Who says we can't make it to San Diego and back in a long weekend? Only 300 miles separate us from palm trees, warm beaches, and panda bears. We tried to outsmart LA rush hour traffic on the start of a holiday weekend, but shocker... we didn't. We ended up rolling into Leucadia, our San Diego County neighborhood of choice, around 10 on Friday night.
The girls fell asleep in the car somewhere in the LA traffic madness so the last portion of our drive was peaceful and Jan and I could enjoy some conversation. Side note: the car is where Jan and I get our good conversation in. We plan things, talk about our next adventure, and generally check in with each other to make sure we're still on the right track with our family vision. Good stuff.
Saturday morning, after a much enjoyed coffee stop (I had a Turkish Latte at the Lofty Coffee Company- cardamon in my coffee might be my new favorite thing), we were off to the zoo. Now, we talked a lot about the zoo to the girls. We visit our local Fresno Zoo with some sort of regularity, so the girls had a baseline as to what to expect from a zoo. Needless to say, the San Diego Zoo far exceeded any expectations. That place is simply magical.
First thing we did was make a beeline to the Skyfari Aerial Tram and we patiently waited our turn amongst the masses (and masses there were - it was crowded). Lucy was pretty anxious about the 'aerial ride'. We had talked about it in the car and she decided she didn't want to ride it. By the time it was our turn to board, we had watched the Tram enough to calm some of her fears. She held her ears most of the ride (she does this when she's nervous), but she held it together. By the time our ride was over, she wanted to ride it again.
The Tram is a must-do at the Zoo. It takes you to straight to the Northern Frontier and as you're getting off of the Tram, you walk right over the giant ant-eater exhibit. This is the point where Lainey snagged my phone and became the photographer for the day.
From the anteaters, animal sighting highlights included polar bears, hippos, gazelles, African penguins, baboons, koala bears, and big cats eating big chunks of meat. Lainey really liked squeezing through the crowd to take up close and personal pics.
And don't let me forget zebras. Lainey is all about zebras so this guy really made her day. Did you know that zebras are born with brown stripes and those stripes turn black around a year old? Lainey is a wealth of info on zebras- ask her anything...
We meandered around somewhat aimlessly until grumpy faces told us it was lunch time. We had pizza at the Lagoon Terrace, wandered over to the Outback and stumbled across the Koalafornia Boardwalk.
We were there just in time for the 'Dr. Zoolittle and Friends Explore Australia' show. We sat in the front row and both Lucy and Lainey were really into it. It's geared for the younger audience but Dr. Zoolittle and his friends - Bamboo the Panda, Churchill the Polar Bear and Matilda the Koala, managed to keep the entire mixed-age group entertained. At the end of the show, Lucy waited in line to give hugs, high-fives, and cheesy picture smiles... three times. Luckily, there was a giant chessboard in the area that kept Lainey and Jan busy while Lucy and I did all that waiting.
We called it a day after that. Lucy was at the end of her rope and we were all tired from walking. We decided to go back to the Zoo the next day because we weren't quite done yet. We drove around San Diego and did some sight-seeing, stopping for a quick stroll around Seaport Village. It was windy and chilly so we didn't last long. We picked up some dinner from the Encinitas Ale House and had dinner in our room. The crabcake sliders were good but the sauce they put on top made those sliders amazing. By 8, we had jammies on and were in bed watching American Ninja Warrior.
Rain was expected Sunday afternoon, so we enjoyed a much less crowded Zoo in the morning. We decided to take the 35-minute Guided Bus Tour. We sat in the front row of the top deck and the girls were excited. We saw a lot of animals we missed the previous day, like lions, elephants and condors.
We found ourselves back at the outback, at the Koalafornia Boardwalk, and surprise surprise, just in time for the 'Dr. Zoolittle and Friends Explore Australia' show. Once again, we sat in the front row, and Lucy was practically humming with excitement at the prospect of seeing her 'friends' again. When Dr. Zoolittle came out to say hi to the crowd, he recognized Lucy and gave her a big high-five. Her face was priceless! During the audience participation part of the show, Lucy volunteered, and Lainey volunteered Jan to go up to the front.
We knew what was coming and Lainey was literally bouncing with anticipation. Dr. Zoolittle proceeded to put a grub (cooked and salted) in the volunteers hands, because, people in Australia eat grubs?
Dr. Zoolittle then proceeded to poll the audience by means of applause to see which volunteer should eat the grub. Lucy didn't wait for the polling. She popped that grub in her mouth right away. When Dr. Zoolittle got to Jan, the crowd decided that Jan should be the one to eat the crunchy treat.
Lainey thought it was the greatest thing ever that Jan ate a handful of grubs and at the end of the show, Lucy waited in line again to hug, high-five, and give a cheesy smile with her friends. More than once.
Lucy was just about done with the zoo so we figured that ice cream cones all around would extend our stay just a little longer. It kept melting on her and she kept asking that I 'clean it up' for her. I happily obliged.
On our way out of the zoo, we stopped to watch the flamingos for a few minutes. After several minutes of observation - the girls decided that they too could stand like flamingos. I'd say they nailed it.
After the zoo, we headed to Imperial Beach to visit my dear friend and college roommate. Chelsey is the Camp Director for YMCA Camp Surf and she and her family live on-site. I grew up as a 'Y-camper' and volunteered and worked at Camp Tulequoia at Sequoia Lake when I was too old to be a camper. I have a genuine love for Y-camp and Chelsey does too. It was awesome to get a behind the scenes tour of the camp while the girls romped around exploring with Chelsey's kids, Lincoln, Hudson and Erin.
Camp Surf is right on the beach. Literally. The cabins are on the sand. The dining hall has big glass garage-door type windows that open up to the water. It was a chilly rainy afternoon so those windows stayed closed- but there was hot chocolate and good company, so we couldn't have asked for more.
Our entire clan grabbed dinner at the Coronado Brewing Company where we ate mermaid burgers, tots, garlic fries and blackened ahi. I do have to say I'm partial to wheat beers and their Orange Ave. Wit didn't disappoint. We said some sad goodbyes (goodbyes are always hard for Lucy and they usually involve tears) to our friends and headed back to Leucadia.
Monday morning we packed our bags and were about ready to head home but had to see the beach one more time.
We went to our favorite beach planning on dipping our toes in the water, but alas, the tide was too high.
And that was a wrap for our Presidents Day San Diego trip. It wasn't our first trip to San Diego, and it definitely won't be our last!
Awesome sounding trip! Lucy,did your tongue get cold?