Highlights of San Diego

San Diego is an incredibly beautiful city that offers Ocean Beaches, large city parks, historic downtown areas and an abundance of tourist attractions. The city has a mild Mediterranean climate with average annual temperatures of 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Because of their mild climate San Diego is able to grow more varieties of plants than anywhere else in the United States.

San Diego is the eighth largest city in the United States . The city shares its border with Tijuana, Mexico . Their economy is greatly influence by their port; they are home to the largest naval fleet in the world and the cruise ship industry also plays a major role in their economy. The city is also known for their 16 military institutions.

San Diego offers several major tourist destinations; Sea World, San Diego Zoo, Balboa Park, Seaport Village, Hotel del Coronado, and the Wild Animal Park . All of which thrive on San Diego ’s warm climate.

Balboa Park is a large tourist destination within San Diego. It is a 1,200 acre cultural park that is home to beautiful gardens, Spanish Mission and Indian Pueblo style buildings, museums and the zoo. Several of the buildings within Balboa Park date back to 1914 when the park first opened for the Panama-California Exposition. The event was to celebrate the completion of the Panama Canal .

The Gaslamp District is a neighborhood in the downtown area that was named for the gas lamps that use to line the streets. The old gas lamps are no longer in use but four new gas lamps were placed at the intersection of Market and 5th Avenue to represent the older lamps. Within this 16.5 block area there are 94 historic buildings, many of which represent the Victoria Era theme. This area has been heavily renovated and is now known for its shopping, restaurants and clubs.

San Diego was an awe-inspiring experience; from the large lush trees to the scenic ocean views. This trip offered so much that I didn’t expect which made my experiences interesting and memorable.

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We chose this hotel because we wanted to stay in the Gaslamp district. For this trip our biggest requirement choosing our hotel was that it to be clean and that it had to be in a good location. In the past we’ve been fairly impressed by the Comfort Inn chain so this made our choice fairly easy when we saw were it was located.

The Hotel isn’t anything special but it is in a great location. It is one block from a movie theater, Buca de Beppo (Italian Restaurant) and near all of the other Gaslamp shops.

Our room was very small but had been recently remodeled. The room was clean and some of the extras that they included were nice; water, microwave popcorn and extra shampoo. The rest of the hotel was fairly clean except for the elevator at times. The elevator was really the worst part about the hotel; it was small, slow, and at times dirty. The continental breakfast was good part of the time that we were there but then after the holiday weekend they started serving worse food. On the weekend they had bacon, sausage, egg and cheese omelets, waffles, cereal and fruit. After the holiday weekend rush they took away all of the meat and changed the omelets by using some sort of fake cheese. Luckily we were leaving that morning.

The parking lot at the hotel was small and in a back lot, there was a fee to park but after exploring the rest of San Diego there appeared to be no free parking anywhere in the city.

Overall we didn’t spend much time in our room so this room worked great for us. I would definitely stay at this hotel again as long as the price inspired me to.

Harbor House is a Seafood and Steak restaurant located in Seaport Village . The restaurant has seating on two levels, the upper level is where the bar is located and it has dramatic views of the Bay. The lower level is nice but it doesn’t quite compare with the views on the upper floor.

My boyfriend and I ate here on our first night of vacation for dinner. We were privileged enough to receive one of the best tables in the restaurant. The sun was shining and we were seated right next to a window overlooking the Bay and the Marina Park. We had the luxury of people watching right from our table at the restaurant since it overlooked the park.

For dinner I ordered a chopped seafood salad and also had some of the lobster bisque soup. Both were absolutely delicious and I would order them again in a heartbeat. The salad had plenty of crab, shrimp and blue cheese which are all a favorite of mine for salads. My boyfriend ordered the same entrée as me so I wasn’t able to have any different samplings of their food. Most of their menu ranged in price from $15-$30 per entrée.

Overall I was quite pleased with our dining experience. The food tasted fresh, the service was great, the views of the Bay were outstanding and the atmosphere was extremely pleasant. We truly had a perfect evening.

We were fortunate enough to visit the Hotel Del Coronado on a Sunday morning and were able to enjoy their spectacular brunch in the Crown Room. The Crown Room is a massive room with crown chandeliers designed by Frank Baum, the author of the Wizard of Oz.

Walking into this room was an experience in itself. The ceiling is 30 feet high, the room itself is 7,900 S/F, the ceiling is made out of sugar pine wood, the walls are also wood with gorgeous fabrics to accent the upper wall and all of the architectural details are amazing.

After sitting in awe of this room our waitress came over to explain how all of the food was laid out on the buffet, which was extremely helpful since this was one of the largest buffets I’ve had ever been to. The assortment of this buffet was incredible; made to order omelets, waffles, chocolate fountains, shrimp, crab, fish, chicken, prime rib, salads, cheeses, Mexican food, Asian food and tons of heavenly desserts. They also offered Mimosas and Bloody Mary’s which were included in the Buffet price.

This Buffet was a little pricey at $60 per person but it was well worth it. I was thankful for the great service, wonderful food and the live piano music in the Crown Room that made my first day in San Diego unforgettable.

We were looking for a place to eat in one of the San Diego visitor magazines and stumbled across an ad for a restaurant at Seaport Village. It sounded like a nice place next to the water so we decided to go. Of course when we arrived to a parking lot full of cars, we realized that we weren’t the only people here.

Seaport Village is a busy shopping center surrounded by the San Diego Bay with lush trees and beautiful scenery. The Village has over 50 unique shops and several restaurants to choose from. Along the bay there is a boardwalk that stretches a quarter of a mile.

Seaport Village first opened in 1980. The interesting history behind it is that it is built over a landfill that buried those who died of scurvy from the Spanish expedition of 1782. The area was then named Punta de los Muertos (Point of the Dead). The location may seem a little eerie but it doesn’t seem to bother the visitors.

This is a great place at which to relax and walk around while taking in the beautiful San Diego scenery. The next time that I visit San Diego, Seaport Village will definitely be one of the top destinations on my list to revisit.

The best part about the San Diego Zoo is knowing that you will get to see some animals during your visit. It is one of the largest zoos in the world and it contains more than 800 different animal species. The Zoo is located in Balboa Park and it is situated on over 100 acres of land. The map that you receive at the front entrance is definitely needed in order to find your way around the maize of animals living here.

The San Diego Zoo was the favorite part of my whole trip. That may seem strange but I love animals. I bought my tickets online because it was supposedly cheaper to get the admission, bus and skyfari rides all together, which it was but the only problem is that the bus and skyfari rides fill up fast and had huge lines. If you’re not willing to wait in a long line then it may be easier for you to buy just an admission ticket.

The guided bus ride that we took went around most of the zoo. This was not the express bus which is what we should have taken. The only advantages to riding this bus was that we were able to sit for awhile and also able to get our bearings on where the animals were located at this massive zoo. The thing that surprised me most by this bus tour was that it went right through the middle of the main roads at the zoo nearly running a few oblivious people over on our excursion. My advice is to make sure you’re always on a sidewalk.

Long lines seemed to be a fad everywhere. The exhibit for the Giant Panda’s had a line that was forever long and when we finally got into the exhibit they made everyone keep walking which made it hard to take good pictures. The line was worth it to see Panda Bears in person but it was a little maddening not to be able to take my time after waiting so long.

The Polar Bears were another favorite of mine. I was amazed at how many people crowded into the tight viewing areas when the bears were out. The zoo keepers did a good job of enticing the bears to play and kept everyone’s interests perked.

This zoo has several remarkable and different animals. The mild Mediterranean climate in San Diego makes it suitable for so many different types of animals and plants to exist. The San Diego Zoo shelters many endangered species and is very conscience of the environment. The landscaping, the animals and the animal’s habitat are all incredible at this zoo.

Overall this was quite a remarkable experience. On this trip I got to see an abundance of different varieties and a few baby animals. Besides being tired from walking when I left, I felt like I got what I came for, my best trip ever to a zoo.