The last time I was in San Diego was in 2019 before COVID so it was nice to have an opportunity to go again for a conference. My dad was in town on his way back to Sabo in the Caribbean so we both got a ride to the airport via Kerry. His flight was two hours before mine so I had a bit of time to kill. The timing of check-in seemed to work for me though because when I checked in they assigned me to the exit row. I guess it hadn't sold yet so they just gave people the remaining seats and since I didn't check in myself there was no opportunity for them to charge me.
I checked into my hotel but my room wasn't ready so I left my bags there. Since this first night was extra I paid for myself and it was a Motel 6. I keep saying this but I think this is the last time I'm doing Motel 6. The room smelt like rubbing alcohol and smoke and when I handed my bags over they didn't even ask for my information or give me a tag. I could have sat in the lobby scoping people out and stolen any bag I wanted at shift change. My first tourist destination was 'Old Town' which is an easy trip on the light rail system. It's a neat area to visit but since I have no room in my luggage, I couldn't do much shopping.
I had plenty of time after a bit of site seeing to go to a Padres game. I wasn't expecting it to be sold out but based on the people trying to get tickets there weren't many left. I was able to get a single ticket behind home plate in the nose bleeds but I liked the seats. When I was buying a couple tried to buy a pair of tickets and the only ones available were $180 for the pair. They declined. A few minutes later someone showed up and flashed their military card and got the same tickets for $60. There was also a point during the game where everyone military got to stand and get applause. They like their military down here.
The next day I left my hotel room as soon as possible and headed to my new hotel. Much nicer and it was surprisingly ready at 8:00a. It was nice to be able to check in and put my bags somewhere a bit safer then the night before. I then headed to the San Diego Zoo. I think this is my fifth time going and it really is a nice zoo. There is plenty of shade, the exhibits appear well designed and focused on the animals and there are a lot of animals. It was also very expensive at $79 USD. Now I wish I had a military services card. My favorite exhibit this time was watching the 100+ year old Galapagos turtles taking a shower.
The conference was excellent and I have plenty of information to bring back to work. I also got to go out for dinner one evening to The Fish Market but the highlight food wise was when the conference rented out Balboa park for the Thursday evening. It's many museums including natural history, model railway, art etc. and each museum had different food choices in the lobby. This included fried chicken, kebabs, deserts, open bar and for some reason, entire Tuna's being chopped up and served raw. Not even as part of sushi. Just raw tuna on a bed of rice. It was fun to watch them cut but I did not partake. Now on to part two of my vacation in Anaheim.
- Dinner at the fishhouse
- Bal boa park (fish, railroad,
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