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Hello! Sorry for the radio silence. Alan and I have been on vacation in California with our friends Silke and Frank. We had the best intentions for blogging while on the trip but unfortunately never manged to do it.  We have been on the road traveling from Phoenix to San Diego and from San Diego to San Francisco and then back to Phoenix (I have to say, its a loooooong drive!).

The first day we traveled to San Diego and spent the afternoon in Ocean Beach with my friend Jennifer and her boyfriend Brad. I love Ocean Beach, its so relaxed and beautiful and the people are so friendly. It also has a much younger feeling to it then the other beaches in the area. We all really enjoyed walking on the beach (in freezing water!) and out onto the pier (where there was hilarious seagull and pelican duo who kept posing for pictures) and seeing the sunset over the pacific. Here are some pics of our San Diego adventures!

Looking at Ocean Beach from the end of the pier

The dynamic duo posing for pictures and hoping to receive food for their efforts

The sunset

As the sun went down the beach got very misty

Alan and I being cheesy on the beach.

On our last night in San Diego before heading back the next day, we were craving seafood. Sarah and I decided to embark on a magical journey to find good seafood in the downtown area. Before heading out, we asked the fun friendly staff guy at the Hotel St. James in the Gaslamp quarter to recomend us some good but affordable seafood. He directed us to what he referred to as a “cheap” affordable dining experience. He gave us two choices for seafood. We decided to head to the one further away thinking it would be more delicious and tasty due to the distance.

Walking around at night in the Gaslamp quarter is a trip. It was fun to walk through all the different types of people playing guitar, drinking at walk-up bars; a very cool environment to be in. When we found the first place there was a guy outside playing Wonderwall by Oasis. Unfortunately, the song was more memorable than the name of the seafood place. Probably because the price was ridiculous so we passed on it.

We decided to head for the second restaurant hoping for a bit better prices for delicious tasty seafood. As we were leaving to the next, we headed back the same way we came. This turned out to be an exercise in hilarious frustration as it was the complete opposite direction. We tried to follow the directions of the front desk staff as best we can, but apparently we are map-challenged. We managed to get re-0riented and make it to Osetra which also turned out to be very fancy, but we decided to go anyway. After being lost and hungry it was time to eat!

The inside of Osetra reminded me of a fancy, trendy Los Angeles restaurant. Lighting was minimal and used blue lights to set the mood. I was wearing jeans and a t-shirt (so was Sarah) so I was quite under dressed my good sir/madam for this restaurant. The waiter came by and handed us the largest menu of wine I have seen in this lifetime yet. We were thinking about getting some wine but the task seemed pretty daunting with so many to choose from. Sitting next to us was an angry French couple discussing why they hated the United States. Perfect conversation for a nice relaxing dinner! Every time we discussed something, they would stop talking and listen, and change their conversation accordingly. It got kind of strange to be talking about not making enough money, and the man next to us discussing minimum wage laws in America… For our appetizer we ordered Oysters on a half shell, I ordered stuffed flounder, and Sarah order shrimp and lobster ravioli. When the oysters arrived, Sarah and I both discovered that neither of us had ever eaten it before. I wasn’t sure if we were supposed to slurp it, or eat it with a fork. The oysters were stuffed with cheese and bacon, so when we ended up deciding to eat it with a fork it made sense. Later on a couple next to us had the same dilemma and figured out to use a fork as well which made us feel pretty good. When the food arrived we both joked that it looked a lot like “elf food” the portions seemed so small. Boy were we wrong. I don’t think I’ve ever been so full…

On this post I would like to talk about one of my favorite places in San Diego, Ocean Beach I love the feel of this place; it has a very hippy, stress free vibe. First off let me describe the town. The town has a very surfer, beachy, laid back atmosphere. There is one street (Voltaire) that is full of little shops and restaurants, plus it has little coffee and smoothie stands located on it. By the way, the smoothies there are the best. Alan and I tried smoothies from two different places and both were amazing! I think their trick is that don’t use any ice cream or anything like that, they are strictly made from fruit, ice, and juice. Yum! The town is full of beach houses where it was quite common to see people out in there front yards barbequing and having a great time.

The beach itself is beautiful. It is separated into two separate beaches by a sand dune. On one side is the dog beach. This is a great place for dogs and their owners to enjoy a fun relaxing day together. As a side note let me just say that San Diego is one of the best places to have a dog. Almost every single restaurant and shop was dog friendly. In many of the cafes there were canisters of dog treats and bowls of water set out for four legged customers. Next time we visit San Diego, maybe one of us will bring a dog…

Ok so back to talking about the beach. The strictly human side of the beach is long, on one end there is the dune and on the other end a beautiful wooden pier. Ocean Beach is mostly just sand, not the place to go if you are looking to collect some seashells. While Alan and I drove around for a half of an hour looking for a parking spot, the beach did not appear to be incredibly crowded. Along the beach there various types of people, some families and many young adults as well as seagulls. The seagulls on the beach offer their own form of entertainment, they are quite vicious and if anyone left out food, those birds swooped down and grabbed it before anyone could blink an eye. This was amusing to watch. Also on the beach was a group of people learning how to surf. Apparently, the waves at Ocean beach offer a great opportunity to learn this sport. Alan and I spent our time pursuing more relaxing endeavors, mostly tanning, and playing Egyptian Rat Screw with a few dips in the ocean, which was freezing!

As the sun began to slowly set and the wind became a little chilly we decided it would be a fun idea to check out the pier on the other end of beach. So we began our trek. Once at the pier we had an awesome view of the Ocean and the entire beach. The pier extends several feet out into the sea and is used to fish. On the pier there is a small café/ restaurant. It looked delicious. However, having been at the beach and not having our wallets on us, between the two of us we could only scramble up enough money to get two cups of coffee. Still it was a great way to the end the day, coffee, sunset, beach, amazing!.

Just final words of warning, when you go to Ocean Beach make sure you note the name of street where you park your car. At night all the streets look the same and as Alan and I can tell you from experience it is no fun to walk around, penniless and without a phone or ID, for over an hour looking for your car, praying you didn’t get towed.

After a night of relaxing, Sarah and I decided to go explore what is considered the nation’s number one zoo: The San Diego Zoo! It is the largest and most progressive zoo in the world with over 4,000 animals and more than 800 different species. It is also one of a small few that hosts a giant panda. After spending about thirty minutes trying to find a parking space we managed to get one fairly close to the entrance of the park.

Armed with my Nikon D40, Sarah and I ventured in to the zoo (after paying the semi-pricey entrance fee). The park exhibits are designed around a type of habitat, and include different animals that can be found side by side in the wild. The exhibits also contain native plant life which compliments the animal. Exhibits range from artic tundra to african rain forests, and include large free-flight aviaries.

We started our San Diego Zoo Safari Adventure (TM) by heading right and encountered our first animal, a koala. These little guys were enjoying their day relaxing in their “natural habitat”. Next up we entered a walk in aviary with hundreds of tropical birds, waterfalls, and rainforest flora. It was quite breathtaking. Afterwards, we ended up taking a overhead gondola lift called the skyfari, which took us across the entire length of the park and gave me the opportunity to take some fantastic aerial photographs. Once we disembarked, we were lucky enough to catch the Giant Panda exhibit and took some hilarious photographs of the pandas peeking out from their sleeping cave. These specific pandas are being bred in captivity and then eventually released into their native habitats due to Giant Pandas being an endangered species.

Next up, Sarah and I entered the “Monkey Trails and Forest Tales” exhibit, which is home to more than 30 species of mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and 30 species of African and Asian birds. We went across a walkway that brought us into a tree canopy with rare and endangered species of monkeys and then ventured across a forest path that brought us to see very noble looking apes.

Further up the trail we made it to the “Sun Bear Forest” which is a special habitat created for Bornean sun bears. The canopy of this forest was formed by leaves and branches of palms and ficus trees, while bamboo and giner create the mid-canopy. Bornean sun bears are some of the smallest bears in the world and are named after the golden crescent pattern on their chests.

Recently Alan and I made a trip to San Diego, California. While there we were fortunate enough to stay at the St. James Hotel which is in the middle of the Gas lamp Quarter. We found this hotel on Priceline and managed to get a pretty sweet room rate of only $119 a night. Upon arrival at the hotel, we were a little confused as to where to park the car, but never fear, if you have a car, they offer valet parking for only $20 extra a night. In the gas lamp quarter, we learned that this is a must or else you spend all your time trying to park.

Once in the hotel we were pleasantly surprised. The Hotel St. James is currently owned by Ramada, however; from the interior you would never know. The lobby is all 1920 swanky turn of the century, think old French ads, crystal chandeliers, warm colored walls, and lacquered black chairs. Needless to say for the price we paid, we were in awe.

Upon learning that our room was on the eighth floor we headed to the elevators, this led to our next surprise. The elevators are the old-fashioned kind; you open a door, pull aside a metal gate and step inside. Not going to lie, first time you ride of these is little nerve-racking. Apparently, in 1913 the Hotel St. James had the fastest elevators in the world. They still go the same speed, which by today’s standards is pretty slow. It’s amazing how far we’ve come in elevator technology. The hotel rooms are pretty standard, a nice queen sized bed, a TV, a small window with nice views and a teeny-tiny bathroom. No complaints on the room, however let me just say the shower tends to randomly change temperature and the walls are very thin. Please for the sake of your neighbors keep your sex at a reasonable sound level! If you get a chance stay here, it is definitely a fun experience.