Seaport Village on the Beautiful San Diego Bay

By Jodee Weiland

When visiting the San Diego Bay on our recent trip to southern California, we walked down to Seaport Village to have a wonderful seafood lunch at the San Diego Pier Café, a dark brown building built out over the water and overlooking the harbor. This bay is the third largest natural harbor along the California coastline after San Francisco Bay and Humboldt Bay. It is absolutely beautiful, and no matter how many times we go to San Diego, we will never get tired of looking out across the deep blue waters and watching the beautiful sailboats gliding across the waters.

http://learnfromyesterday.com

Another gem on this bay is the Seaport Village, where you will find over sixty unique shops and restaurants to visit while being entertained by musicians in the courtyards. People of all ages will sit and listen to the music, while others are eating or shopping. It is not unusual to see young children dancing to the music or riding on the Historic Carousel, the 1895 Looff carousel. There is a fountain and gazebo amid the shops and restaurants as well.

http://learnfromyesterday.com

http://learnfromyesterday.com

If you are hungry, you can eat in a bay view restaurant, such as the one we chose, or you can find a wide array of casual dining from authentic Mexican cuisine to Greek specialties to Chicago deep dish pizza and more. People ate inside restaurants or grabbed a quick bite to eat outside while enjoying the music and beautiful sunny day!

http://learnfromyesterday.com

http://learnfromyesterday.com

The shops are just as diversified as the food choices available in Seaport Village. You can visit shops that sell international flags, personalized wooden toys, distinctive clothing and accessories, kites, Indian jewelry and artifacts, shoes, artwork, holiday items, and more. The list goes on and on, but the most unique aspect of shopping and eating at Seaport Village is that while doing so, you will continually catch glimpses of the beautiful San Diego Bay with any number of sailboats gliding gracefully across the waters.

http://learnfromyesterday.com

http://learnfromyesterday.comThe brochures they hand out in Seaport Village will tell you that this is “Where the magic of the sea comes to life.” From my personal experience, I have to agree with this description. On a sunny day, walking anywhere along the San Diego Bay and looking out at the harbor is an experience, you’re not likely to soon forget. So if you get the chance to visit San Diego, visit the harbor and Seaport Village, and enjoy!

 

What is Gazelle and Why Would I Use Their Services?

Gazelle is an online trade in service for used consumer electronics like iPhones, iPads, Macbooks, Samsung Galaxy devices, and many other smartphones and tablets. Gazelle pays you cash for your used gadgets when you’re ready to get new ones – cash you can use to pay for your upgrade, pay a bill, or buy anything you want. In essence, Gazelle rewards people for approaching consumption in a smart, environmentally responsible way. Rather than discard a device you no longer value or use, Gazelle provides original owners with an opportunity to exchange it for cash. The device is then given new life and value elsewhere.

Since 2008, Gazelle has paid out more than $150 million for unwanted technology and kept millions of gadgets out of the landfill. It truly is a win-win-win business. Gazelle buys high-end, used consumer electronics, and sell it to those who otherwise couldn’t afford buying new. It’s called reCommerce, and Gazelle helped pioneer the category. Because you are a valued reader of this site, if you click through to Gazelle you will earn an extra $10 on any iPad with a trade in value of $25 or more! (Offer expires 3/21) Visit Gazelle today, and see what your device is worth!

**FTC Disclosure Statement: This post contains affiliate links which means that I may receive a commission if you click a link and make a purchase.

Balboa Park in San Diego…Museums and More All in One Place!

By Jodee Weiland

Balboa Park in San Diego is a must see for anyone visiting!  What a great place to go to while in San Diego, mainly because it is not just a park.

http://learnfromyesterday.com

Balboa Park has museums and cultural attractions, theaters and performing art venues, gardens, the San Diego Zoo, restaurants, shops, and so much more making it a place with recreational opportunities of all kinds.  The fact that there is so much all in one area reminded me of the Washington D.C. mall, where one can visit many different museums in one area, but it was different in some ways because it really was more of a park like setting with outdoor art shows and an open air pavilion.  For those who want less walking, Balboa Park has a tram as well that has various stops throughout the park, including a stop at the Visitors Center.

http://learnfromyesterday.com

Before arriving at the park, I expected it to be an interesting part of our trip, but I never imagined it to be such an all-encompassing area of cultural enrichment.  I was pleasantly surprised.  The brochures had referenced all the attractions, but I visualized an area where we would stop, park, and visit different venues as we went.  I never pictured parking in a beautiful park like setting and walking to and from one museum or attraction to another, while enjoying the sunny weather outdoors, all in one area.  It was easier to go from one place to another than I expected, and we were entertained by many outdoor venues as we went.

http://learnfromyesterday.com

With all the possible venues available to us at the time of our visit, with both permanent and temporary venues, we saw a lot on the day we went there.  We visited the San Diego Museum of Art, the San Diego Air and Space Museum, The House of Pacific Relations Cottages representing 31 nations, an outdoor art show, and we listened to a vocalist on stage at the open air pavilion.  Although there was much more to see and do, we quickly realized that we would need more than one visit to do it all.  That is just one of the many reasons why we are looking forward to returning to beautiful San Diego County one day soon.

There is so much to see and do in San Diego County that one visit could never accomplish seeing it all, but after visiting there this past February, my husband and I look forward to returning soon.  We had a wonderful time in San Diego and found the sunny skies, the pleasant temperatures, the beautiful coastlines, the great seafood, and the friendly people to be enticement enough to find time to return in the near future.  Our memories of this last trip are wonderful, and we can’t wait to make new memories down the road when we are able to go back to beautiful San Diego.   If you plan on visiting San Diego, Balboa Park should be on your list of places to see, and when you go…enjoy!

 

SAVE on San Diego Attractions & Tours

 

San Diego Harbor…A Great Way to spend the Day in Sunny Southern California

By Jodee Weiland

On our visit to San Diego County in southern California this past February, we discovered the land of sunshine and mild climates, making this trip a wonderful experience.  While there, we did what most tourists do; we visited the San Diego Harbor.

http://learnfromyesterday.com

It was a wonderful way to spend the day, starting with our tour of the harbor aboard the Hornblower Harbor Cruise.  The tour we chose was a leisurely cruise with an informative narration while taking in all the beautiful sights surrounding the San Diego Harbor on a sunny afternoon.  We learned a lot about the harbor and its history, as we cruised past Harbor Island, Shelter Island, sea lions, a submarine base, the North Island Naval Air Station, Seaport Village, the Maritime Museum, USS Midway Museum, and so much more.

http://learnfromyesterday.com

On board the cruise, the Captain and trained museum naturalists were the narrators for our brief adventure at sea.  While cruising, passengers could choose indoor viewing that is climate controlled with large windows or outside on the large open-air sun deck.  We chose to sit outside on the sun deck, and the views were magnificent.  It was a beautiful sunny day with pleasant mild temperatures near seventy degrees, a perfect day for a harbor cruise.

http://learnfromyesterday.com

Once we returned to the harbor, we walked by the USS Midway Museum.  On the way around the museum, we enjoyed the various war time sculptures along the walkway, especially the twenty-five foot tall painted bronze sculpture of a sailor kissing a nurse called the “Unconditional Surrender.”  This statue is based on the iconic V-J Day kiss photo taken of a sailor and a nurse kissing in Times Square in celebration of the end of the Second World War, a photo easily recognized by most people today.  It was truly impressive, along with several other sculptures as well.  We continued on past the sculptures to Seaport Village where we had a wonderful seafood lunch.  The food was delicious, and the beautiful view of the harbor as we ate made our meal even more enjoyable.

http://learnfromyesterday.com
Once we finished eating, we spent more time walking along the harbor water front continuing to enjoy the view.  It was indeed fantastic, not to mention the beautiful weather we were enjoying while visiting San Diego.  To say we found one more reason that day to love San Diego is an understatement.  We returned to the San Diego Harbor a few days later and enjoyed still more places on our list not far from the waterfront.  It was a wonderful trip, and if you decide to visit San Diego, be sure to spend time at the harbor.  Hornblower has a variety of cruises, including whale watching tours.  Whatever you decide, you won’t be disappointed if you visit…so when you do visit…enjoy!

 

 

Historic Old Town in San Diego…Visit the “Birthplace of California”

By Jodee Weiland

On our visit to San Diego this past February, we visited San Diego’s Old Town, described as the “Birthplace of California” in the tourist brochures.

http://learnfromyesterday.com
Summarily, the story told in these brochures is that the area called Old Town was first discovered by an explorer named Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo.  Others followed, including Sebastian Vizcaino who named it San Diego de Alcala while mapping the coastline in 1602.  Then the Russian explorers came in the late 1700’s and eventually, the King of Spain sent Captain Gaspar de Portola and Father Junipero Sera with the purpose of a land expedition.  The King did this in the hopes of claiming this land thought to be filled with gold and thriving landscapes.  The Captain chose Presido Hill for the establishment of a military post, and Father Junipero Sera took on the task of building the first twenty-one missions in the area…the cornerstone of colonization in California.  After years of continuous growth, in 1846 the first American flag was raised in the plaza of Old Town by a U.S. Navy Lieutenant and a Marine.  Today visitors can take a look back into this historic era by walking through the Old Town area and the Plaza de las Armas.

 

http://learnfromyesterday.com

We thoroughly enjoyed walking through the Plaza de las Armas, an area that once served as early California’s community center for fiestas, politics, and day to day life in general.  Moving through Old Town, we caught a glimpse of life in the 1800’s as we had the opportunity to meet and talk to the many different merchants, some who dressed in the attire from that earlier period.  The Old Town San Diego historic area has many things to see, to do, and to hold the interest of tourists when visiting.

http://learnfromyesterday.com

During our visit there, we were able to explore the Specialty Shops of the Old Town Market and more.  Although we did not see them all, there are art galleries, churches, historical homes, museums, a variety of shops, and many dining options.  We were able to visit Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, which was established in 1865.  It was the first church in California built outside the mission system.  Every visitor will find something to enjoy.  There are various tours available, including the Old Town Trolley City Tours that travel from Old Town San Diego State Historic Park to the San Diego harbor continuing on with more stops at Seaport Village, Gaslamp Quarter, Balboa Park, and Little Italy to name a few.  There are eleven stops in all, and you can either stay on for the full two hour tour or get on and off all day.  It’s your choice.

http://learnfromyesterday.com

We enjoyed visiting Old Town San Diego because it was interesting to visit an area that was so important historically to the development of this beautiful city.  San Diego, with its sunny skies and mild temperatures year round, is a great place to visit no matter what, but going there and not seeing Old Town would be unfortunate.  Experiencing the history of a city through an area such as this is an opportunity to better understand not only the city but the people who live there and their cultural roots.  Old Town San Diego was a great experience for us, and we’re glad we took the time to do a little exploring of our own while there.  If you visit San Diego, add this to your list of places to visit…make a memory and enjoy!

 

 

La Jolla, California…a Beautiful Jewel Found on the San Diego County Coastline

By Jodee Weiland

In the last two weeks of February this year, my husband, Rick, and I traveled to the County of San Diego.  While there, one of the places I wanted to visit was the beautiful coastal town called La Jolla.

http://learnfromyesterday.com

I had been told by family and friends alike that it was an absolute must on my places to see while visiting San Diego County.  I was told it was one of the most beautiful coastal views in southern California, and although I have not seen the entire coastline of southern California yet, I have to agree that the La Jolla coastline would be hard to beat.

 

http://learnfromyesterday.com

 

La Jolla is a picturesque town with breathtaking scenic areas along its coastline.  The town itself is absolutely delightful to visit and walk around.  There are shops to visit where you can find something for everyone.  Beyond that, there are art galleries that will delight your senses, performance venues that will entertain you, and a variety of restaurants that will satisfy your taste buds.  Art and culture choices are abundant with places to visit like the Athenaeum Music and Arts Library, the La Jolla Symphony, and even the town’s own theater, The La Jolla Playhouse, plus so much more. There are concerts, plays, and art exhibits galore to view for those who may be interested.

 

http://learnfromyesterday.com

But what I found to be the most interesting and relaxing at the same time was that perfect jewel, the La Jolla coastline.  We walked from the town to Scripps Park that overlooks the ocean, a park where in the summer they have concerts.  We followed the walkway there to Shell Beach,where we saw one of the most fantastic views I have ever seen.  We continued to walk along the walkway, while enjoying the ocean views until we reached the Seal Rock where you can observe up close the ocean and the seals who reside there.  It was a wonderful way to enjoy our afternoon and far surpassed my expectations.

http://learnfromyesterday.com

Beyond visiting the town itself, it was interesting to learn something about its residents, present and former.  Theodor “Dr. Seuss” Geisel was a celebrity resident of La Jolla, and you will often see evidence of this in 3-dimensional art displays in front of the town’s various art galleries and elsewhere throughout the town.  Some others who have lived or still live here are the novelist Ann Rice; actor Gregory Peck; novelist Raymond Chandler; painter Richard Allen Morris and so many others that I could fill the page with names.

 

I can’t recommend enough what a wonderful place La Jolla, California, was to visit.  Although we were staying in Carlsbad, California, another beautiful oceanfront town, we found that with a car, a map, and a GPS, there was so much to see and do in all of San Diego County. The distance between the city of San Diego and Carlsbad was less than an hour’s drive depending on traffic, and everything in between was easily accessible as well, either by using Interstate Highway 5 or Highway 1 along the coast.  They even have an Amtrak train called the Coaster that runs from Oceanside to San Diego for those who don’t want to drive.  Nonetheless, to get to the town of La Jolla and truly enjoy the sights, you need to drive there.  If you should decide to visit this great area of southern California, be sure to make the time to visit La Jolla.  I’m certain that the memory of the ocean views will warm your heart for years to come, and you will dream of going back again sometime soon as we now do.  Put it on your wish list, and then one day make it happen.  You won’t regret it!  Enjoy!