude this post about the walking area close to where I stayed on a positive note but I cannot end it without talking about the homeless street people which are not in any of my photos but are nearly everywhere you go with some places set up in tents in parks and along fences alone and in large groups.  The year-round good weather makes living outdoors attractive.  Some of those areas do not feel safe for me to walk and I avoided them and all eye contact which I found out may agitate some.  There was a couple of instances where some people showed mental issues with social unpredictability such as random cursing and yelling.  Still, some people appear to be just in a sad situation and one has to have some empathy for the life they are living.  I have to believe there are kind people in the world in all walks of life.  

What did make me overly cautious on this trip at this time was the local TV news reporting a serial killer attacking the homeless while they slept by setting them on fire and beating them with a hammer.  This started about the time I arrived and continued until a couple days before I left two weeks later.  Three homeless souls were dead and several severely injured.  One suspect was caught within three days which gave a sense of relief until he was checked out further and found to be innocent.  More attacks and finally the right man was caught with overwhelming evidence, I hope.  I had planned to learn the trolley system of getting around and other public transportation.  But when the news said that this serial killer was using public transportation to get around, I lost my motivation and walking the distance close to home proved to be successful in finding so many new things I may have otherwise missed!