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.

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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.

https://learnfromyesterday.com

https://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!

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https://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.

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https://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!

 

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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!

 

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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!