San Diego

Day 1

Our first day in San Diego consisted primarily of picking up a rental car and finding our hotel.

On the way to the hotel, I was admiring the green California scenery. With the exception of all the mountains and hills, the landscape reminded me of Florida. Green and lush beats the brown and sparse landscape in Tucson.

Another thing that reminded me of Florida was the stores. Shopping anyone? I was super excited to see some of my favorite stores and restaurants. Oh, I could totally move here.

We went to a seafood restaurant near our hotel. It was horrible. The seafood was underseasoned and overcooked, and my cocktail tasted like a blend of rubbing alcohol and cough syrup.

Day 2

This was the day I was waiting for… SeaWorld!!

We got there nice and early to beat the heat and the lines. We got the opportunity to see a bunch of the smaller exhibits and save time for the shows later in the afternoon.

One of my favorite things there was the motion simulator ride. The theme was an arctic exploration, so everyone climbs into a “helicopter” and sees the sights through the “windshield”.

I’ve been on many motion simulator rides before, but this one shook more than I could have expected. It was so much fun! This thing was really shaking everyone up. People were screaming, I was cracking up. It was a lot of fun.

We went to the Pets show, where all kinds of pets perform tricks. It was cute. I had no idea you could even train cats to do tricks like that.

Of course, the Shamu show was a highlight. It was really spectacular. I guess it has to be in order to pack so many people into a stadium, baking in the sun. I got a sunburn on one arm. It was worth it.

Here’s a video I made from clips at SeaWorld.  There are captions and stuff for the benefit of the kids in my life.

We spent most of the day at SeaWorld, then went back near the hotel for dinner.

We went to Bennigans (I used to love that place when I was a kid). I thought I was ordering a ham and cheese grilled sandwich. I was only half right.

What I actually ordered was a Monte Cristo, the epitome of fat people food. It was a ham and cheese sandwich, battered and deep fried, dusted with powdered sugar, with a raspberry dipping sauce. And yes, it was as overwhelming and hard to eat as you can imagine. I think I took two or three bites, then called it done.

Day 3

Today was the perfect day to go to Balboa Park. The weather was incredible and we were in the mood for a relaxing day to see some culture and admire the architecture.

First thing we did was buy a pass to visit several museums and the IMAX theater. The first museum we went to was the Natural History Museum.

The museum was hosting the Body Worlds exhibit. I love these exhibits. I have been before in Ft. Lauderdale, but it was worth it to go again.

The exhibit displays human bodies in various stages of dissection. What is especially amazing is the bodies illustrating just the blood vessels. I can’t even begin to imagine how the scientists were able to extract only blood vessels from a body, keeping it all in its intact form. It’s truly incredible.

One of my other favorite parts is the pregnant woman. How often does one get to see a cross section of a pregnant human? The exhibit is awe inspiring, informative and entertaining. Really a must-see.

Next we went to the Museum of Man, an anthropological museum. It was very interesting to see the anthropological roots of different cultures. Especially interesting to me was the mummy section. Of course, there were Egyptian mummies. There were also mummies from other parts of the world, like bog mummies from Scotland and shrunken heads from tribes around the world.

After that, we had a coffee at an upscale joint at the Art Museum. I can’t remember what it was called, but it was a very cute place with tables amidst modern sculptures.

Then we went to the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center. This place is awesome for kids, but still entertaining for adults. There are a lot of hands-on gadgets to play with.

The Science Center also houses the IMAX theater. We saw an underwater movie which was so cool. It really felt like we were underwater peeking inside the world of these fish.

The movie was a great way to end a relaxing day. We had dinner, then got ready for some nightlife.

We went downtown looking for some hot nightclubs. We decided to go to a place called Envy. A friend and local told me this nightclub was good. Well, I won’t trust him again!

My boyfriend and I are used to clubs with a more latin flavor (where people can actually dance). I am from South Florida, after all… Anyway, this place couldn’t have been more different from any club I have ever visited.

The music was terrible. I used to be a dancer, and even I was having a hard time dancing to this music. For example, they even played Respect by Aretha Franklin. Seriously? Is this karaoke or a dance club?

Speaking of karaoke… The whole club was singing along to all of the songs. Who does that? Maybe if they stopped singing and focused on dancing, it wouldn’t have been so awkward.

And if terrible music and singing wasn’t enough, the DJ kept spraying foam and blowing dry ice fog on the dance floor.  It was really annoying.

We did manage to have fun because we kept laughing at how bad the club was.  Another source of entertainment was a group of cougars slutting it up on the dance floor.  Ladies, have you ever heard the term “age appropriate”?

Day 4

Today was devoted to spending time with my boyfriend’s family.  Luckily his family was great.  We spent a lot of time laughing.

We went to church, then went to the casino, Barona for a fantastic lunch buffet.  The food was really good, so I stuffed my face.  Good thing I was wearing a dress instead of pants, so I had a little more room for my stuffed belly.

We hung out a bit more, then went out for ice cream.

Day 5

Our very short last day was spent getting breakfast at  Denny’s and packing.  We went to the airport and headed back to Tucson.

All in all, the trip was great.  I will definitely go back to San Diego.