San Diego

This kind of post/picture overload, but it’s more for me than anything else. We had a great time in San Diego, and really wish we could have spent more time there. My sister’s in-laws were so nice to let us stay at their condo. It was incredible with perfect location and an awesome view. We were up on the 34th floor and could see so much. We were right on the harbor and close to the airport, so William loved watching the ships and the airplanes would fly by to land right at eye level. We could also see Balboa Park, which we were sad we didn’t get to visit this trip. Here’s a view of the harbor (and a corner of the airport) and the view of Balboa Park. The ship in the first picture is called something like “Star of India” and is the ship they used in Pirates of the Caribbean. They let you go down and tour it, which is another thing on our list for next time!

We were also just a few blocks down from Little Italy, so we walked there for lunch before going to Sea World. Staying at the condo gave us such a different experience than if we’d stayed at a hotel. The condo was in such a cool part of town, and my sister Char and her in-laws were able to give us some great recommendations of things to do and watch out for. We ate lunch at Mimmo’s.

William caught on quickly at Sea World that it wasn’t too different from the Zoo. He ran up to every fence he saw looking for animals!

One of the biggest highlights for him was the tank with the turtles. He was amazed watching them swim by, so close to him. We could have stayed there all day and he would have been content!

William was also enthralled by the shows. He loved watching the whales and dolphins jump and splash. One of his new favorite words is “splash!”

He wasn’t so excited about the shark tunnel though. It was kind of creepy going through a big tank with sharks all around you!

The dolphin tank where you can go up and feed the dolphins was closed, but we had fun feeding the seals. William will still bark like them if you ask him. You had to be fast though, because the darn birds would swoop in and steal the fish right before they got to the seals. The poor seals always looked so mad after.

Disneyland and Sea World are so different. It was fun to go to Sea World and see so many of the ocean animals that he’s heard about. He was fascinated!

We ended our stay in San Diego by going to the Mormon Battalion Site in Old Town. It was pretty cool! A little cheesy, but it was pretty neat to see. Especially having ancestors who participated in it (William’s middle name is James after my Great-Great-Great-Grandpa who served in the Mormon Battalion). It wasn’t necessarily the highlight of the trip for William, but it was cool. We were sad we didn’t have more time to spend in Old Town.

Next was off to visit Danny’s family in Newport!