Exploring San Diego

Sunday, March 22
We woke up to rain showers and cool temps. We had tentatively planned to spend the day at SeaWorld. But it didn't take much to change our minds when we saw the weather. Besides we thought it might be better to have more of a relaxing day instead of another jam packed day at a busy amusement park.

First off, we headed to the Birch Aquarium at Scripps. It's located right on the ocean in San Diego. We spent a few hours there and by the time we were finished, the rain had stopped and the sun was shining.

We drove around La Jolla (it's a wonderful area!) for a while until we found a little beach. This wasn't your typical beach. It was all rocks and tide pools. A great place for a little boy to explore. It was super windy, but the sun was out in full force so we ended up basking in it and exploring for a couple of hours.

The last part of the afternoon we drove over to Balboa Park. What a fantastic place. Keith and I both said we could spend an entire week of vacation there alone. It's hundreds and hundreds of acres of beautifully planted gardens. Located among the park are all kinds of museums and theatres and restaurants. Even the San Diego Zoo. (We visited the SDZoo two years ago so we decided to skip it this time around.)Instead we visited the Natural History Museum which had exhibitions on dinosaurs, birds, reptiles, insects, etc. Doesn't that sound like the perfect place for my boys? I really enjoyed it too (except for anything snake related). By the time we got out of there it was early evening...we wandered over to a cacti garden and did some exploring before heading back to our car.

It was a great day and our dinner that evening was the crowning touch. The Cheesecake Factory. Have you ever been?? OH. MY! We've been wanting to go to one for such a long time and it's never worked out. Contrary to what you may think (due to the name) it's not just about cheesecake. They have an enormous menu and everything was so tasty and fantastic. And yes, we did finish off by sharing a slice of cheesecake. Key Lime Cheesecake. One word. HEAVEN. Mmmmmm! For those of you who remember...back in the day...."Reuban & Wong"...well The Cheesecake Factory kinda reminded me a teensy little bit of that place. Although I have to say the TCF is much more posh and upscale and the food was AMAZING. Definately one of our new favourite places!