San Diego: Day 5
DAY 5
Day 5 is planned to be a catch-all day. We picked a bunch of stuff from the internet that looked like cool old stuff for Nina's photography. Eva woke up around 7:00am again, which is good again, because the nap at the hotel worked so well yesterday, that we are trying it again today.
Free breakfast ruled again, and back to the suite to get directions, and plan the rest of the day.
After Eva's nap we head out to see the sites!
First on the list is Hotel Del Coronado, and the beach!
It is lunch time, so we stop at a little pizzeria on the island (not really an island, but who cares...).
We eat lunch and head out to the hotel. Nina wasn't real interested in the hotel itself, so we decided to use the beach behind it for Eva's bikini pictures.
Only thing is, it was about 60° out, and a little windy. So that doesn't really matter for a professional model like Eva, and we found a spot on the beach and changed her and snapped some pictures. Eva is a pro, but definately not a fan of the beach sand. She would NOT put her feet down in it, and did not like sitting on it at all. We found some rocks to get the pics we needed, and she was a trooper.
Next on the list was the Mission Basilica de Alcala, CA's first church.
I figured there would be some great picture opportunities in there, since it was an old mission and all...
It is about a 45 minute drive so Nina & Eva were sleeping when we got there.
The place wasn't super impressive from the parking area, so Nina wasn't even sure we should go in.
I finally convinced her that we just drove 45 minutes to see this, and it is all by itself, so everything else is 45 minutes back, so we walked up to it.
While not the coolest old building in the world, it was quite impressive.
Eva did some posing for us in front of the mission, and it might even be my favorite picture from the trip (here is the scrap layout).
We didn't pay to go inside, but instead decided to head to the next item on the list: The California Tower.
We saw the tower from the zoo, and thought we should stop by there.
It is located in Balboa park, which is kinda an artsy area, with museums and stuff, and a park.
The tower was cool, and old, but the area around it was impressive as well.
We found only a 15 minute parking area, so we had to hurry to get the shots we wanted.
After some pictures, Nina had to pee, so we wandered a bit for a bathroom, and found none.
We asked inside a museum and they gave me some vague directions like through the park...
So, we didn't find it, and decided to just get back in the car and drive.
After a wrong turn on the way out, I ended up right in front of the bathrooms that were apparently through the park...
Nina went first, and I went after. The bathrooms were terrible! I am no germophobe, but peeing into a metal trough is not acceptable anymore. There was no stall for the toilet either, and I am also not a fan of company while I do my business. I am not really sure how they can still keep bathrooms like that open.
Anyways, more to do, so off we go to the Gaslamp district. We just drove right through here, as it wasn't all that impressive looking from the car.
Next up, Presidio park and Old Town. We drove around using the Avis map that came with the car. We could see the presidio museum building that looked old and cool from the highway, so how hard can it be? We drove around within a half mile of the museum that we were looking for for about a half hour. Apparently some roads on the Avis (we try harder) map did not exist anymore, and maybe never did. We decided to skip this one too. And on the way out, found the road we were searching for, but out of principle, we weren't going to take it :P.
Next stop, Seal beach back in La Jolla. We found this one relatively easily, and when we got out of the car, realized that the internet cannot accurately portray the smell of a bunch of beached seals. The view was cool, and the seals I am sure are cool too, but man did they smell the place up. Oh yeah, this beach was supposed to be a beach for children, so they put up a sea wall to stop the big waves, and made a neat little wave free ocean beach. Well, apparently what is attractive to children is also attractive to seals, and they quickly took the whole beach over. Today, you cannot even swim there if you wanted, and most of the beach is roped off. But the pictures are cool, and they don't smell, so it was worth the trip.
Tonight, we decide to stop by the hotel's free soup/salad bar for dinner. Can't argue with free, and the salad was not too shabby.
Eva played a while, and I went out to the store for some ice cream. When I returned we had some ice cream, and went to bed. This was our last day in SD, but it seems as though we accomplished all that we intended to do.
Tomorrow is the flight home, including an early morning wake up, and the longest single flight so far (4.5 hours).