Busy Week In San Diego

 

 

Debbie, Kim (Travels of Kimbopolo), and Suzanne (Take To The Highway) arrived on Saturday. We went for a walk along Mission Bay and had a fun happy hour. Hector and Brenda (Island Girl Walkabout) joined the party, too. First time a bottle has broken trying to open a beer, but Jim wasn’t going to waste a drop. And yes, there were pieces of glass in the strainer.

That evening we walked along the bay again to catch the rising of the full moon.

 

We were not alone.

On Easter Sunday we went to the Hillcrest farmer’s market. Didn’t buy much but it was fun looking around and people watching. We didn’t even realize Hillcrest Brewery was on the same street as the market so we just had to stop for a tasting. 11:30 am on Easter Sunday and we weren’t the only ones there. The beer was good but not our favorite. We forgot our camera but Kim got this candid shot of the Easter Bunny enjoying a probably much needed cold one.

Jim had his follow up appointment with the ophthalmologist on Monday so we went back to La Jolla while Debbie, Kim and Suzanne visited Cabrillo National Monument since we had already been. Jim’s eye is doing well and his vision is greatly improved.

On Tuesday Suzanne joined us for a bike ride around Mission Bay and along the boardwalks of Mission and Pacific beaches. We hadn’t planned on a beer stop but she suggested it so we couldn’t disappoint her. We ended up back at Draft, a brewpub on Pacific beach with a huge number of beers on tap. We really liked a few by Karl Strauss and decided we needed to visit their brewery. That evening we went to dinner at OB Noodle House at Ocean Beach. The food was good and they have a huge beer selection but it was quite crowded and the music was so loud we could barely hear each other talk. I would hate to have to work in a place that noisy.

The next day we were in need of a hike so we went back to La Jolla to Torrey Pines State Reserve. We parked for free along the beach, which means having to walk up a long steep hill to enter the park. You can also drive up the hill and pay $10 to park. Since we needed the exercise and the views were so nice it felt good to make the climb.

It was a gorgeous day, but then they’ve all been like this since we got to San Diego. We hiked nearly all of the trails in the park, about 7.5 miles worth. Most of them are fairly easy and very scenic. The park is home to the rare Torrey pine tree.

Such a beautiful place. I would recommend coming on a weekday to avoid the crowds. There were enough people there during the week.

Happy hikers Kim, Suzanne, Jim and Gayle. It was a bit windy!

Badlands and ocean. What a great combination.

We could see quite a few parasails and hang gliders so after the hike we drove to the launch area and watched some takeoffs and landings. Wish I had the nerve to do this. Maybe in my next life I won’t have such a fear of heights.

Since it was now going on 5 pm we just had to stop somewhere to sit out rush hour. Just so happened to be a Karl Strauss tasting room in La Jolla right on our way home. Suzanne found the love of her life, 26th Anniversary Belgian Dark Strong Ale. I think we all fell in love with that one.

And a selfie with a little help from the mirror.

We had to walk off some of that beer and were parked just a couple blocks from the beach so we went to check out La Jolla Cove. Lots of kayaks in the water, plenty of birds, and a few lazy sea lions.

 

I think Suzanne was a bit too close to the wildlife. Just last week a man got his arm bit and was dragged into Mission Bay by a sea lion. Of course he was getting his picture taken while holding up a fish he just caught, so there was a good reason for the attack.

 

Yesterday we went to Balboa Park to walk around and admire the buildings and gardens. Another lovely day.

Debbie and Kim just had to stop and smell the roses but surprisingly most of them didn’t smell like much of anything.

Bet you can guess we stopped off at a couple breweries on the way home. We went back to Belching Beaver and Thorn St. where we went with Paul and Nina on our first day in San Diego. This bike was parked outside of Thorn St.

So far these along with Karl Strauss are our favorite beers of all we’ve tried here. But we have one more week to go so that may change!

Mission Trails and Coronado Island

 

We decided to do a little exploring around the San Diego area before the busy Easter weekend. Needing to return something at REI, I noticed that Mission Hills Regional Park wasn’t too far from there and looked like a good place for a hike. We stopped in the visitor center for a trail map and talked with a volunteer who showed us his favorite loop hike to the Fortuna Saddle. His directions were a bit confusing but we had a map, and he said the trails were all marked so we headed off. We knew we were in trouble when we missed the trail and had to back track in the first ten minutes, but we finally found it and headed for the San Diego River Crossing.

As we stopped to look at a trail sign, I noticed some movement in front of us. This is the Southern Pacific rattlesnake, which we had just read about in the visitor center. It was about three feet long, and had no interest in us at all, just slowly crossed the trail. I’m glad we rarely see snakes on our hikes!

We made it across the river and immediately began a good climb up a service road until we came to a turn-off for the trail we wanted to take. There was supposed to be a picnic area with some tables, where we intended to stop and eat lunch, but somehow we took a wrong turn and never found it. We ended up using a big rock for our picnic table while studying the map.

We never did make it to the saddle, but ended up on a ridge where we ran into a guy who gave us directions back to the parking lot. In spite of not being sure where we were we ended up doing a pleasant six mile hike. After a couple weeks in the city it was nice to get out in what felt like the middle of nowhere.

 

We saw plenty of lizards but no more snakes, and lots of Orange Tip butterflies. And on the way home we had to sample another brewery, Ballast Point. We really liked the limited release Oompa Lumpus Milk Stout, but the other beers were just okay.

Yesterday we crossed the bridge to Coronado Island to see how the other half lives. Although technically not an island, this is an upscale resort community on the beach and home to the famous Hotel Del Coronado, or “The Del”. We found a parking space and took off by foot down Orange Avenue to the hotel.

It is a lovely community with flowers blooming everywhere.

And the hotel isn’t too bad, either. Besides the original Victorian hotel, they’ve added a beach-front tower, villas, and cottages. It’s so big it’s impossible to get it all in one photo.

 

 

After wandering through the hotel we walked along the beach trail, then around the yacht club area and back to the car. We walked over four miles, a nice little city hike for a change of pace.

 

 

Once back at the car we decided to drive down the Silver Strand, home of a state park and naval base where the Navy Seals train. Traffic was horrible on the drive back to Mission Bay but luckily we were heading north on I-5, since there was an accident in the southbound lanes that had traffic backed up for miles. We really like San Diego but doubt we’ll ever come back. There are just too many people and too many cars, although it’s possible to find some quiet places.

 

Second Week San Diego

 

             

I’m sure it comes as no surprise that we continued our quest for the best beer in San Diego during our second week here at Mission Bay. We did slow it down a bit but only because we grew weary of the traffic. The good thing is many of the breweries do sell bottles so we picked up a few to enjoy at home.

One evening we did a repeat of Pizza Port with Hector and Brenda (check out his great moon shots on their latest post). Jim and Brenda were craving another Suavecito, but much to their disappointment they were out of it, which gave us a chance to try something new.

We’ve been doing a lot of biking to keep out of the traffic, but it’s challenging trying to avoid all the other bikers, walkers, skateboarders and inline skaters on some parts of the trails. Keeps you on your toes! On Sunday morning we decided to take a ride to the beaches of La Jolla. It was crowded but the coastline is just lovely along there, with all of the multimillion dollar homes along the bluffs. Mitt Romney has a house somewhere along here.

 

Another day we drove to Escondido for a 4 mile hike in the Elfin Forest Recreational Reserve. We had a good workout hiking the Way-Up Trail to a couple of overlooks. Elfin forest is the term for the vegetation that covers most of the mountains in the southern half of California. It is also known as coastal shrub or chaparral, but elfin forest certainly has a nice ring to it. The beginning of the trail crosses Escondido Creek, then starts climbing for some nice views.

 

 

It wasn’t the best trail we’ve ever hiked, but it just so happened to be 4 miles from Stone Brewing Company, so after our workout we stopped by for the tour and tasting. It was an informative and interesting tour, and we were surprisingly impressed with their beers. The Black IPA and Imperial Russian Stout were especially good.

Yesterday afternoon Brenda came along with us to the Ocean Beach Farmer’s Market, while Hector stayed home tackling some computer problems. Ocean Beach is a funky little beach community, and that vibe is reflected in the market. There was not a huge selection of produce, but there were all kinds of other things, including lots of prepared foods, much of it vegan, which came as a nice surprise to us.

We ended up taking home a couple of vegan tamales for dinner and they were quite tasty.

Brenda and I checking out the tamale stand. She decided to try some empanadas from another vendor.

Since we found a parking space right in front of Culture Brewing Company we had to give it a try. Jim and Brenda had the Milk Stout, which was good but not as good as some others we’ve tried. I had a 3 ounce taster glass of the 3X IPA, which was really good, but at 11% alcohol a little goes a long way.

It’s hard to believe we are halfway through our month-long stay in San Diego already. On Saturday we are being joined by several friends, so we look forward to more adventures, and probably a little more beer tasting.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that our Panasonic camera finally completed its journey. We had been tracking its progress back to Texas from Yuma, and then on to San Diego, which took a couple weeks. It was scheduled for delivery Tuesday, and we saw the Fed Ex truck driving around the RV park but it didn’t stop at our site. A couple hours later we were heading off for a bike ride when the truck was coming back in. Jim stopped the driver and asked if they had a package for us. He said they found it in the back of the truck after they had already made their deliveries here, so it nearly escaped without being delivered to us once again. So we finally have it back and it seems to be working fine. Only time will tell.