Unlike the 1st leg, the Houston to San Diego flight was packed. Other than some chocolate on the seats, the flight was nice. Well, the inflight movie was "Time Machine" and that wasn't nice. The movie seemed very disjointed and at the end we were both trying to figure out why anyone would want to see it other than for some of the special effects. Of course, part of the disjointedness might be due to editing done to make it work as an in-flight movie.

We landed in San Diego on time and, since we didn't check any bags, we went straight out the doors to catch a cab to the hotel. As we were walking across the skybridge, we noticed how cool it was and thought it must be air conditioned. (Keep in mind it was in the upper 80s when we left San Antonio.) Turns out it was just the wonderful San Diego weather with highs in lows 70s! We knew it was going to be a good trip.

The cab ride to the hotel was quick and we heard on the way about the shooting at LAX. There was also talk about closing of the San Diego airport, so we were thankful we were already on the way to the hotel. We stayed at the Westin at Horton Plaza in downtown. It was a nice hotel with the check-in desk hidden around a corner. The room was nice, though I wish we would have had a room on a higher floor. (We were on the 9th floor.) Still it was great for us and the location was just what we needed. Horton Plaza is a shopping center so we had the food court and a couple of restaurants right there. Plus the Gaslamp District was just on the other side of Horton Plaza provided plenty of restaurants to choose from within easy walking distance.

The first night we ate at the Panda Inn in Horton Plaza. The food was wondeful. We recommend going if you are in the area and are in the mood for chinese. We were still adjusting to the 2 hour time difference, so we didn't do much and went back to the hotel early. Since it was the fourth of July, we knew the fireworks had started when we started to hear small explosions outside. As it turns out, we ended up being able to see 4 different fireworks displays from our room. The view wasn't the best, but it was still nice seeing them from the comfort of our hotel room. After the fireworks, we went to bed.

The next morning we woke up early and wandered over to the Gaslamp District for breakfast. We originally planned on going to Cafe Lulu, but it was closed. One of the cities fine street cleaners overheard us talking about breakfast and directed us to the Cheese Shop. We had planned on going there at some point anyway, so we decided there was no better time than the present and headed on over. The food was good and the tables were fun with various items embedded under the glass top.

After breakfast we headed back to the room to gather everything for our first day excursions to Balboa Park. Friday was our museum day and we were able to catch a cab right in front of Horton Plaza to the park. We arrived at the visitor's center and purchased a "Passport" for $30 that includes access to most of the museums and attractions in that part of the park. We decided not to get the combo pass that included the zoo since it didn't seem like that good of deal. As it turns out it would have saved us about $4. We highly recommend getting the "Passport" at the visitor's center if you plan on going to more than 5 or 6 of the museums that are included. It is good for a week, so you don't have to try and squeeze them all into a single day like we did. If you are only going to a couple, you'll be better off paying admission at each one.

We started out at the Museum of Man which was somewhat of a let down to be honest. They were having a special exhibit on torture devices, but that exhibit was in a different part of the museum and was not included in the "Passport". Since that was the only reason we went in, we felt a little let down by the experience. After that we headed over to the San Diego Museum of Art. We were lucky enough to catch the museum at a time when they had a special Renoir exhbit, and the cost of that exhibit was covered by the "Passport". They had some that were so-so, but most were really good. It was kind of funny for Ruth though since most of the paintings were on loan from museums she had gone to growing up. Still, it was fun and a good experience. After the Museum of Art we headed over to the Timken Art Gallery. The Timken is free, so obviously there was no need to use the "Passport" for this one. It was also a good experience and worth going to if you are in the area.

From there we headed over to the Lily Pond and Botanical Garden to look at the plants, also free. After that we headed to the Museum of Photographic Arts (MOPA) which had an exhibit entitled "The Photography of Alfred Stieglitz: Georgia O' Keeffe's Enduring Legacy" and a few other various history of photography, modern photography, etc. type of exhibits.

Next, we headed on to the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center. This one is primarily aimed at the younger kids, but it was still a lot of fun with hands on activities. While we were there we put to rest the fact that I generate a lot more heat than Ruth does which helps explain why I'm always hot and she's always cold. We thought about going to see a show at their IMAX theater, but none of them really interested us. So, we decided to head to something that did interest us... lunch.

We decided that since we were there, we should eat at one of the restaurants in Balboa park. We chose to go to the Prado Restaurant. There was a 30 minutes wait, but they had a nice courtyard to sit and relax while waiting. While waiting we decided to go back into the visitor's center to get helpful hints about catching a cab back to the hotel later in the day. They told us that we could call one and it would take about 10-15 minutes. But, we could walk over to the zoo (about a 5-10 minute walk) and there would be cabs lined up waiting. Armed with this knowledge we waited a little bit longer and were seated for lunch. The meal was good and larger portions than we expected.

After lunch we headed by the UN Buildings and on to the Automotive Museum to look at the classic cars. After that we headed over to the Aerospace museum and finally to the Hall of Champions. The Hall of Champions was a let down, but given time it might improve. Part of that is that we aren't huge fans of baseball or football which seems to the be the sports they give the most focus (big surprise).

After that we decided to call it a day and head back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. We hiked over to the zoo and were able to catch a cab without any problems at all. Back at the room we began to notice that we had both gotten a little sun. Dinner was scheduled for 8 at Top of the Market with Steve and Gill of #seacruise fame. Since they both had to work, we thought we would beat them there. As the cab driver approached the restaurant, he called it quits saying that it wasn't worth sitting in the line for valet parking just to get us to the door. As soon as we walked in, we saw Steve and Gill sitting at the bar. A quick hello and drink later we were shown to our table. The food was delicious and the conversation was great. We had a wonderful time meeting both of them in person for the first time. After dinner they drove us down to Seaport village for a stroll down the waterfront. Ruth had wanted to go to Seaport Village, but we didn't think we would have time so didn't schedule it for this trip. So, this was an added bonus for us to top off what had already been a wonderful evening. They were even nice enough to take us back to the hotel on a scenic drive through downtown.... we're hoping they finally found their way home. :)

The next morning (Saturday) we slept in a little and headed to breakfast at the Cheese Shop... yes, we went to the same place for breakfast again since we knew where it was. Actually, we stopped by Cafe Lulu and after a quick look at their menu decided we wanted something else. Now, their menu looked fine and I'm sure the food is good, but we were just in the mood for something different than what they served. After breakfast and a quick stop back at the room, we caught a cab to the zoo.

The line at the zoo looked a little long going in, but it moved along pretty fast and before we knew it we were inside "The World Famous San Diego Zoo." I really think that is the actual name since no where did it ever say just "San Diego Zoo." It was always "The World Famous San Diego Zoo." We purchased the deluxe admission tickets which included a guided bus tour, express bus service, and 2 rides on the SkyFari. We decided to head straight to the SkyFari to get a bird's eye view of the park and to get to the far side of the park before everyone else. Okay, we weren't the first one's over there, but it was less crowded on that side than by the entrance.

We spent the entire day walking around and looking at the animals. It was nice to see such a diverse group of animals in one place and I would rank the zoo as one of the top 5 I've been too... and one of the top 3 in the US. For lunch we ate at Albert's which is a real sit-down at inside at a table restaurant in the zoo. The food was good, but no where close to the meal we had at Top of the Market. By the way, have I mentioned how good the food was at Top of the Market? Thanks again to Steve and Gill for showing us such a good time :) Anyway, back to the zoo... after lunch we decided it was time to try and see the pandas.

We left the restuarant headed in what seemed to be the quickest route to the pandas. Before we knew it were were almost back at the entrance and had missed a turn somewhere. We doubled back and finally found the pandas. Then we saw the line for the pandas. We debated and decided that we would regret having been there and not done it so we got in line and slowly moved our way forward. The line winds it's way through the exhibit making sure that everyone has a chance to see them without a huge crowd standing in your way all the time. I think they could have used this strategy at some of the other high interest spots in the zoo, but that's another story. We did get to see both Hua Mei (the baby Panda) and her father Shi Shi. It was fun getting to see them up close and was the first time I'd gotten to see a live panda since my trip to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. Hua Mei is the first panda to be born in the U.S. in the past 10 years. This is Hua Mei's last summer in San Diego, so we consider ourselves lucky to have seen a baby panda.

After the panda's we walked around the rest of the park in a big loop and took our second skyfari ride. This time heading back towards the entrance. We timed it fairly well and went to the see the sea lion show before we left. As you might have guessed, the show was geared primarily for the kids, but since we consider ourselves big kids we had a great time. After that we headed out and caught a cab back to the hotel.

When we got back to the hotel we realized how tired and sunburned we were. (We had been walking around the zoo for over 6 hours.) So, we took it easy for a while and then ended up just grabbing a quick bite at Horton Plaza before bed.

Sunday morning we slept in and took it easy. We went to breakfast at the Cafe San Diego in the hotel. It was about typical for a Westin hotel breakfast... meaning the food was good, the prices were a little high, but the convenience was worth it. After breakfast we took a final walk around Horton Plaza and then headed back to the room to pack. We knew to expect long lines at the airport with everyone returning from the 4th of July weekend, so we wanted to give ourselves plenty of time. We checked out of the hotel aroun 11:40 AM and got to the airport by noon. After doing our e-checkin and getting our boarding passes we headed to the line for security. It was long, but moved pretty fast and before we knew it we were sitting at our gate watching the earlier flight to Houston board. We wandered around and bought some magazines for the flight and some caramel frappuccinos at Starbucks. A couple of hours later it was time for us to board.

Luckily this flight was not showing Time Machine. Instead we got to see Ice Age, which is a cute little movie that we both recommend seeing if you get the chance. The flight back to Houston was packed with no empty seats. We got to Houston in time to walk to the gate for our flight to San Antonio with only 5 minutes before boarding began. The flight to San Antonio took us about 30 minutes and we were waiting outside for Ruth's mom to come pick us up. Not only was her mom nice enough to pick us up from the airport, she even had food for us at their house before we got in the car and drove back to Austin.

As predicted, we got back to our apartment around midnight and went straight to bed. Ok, Ruth went straight for bed. I checked my email so I could go through some of the 152 messages that were waiting for me. I deleted a little over 100 without reading them and then called it a night.

And that's the story of our San Diego trip...
- Marc

PS- Don't forget to check out the pictures from this trip!

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