Due to Inclement Weather
San Diego State
I had a fantastic opportunity this year. I was able to take my own 17-year-old
high school seniors on a college road trip. One of the locations we got to was San Diego State
University. Once we were down there I said to my children that I had spent some
time exploring San Diego years ago.
So, it is time to fire up the old time machine again. Go ahead set the
dials to travel to one of California’s most beautiful cities, San Diego.
Look its raining, here at home. Guess I won’t be working for a while. This was a natural occurrence when I
was younger because I worked in construction and when it rained for extended
periods all construction would be canceled because of inclement weather. This gave me a two-week break to
travel. Honest, I was looking for
work. I had to I was on
unemployment. No one said where I
had to look. Also, in construction
you receive your vacation pay in February. So the traveling had to go on the road for work.
Campland
Back then I had a beat up old Chevy truck with a cab over
camper. See I was moving up from
that old Rambler American. I did a
little investigation and I found the perfect place to camp in San Diego,
Campland on Mission Bay. This was
my San Diego base for exploring.
San Diego Zoo
I was the owner of a new Minolta 201 35mm camera. The animals were absolutely
fascinating. There was a koala
that other zoos only dreamed of having.
There was a proboscis monkey that looked like my grandfather, and an owl
that I wasted a roll of 20 pictures trying capture.
Sea World
Also San Diego had Sea World with the famous Shamu the
Whale. There were many other
animal acts. It was so cool even
if you got splashed with salt water.
They had an act that included a group of penguins called the Penguini
Brothers. I never laughed so hard
at these little birds strutting across the stage.
San Diego Harbor Cruise
San Diego has a beautiful harbor. On that harbor was a
Harbor Cruise. This was
enjoyable. You got to see many of
the sights from a different point of view. There were all the US Navel vessels
that were berthed there. Also, you
got to see the Coronado Bridge from under it. You sailed to Point Cabrillo. Here was the first spot stepped upon by the Spanish. But the strangest sight was an old
Mississippi styled riverboat called the Ruben E. Lee. It was a restaurant.
It looked so out of place docked there.
Old Town San Diego
A trip to San Diego has to include Old Town, and the San
Diego Mission. California missions
were located by the Spanish all up the coast. They provided a religious training for the native indigenous
people who the Spanish called Neophytes.
The Old Town is a fantastic place to go for Mexican food. If you like spicy and traditional Mexican food, that's the place to explore the restaurants. I am a big fan of the combo plate, 2 beef tacos and a cheese enchilada. My traveling companion liked the chicken enchiladas. After the nice big dinner a stroll down through the town was in order. There were many great shops full of special little trinkets. Many of the items were related to the ocean of course. But you can never have too many paper weights, right?
Balboa Park
A location often over looked is Balboa Park. The park was created for the 1915
Panama-California exposition. This
celebrated the opening of the Panama Canal. There is an incredible collection of Art Deco
architecture. There are days worth
of museums. Several of them were
cool but I was awe struck by the San Diego Air and Space Museum. It contained a replica of the Spirit of
St. Louis, the plane that Charles Lindberg flew non-stop from New York to
Paris. It was incredible seeing
something that was part of history.
The aircraft was designed and built in San Diego.
In the park is a reproduction of the Globe Theater. It was built in 1935 and performances
of Shakespeare appeared there.
The conservatory in the Botanical garden was instantly
recognizable. It was reminiscent of the Conservatory in Golden Gate Park.
That little red light on the control panel of the time machine is flashing again. So it is time to head home to the future. We need to get back before that annoying beeping starts. When we are finally home, we need to get out and see what will happen. You never know how the weather will be, because the wind is blowing. This new wind might be bringing change. My daughter was accepted at San Diego State University. She may choose to go there. That will give me a reason to return again to San Diego. It will be great showing her around.
Take care fellow time trippers. See in the future if we missed you in the past.
RARW
No comments:
Post a Comment