Staying Classy in San Diego

After two weeks with family and friends in New England, it was time for me and Andy to say farewell. It wasn’t easy, but I knew my parents planned to book a trip to New Zealand before too long (now officially on for February – yes!), which made it a little bit less bitter and more sweet. On our last day, my folks dropped us off at the airport in Boston for our late afternoon direct flight to San Diego.

We’d booked three nights in San Diego early on in our trip planning, knowing it’d be wise to break up the long haul back to NZ. I’d never been to California before except on brief airport stopovers, so I was really excited. Of course, 95% of my and Andy’s thoughts on San Diego came from Anchorman (hence the title of this blog).

We got in not long before midnight, so we checked into our hotel in the central city and tucked in to get a full night’s rest, planning to take full advantage of the next day.

The next morning, we ventured out bright and early (thanks, three-hour time difference!). We had a fantastic breakfast and then made for the port to do some exploring.

You can tell that submarine hasn’t moved in a while.

Many of these ships make up a floating naval museum, but we decided to just admire then from the shore. After all, we had a couple breweries in mind for our afternoon adventures.

Further up the port, we came to the famous aircraft carrier, the USS Midway. The largest ship in the world until 1955, it’s an incredibly impressive sight up close.

It’s hard to grasp the scale from the photos, but that thing is HUGE. Apparently, it was built to accommodate over 100 aircraft on board at one time.

Past the USS Midway, we came to Tuna Harbor Park, home to “A National Salute to Bob Hope and the Military.” Interesting.

I managed to cut out the random old man who wasn’t actually a statue sitting in the midst of the memorial.

We couldn’t have asked for a better day, but I guess that’s what California is supposed to be like every day. It was certainly nice when we knew we’d be headed right back into the middle of Wellington winter soon.

We even found New Zealand! Well… just the North Island. Andy’s standing on Wellington.

We came across a fish market next. It would’ve been awesome to buy some and cook it up if we weren’t staying in a hotel.

The views from the pier were great and served as a distraction from the overpowering fishy odor of the market.

That’s the bridge to Coronado Island. We would’ve liked to visit, but we had to be picky with only two full days to explore. Next time!

I couldn’t get enough of this seaside shack on stilts.

This area is known as Seaport Village. It’s very touristy but was fun to pass through. The nearby Embarcadero Marina houses some faaabulous boats.

Around this time, the heat and sun started to take a toll on us, so we decided to head back to our hotel for a rest before lunch.

Lunch was, of course, at a brewery. We headed for Karl Strauss and weren’t disappointed in the least bit. It’s hard to decide which was better, the beer or food.

Ballast Point Brewery was up next, which was the one we’d been looking forward to for months. It’s one of Andy’s absolute favorites, and I’ve come to be a huge fan too.

The only problem was that there were so many beers to try and we could only feasibly sample so many if we wanted to remain functioning human beings. There was everything from Red Velvet Cake (tasted just like it, which was both good and bad) to Andy’s favorite, Indra Kunindra (a curry stout). We settled on six tasters and split them 50/50.

Since we had such a late lunch, we ended up skipping dinner and making it an early night. It’s hard to keep going after so much sun and delicious beer. I know, what a hard life, right?

The next day, we made our way to the San Diego Zoo for opening time and spent an amazing few hours exploring and observing some really cool beasts. We finished off our trip with a fabulous Mexican meal that night and giant American breakfast the next morning before taking the train to Los Angeles for our flight back to New Zealand.

As we said farewell to the Land of the Free for the time being, it was hard to truly be sad, knowing we were returning to New Zealand. I still can’t believe I get to call this place home! It’s just like going from one vacation to another. On that note, some NZ blogs to come next, so see you then. 🙂