By far, California has many areas of interest. We have stopped several times on our way out or into California from Hawaii. After flying for five hours, California does make a good stopover.
In 2005, we flew into LAX from Sydney, Australia. We would not recommend getting into a rental car and driving 120 miles south to San Diego. Highway 5 is intense. After being on a plane for 14 hours, the drive, to say the least, was stressful.
Luckily, visiting San Diego is pleasant. We love the delightful “Mediterranean summer weather” which reminds us of Greece. The city has a certain ambiance like no other in California. The region is described as “The Birthplace of California.”
The city center is just a few miles from the “Lindbergh Field” airport. All day long, one can see plans coming and going over the city.
In our first visit in 2005, we stayed in a Hampton Inn close to the Bayfront. There is a Maritime Museum close by. The “Star of Indian” and the Russian Foxtrot Class B-39 submarine are impressive.
It was along this area we came across the artwork of sculptor “Roberto Rivellino.”
Walking south along the waterfront is the USS Midway. This aircraft was commissioned 8 days after WWII. Much of its combat days was served off the coast of Vietnam. It has served as a museum ship since June of 2004.
The USS Navy is based just across the San Diego Bay. The largest naval station, though, is found off of Norfolk, VA.
Not far from the USS Midway is the iconic statue of “Unconditional Surrender Statue.” The plastic 25-foot-tall statue is based on the 1945 photograph by Alfred Eisenstaedt of the couple kissing in Times Square on August 14th, 1945. Some people describe this statue as a “monstrosity,” an eye-sore to the community.
A short way is a “National Salute” sculpture of Bob Hope thanking him for “all the memories.” Growing up with Bob, it has more of a meaning to us than for the recent generations of young folk.
The San Diego Chargers football team may have fled the city, but the iconic Hotel del Coronado is still with us. Built in 1888, it was the largest resort in the world at one time.
The place had the first lighted outdoor Christmas tree in December of 1904. Eleven Presidents and countless movie stars have visited this iconic place—so has the Bielicki’s.
To get to this hotel operated by Hilton now, your car has to cross the Coronado Bridge which is 200 feet high and over 11,000 feet long. Unfortunately, 360 people have committed suicide jumping off this bridge.
In 2015, we hooked up with a fellow traveler, Betty Marshall, who we met coming back from Greece in 2008.
Living most of her life in San Diego, Betty took us to a restaurant along the bay. We also stopped at Chicano Park with its decorative under-the-interstate artwork.
A world’s fair occurred in San Diego in 1915. It was a year afterwards that the famed San Diego Zoo was created out of an area known as Balboa Park.
The Zoo pioneered open-air and cageless exhibits for the most part. The San Diego Zoo is the most visited Zoo in the United States with over four million visitors. The community whole heartedly supports this institution with the largest zoo membership in the USA. The following are our favorite pictures taken in 2005.
We took a tour inside the park. We learned how veterinarians can tell the difference between one zebra from another. You would think that some had “white stripes” and others had “black stripes.” Like human fingertips, Zebra’s all have a different back-side! I have yet to collaborate that fact.
The San Diego Zoo needed land to expand. About thirty miles northeast of the main zoo is the San Diego Safari Park which was created in 1972. The main zoo, though, is a “must-see” while visiting San Diego.
The founding fathers of San Diego back in 1868 set aside 1400 acres for a huge city park. Today there are 17 museums in this area.
We enjoyed visiting the Natural History Museum. In the main hall is a large skeleton of an Allosaurus. It was known to be over thirty feet in length. Like the T-Rex, it was a fearsome predator in the late Jurassic Period.
We have always enjoyed visiting Air & Space Museums. San Diego has one of the finest displays.
In 2005, there was a large exposition concerning Manfred Von Richthofen known as “The Red Baron.” This German pilot shot down 80 planes during WWI before being killed.
We did learn that the most successful pilot during WWII was a German Major Erich Hartmann who shot down with his Messerschmit 109 over 340 Russians and seven American pilots. He was captured and placed in a Russian hard-labor camp for 10 years. He survived and lived for over seventy years.
There was also a display for the first American Black pilot during WWI. Even though he was American, he flew for the French as the USA had policies against African-Americans flying.
In 2015, we stayed in downtown at a Best Western. We had an extremely lively balcony view.
Not far from our hotel is “Little Italy” of San Diego.
Some of the architecture is different.
We came across a plaque and pictures of Gunnery Sergeant John Basilone. He was not only Italian, but became the first enlisted Marine to be awarded the Medal of Honor during WWII. He fought at both Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima. Unfortunately, unlike Olympian Frank Zamperini, John did not come back alive.
One of the more interesting cafés we visited in Little Italy was “The Commerce Café.” Not much to look at from the outside.
The inside of Commerce Cafe looked sleek, creative and dynamic.
We were lucky to snag two seats by the bar area.
I had my first taste of a cocktion made with Belgium Raspberry beer.
Food was a tad different, but tasty.
The Commerce Café is one of those places you don’t forget over time.
Flying out to Cabo San Lucas in 2015, we were in a terminal area that had one large restaurant.
I took a picture of our food that day and it was apparently “hot dogs.” Kathie contends that she does not eat hot-dogs since the 1980’s when she owned the Afterdeck in Stuart, Fl. I say, “pictures don’t lie!” Did I eat, though, both hot dogs that day?
Today, San Diego does have its problems with “the homeless.” In 2015, one could see the buildup of the homeless in downtown . Nevertheless, it is a unique city in America’s homeland, worthy of repeated visits.