The Siberian American: San Diego
Showing posts with label San Diego. Show all posts
Showing posts with label San Diego. Show all posts

Monday, January 23, 2017

California Road Trip: Five Things You Must Do in San Diego

Lately, I’ve had a new series of posts I want to do on my mind. I know many of us don’t get to spend as much time traveling as we’d like, so I want to share five things I think you must do in my favorite cities, starting with San Diego. San Diego was such a nice surprise on our California road trip. I had been to California many times, but it was my first in San Diego. Now all Chris and I talk about is how much we would love to go back! I’m so excited to share five things I think you must do in San Diego with y’all today. It was hard to narrow it down to just five things because I think San Diego has so much to offer!

What to do in San Diego

Old Town San Diego
We loved visiting Old Town San Diego with its historic buildings and amazing restaurants. To really get a feel for Old Town San Diego and the rest of the city, I recommend taking the Old Town Trolley Tour. It was such a great way to get an overview of the city in a short amount of time.


Related Posts: Exploring Old Town San Diego and Old Town Trolley Tour

La Jolla Cove
A trip to San Diego isn’t complete without a visit to La Jolla Cove to see the sea lions and the gorgeous views!


Related Post: La Jolla Cove

Coronado
We didn’t have much time to explore Coronado, but it’s high on the list for a return trip. The area is full of cute shops and the beautiful Coronado Beach.


Related Post: Old Town Trolley Tour

Balboa Park
Balboa Park is full of gorgeous Spanish-style buildings and amazing museums. I really want to visit the San Diego Natural History Museum, the San Diego Museum of Art, the Japanese Friendship Garden, and the Museum of Photographic Arts.


Related Post: Old Town Trolley Tour

San Diego Zoo
I must admit that I am not the biggest zoo person in the world, but the San Diego Zoo is absolutely worth a visit. I loved seeing the pandas and had the best time on our private tour of the zoo.


Related Posts: San Diego Zoo Tips and San Diego Zoo Private Tour


Catch up on our California road trip: 

 
Hearst Castle Grand Rooms Tour

Hearst Castle Upstairs Suites Tour and Roman Pool

Pacific Coast Highway Tips

The Most Beautiful Spot in Big Sur

Have you been to San Diego? What is your favorite thing to do in the city?
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Monday, August 31, 2015

California Road Trip: Private Tour at the San Diego Zoo

When Chris was in Kindergarten, he had to pull two pins at school for saying the word “pitchfork.” A kid in his class thought he said another not-so-nice word that rhymes with pitch and told the teacher. Poor Chris didn’t know any bad words, so he was confused by his punishment. His parents didn’t believe him, though, so he had to wait in the car with one of his parents while his younger brother got to go to “Boo at the Zoo” without him.
The story of this injustice is told often in Chris’s family, so when we visited the San Diego Zoo as part of his medical school graduation present, Chris’s parents decided to “make it up to him” by taking us on a private tour of the San Diego Zoo called the “Inside Look Surprise Tour.” I never considered doing a private tour at the zoo and honestly didn’t know it was something people did, but it ended up being one of my favorite parts of our time in San Diego.

Our tour guide took us around the zoo in a golf cart for about two hours, telling us interesting facts about the animals on exhibit. We found out there are currently 4,000 animals at the zoo, not counting reptiles.
We also got to skip the line for the panda exhibit and get some close up photos of the pandas. It was interesting to learn that panda means “one that eats bamboo,” and that they were named giant pandas because red pandas were discovered first. We also learned that the pandas are on loan to the zoo by the Chinese government. It’s one of the few ways we deal directly with the government. Each panda costs $250,000 a year.
My favorite part of our private tour was feeding the animals. Usually, there are two feedings on this tour, but our guide arranged for us to have three. First, we fed a camel. Camels have really dry mouths, so it felt really strange to have it eating out of my hand.
Then, we fed an okapi. I had never heard of okapis before, but they are interesting animals that look like a mixture between a zebra and a giraffe. The guide told us that the adult okapi's butt looks like zebra stripes to make it easier for its young to follow it through the forest. The okapi we fed was young, and it loved running around in circles around the tree.
The neatest part of the tour was getting to feed a giraffe. It was crazy to hold out a piece of lettuce and have its long tongue swoop down to grab it from me.
The San Diego Inside Look Tour was the most fun I’ve ever had at a zoo, and I would love to do it again in the future with kids.

 Catch up on our California Road Trip: 

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Wednesday, August 5, 2015

California Road Trip: San Diego Zoo Tips

I’m slightly embarrassed to say it has been two months since I have written a California road trip post, but our move to Chicago has been dominating this blog. I have been really looking forward to sharing our day at the San Diego Zoo with y’all because it was so much better than I expected.


I love animals, but a zoo is not usually the first place I want to visit in a city. However, Chris loves zoos and had always wanted to visit the San Diego Zoo, so I added it to our itinerary. I knew the San Diego Zoo was known as one of the best zoos in the country, but I expected to be disappointed. I loved our private tour (which I will discuss in another post), and the zoo had many unique animals…and absolutely adorable babies. I came away thinking I wouldn’t mind visiting the San Diego Zoo again next time we’re in San Diego.


The thing about the San Diego Zoo being one of the best zoos in the country is that it is often crowded. Here are a few tips to help you beat the crowds and make the most out of your day at the zoo:

Get there before it opens 
Get to the zoo about 30 minutes before it opens. The crowds are smaller first thing in the morning, so it’s a great way to see the most popular exhibits.

 

Visit the pandas and koala bears first 
Speaking of popular exhibits, many visit the San Diego Zoo just to see the pandas and koala. We went to see the pandas first, and there was no line. Later, we walked by the exhibit again and the line was over an hour long. We visited the koalas a bit later in the day, and it was really busy. Our timing worked well for us, though, because a koala had just been moved to a new habitat and was awake during the day (very rare for koalas), so he could spread his scent.


Do research about exhibits before you arrive 
The zoo is constantly rotating exhibits, so check online to see what is happening while you will be there. I was eager to see some babies and was really excited when I found out that a baby hippo had been born two days before the visit, and a baby gorilla was with its momma in the gorilla habitat. Seeing the babies was a highlight of our time at the zoo. The baby hippo was adorable, and I loved watching the momma play with her little one. The baby gorilla’s mom brought her little one close to the glass and played with it in front of us.

Next, I will share our private tour of the zoo (and why we went on one in the first place).

 Catch up on our California Road Trip:


Are you a big fan of zoos? Have you ever been to the San Diego Zoo? 
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Monday, June 15, 2015

California Road Trip: La Jolla Cove


After seeing all those gorgeous ocean views on our Old Town Trolley Tour, I knew I wanted to spend more time by the water. With its beautiful sandstone cliffs and adorable sea lions, La Jolla Cove was the perfect place to relax.


There were sea lions everywhere. I was surprised to see how close they got to us. One of them was a huge show-off, flapping his flippers and showing us his belly.


A beautiful park, filled with many interesting trees shaped by the wind, surrounded the area. There is a sidewalk along the cliff for nice views of the ocean. I loved sitting on a park bench and looking out on the ocean. Honestly, I would have been happy to sit there all day.

 Catch up on our California Road Trip:


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Monday, May 25, 2015

California Road Trip: San Diego Old Town Trolley Tour

With only two days in San Diego, we wanted to see as much of the city as possible. We loved the Old Town Trolley tour we took in Boston, so when we noticed the same company had a tour in San Diego, we thought it was would be a good option for us.


The Old Town Trolley Tour is a hop on, hop off tour with over 10 stops around the city. The driver acts as a tour guide, providing interesting details about San Diego as he or she drove us around the city. We took the whole tour without hopping off, which took about two hours. After we got done with the loop, we discussed which stops made us most interested to come back. These were our favorites of the day:

Coronado:
I would love to spend a day or two exploring Coronado’s cute shops, restaurants, art galleries, and the beautiful Coronado Beach. With its gorgeous water and beautiful sand, I can see why Coronado Beach has been voted as one of the best beaches in America. The bridge from San Diego to Coronado is not fun for those of us who hate heights, but the views of San Diego are worth a peek.

Gaslamp Quarter:
As we passed the Victorian-style buildings in the Gaslamp Quarter, I thought it would be fun to spend a day exploring the area. I would love to take the Gaslamp Quarter Walking Tour to learn about San Diego during the 1800s.

 

Balboa Park:
I love the Spanish style of the buildings almost as much as all of the museum options. We spent most of our time at Balboa Park the next day at the San Diego Zoo, but I would love to visit the San Diego Natural History Museum, the San Diego Museum of Art, the Japanese Friendship Garden, and the Museum of Photographic Arts.

After the Old Town Trolley Tour, we decided we needed at least a week in San Diego to see all the fun attractions we passed.

Have you ever been to San Diego? What is your must-see attraction in the city? 

Catch up on our California Road Trip:

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