Cabrillo National Monument

Looking toward the Coronado bridge.

Looking toward downtown San Diego. That is

part of the Military base on Coronado Island.

There is a lighthouse up on the hill.

This is looking down from where we are

standing by the statue. That is seaweed in

the water.

The statue of Cabrillo.

Today was a lazy day for us. We lazed around all morning and then we finally got ready and drove  up to Point Loma. We stopped and picked up some yummy sandwiches to take with us. Cabrillo National Monument is at the very top of the hill. On September 28, 1542, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo set foot on the West coast which is now the United States. From the monument you can see all of San Diego and Coronado Island. It is a sight. The photos I took are pretty, but believe me it was prettier in person.

A Fun-Full Day With The Kids!

The Studio Diner we had breakfast at.

The ceiling inside the Studio Diner.

I love taking photos of just the

hood ornaments and 

the placards.

Such a pretty sky with all the palm trees.

Watching boats go by.

A nice view of San Diego from across

the bay.

Look at those clouds!!

We had another wonderful day here in San Diego with my daughter and her husband. We started out by going to a really cool 50's Diner my daughter found for breakfast called The Studio. It really was a diner with a movie production studio connected to it.  Then we drove to Balboa Park to take in a few Museums. Of course we went to the Automotive Museum! If there is a building with cars in it Larry's radar kicks in and we are there!!! We walked around and did a little souvenir shopping as well. We took a little break to have a coffee and then off to Point Loma to just sit out in the fresh air and sunshine to watch boats go by. We finished our day by going to Old Town to have some great Mexican food at our favorite place, Cafe Coyote. It was a full, but fun day with the kids!

Girls Day Out!!

My daughter painted a spoon rest and

I painted a stake for my garden. In

this photo they need to be fired.

Artist at work.

Our assortment of cheeses, candied walnuts,

pear slices, orange marmalade and some 

good chewy sourdough bread.

Look at this sparkly gorgeous light inside the

Chocolat Restaurant in Hillcrest.

Chocolate Mousse!! Rich...dark...smooth chocolate.

It was a party in our mouth!!!!

 The first thing my daughter and I did was hit a few yard sales. We then had fun painting some ceramics in a pottery studio. When we finished our art projects we drove to Chocolat's which is located in Hillcrest. We shared some assorted cheeses, and some gourmet pizza. I had a really good glass of red wine that paired perfectly with my food. We topped our meal off with a mouth watering chocolate mousse. I don't think I have ever enjoyed food as much as I did today! Seriously I felt like I was in that movie Eat Pray Love!! 

Chinese New Year's Festival in San Diego

San Diego is made up of many district's. 

Most of them have cool vintage signs

announcing the district.

A table full of succulents.

This view of Little Italy includes an old stucco

church, an old house and some of the newer 

buildings downtown.

This view is looking from the Farmer's Market

toward the bay. You can see the water

in the middle of the picture.

Chinese children's clothes.

Pretty Chinese lantern.

The Chinese dragon.

Another view of the Chinese dragon.

This is a building down by the Convention

Center.

Beautiful.

Beautiful and tall buildings.

Waiting for the trolley.

This is the view from where we

were waiting for the trolley.

That is the Convention Center on

the other side of the Palm trees.

Today was so much fun! My daughter and her husband met us at our Hotel this morning to head downtown San Diego on the blue line trolley. Our first stop was Little Italy where the Farmer's Market was going on. We sampled some goodies and I bought a beautiful salad bowl with some serving utensils, made out of pounded out shells, at a fair trade booth. We jumped back on the trolley and got off downtown where the Chinese New Year's Celebration was happening. We ate egg rolls and enjoyed the Chinese culture. It is the year of the dragon and there were a couple of dragons roaming through the crowds. I took a few good photos of the festivities. Very exciting! We stopped for a coffee and rested before we walked back to catch the trolley. Another GREAT day!!

Ocean Beach

This picture was taken from where we had lunch 

on the wall.

From the pier.

 From the pier facing South.

Larry says this is a 1951 or 1952 De Soto Woody

Station wagon. This was parked in front of the

Ocean Beach Hotel.

We went to Ocean Beach today to do some Antiquing. There are several antique stores that we visit every time we visit this area. Then we picked up some sandwiches and took them down to the water. We sat on the wall so we could watch the crashing waves as we had our picnic. The waves were crashing hard against the pier and overflowing onto it a little bit. After our lunch we walked out onto the pier to get a closer look. There was a lady sitting on a blanket selling jewelry she had made. She had made an anklet with a pretty blue flower on it which was a perfect match to the blouse I was wearing. When she saw me she jumped up and insisted on putting it on me. I did love it....it brought back memories of my youth...my hippie years!  We went back to our Hotel and rested a bit and then went over to my daughter and hubby's house for dinner. We had a great day....once again. Blessed to be in the sun!!   

Balboa Park

One of the corners of one of the buildings.

Spanish-Renaissance buildings.

Beautiful. 

Looking down the corridor.

The Botanical Building. Look closely to see the 

large lily pond which measures about 100 feet x

30 feet wide.

A better view.

Inside the Botanical building.

There were lots of very unique plants inside

the botanical building.

Looking alongside the buildings in the courtyard of the

Spanish Village. Giant colorful tiles for the walkways.

Pots of cactus sitting in every nook and cranny.

  

This is a GIANT fig tree in the park...I do mean GIANT!!

It was planted in 1915 and measures 148 feet

at the base (that includes the massive root system)

 and it is 90+ feet tall.

Larry and I went to Balboa Park today. We went specifically to see the Spanish Village. It is an area decorated in old stucco buildings with a courtyard made of giant colorful tiles. The buildings are full of all kinds of artwork from pottery to jewelry. We have been to Balboa Park many times but this was our first time visiting the Spanish Village. Balboa Park is famous for the El Prado pedestrian walkway which is housed in enormous Spanish-Renaissance style buildings which were constructed for the 1915-16 Panama-California Exposition. At noon they played the bells...we just stood still for a few minutes to listen and take it in.  We spent another beautiful day out in the sunshine!! I LOVE SAN DIEGO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!