Few Joys Can Equal That: Best Vacation EVER (continued)

First off, I want to include this video clip from elephant seal beach (I forgot to upload it with the Big Sur post).

San Diego was our main destination and the whole vacation was put into place by the generosity of my dad, donating a whole lot of time-share credits for our stay at the WorldMark condos there. Not only did we get those nights free, but it was a large two-bedroom unit (meaning we could sleep separate from the kids) with a kitchen (saving us moolah on all our meals). The weather wasn't particularly warm that whole week, but it was perfect timing for crowd avoidance and short-to-no lines for anything! THANK YOU PAPA 'DONI!!

We stopped to see the San Diego temple on our way to the condo from L.A. Closed for structural repairs, it's still a beautiful, castle-like building. Then we randomly lucked into finding Fins Mexican Eatery (fast food) nearby: Best Restaurant of the Trip! Even my reheated leftovers (dinner the next night) were delish. Bonus: Jamba Juice was next door. (Eating out is an extra special treat when you live in rural Idaho. Plus we ate at McD's or Denny's most other times.)

Our first full day in SD we beelined straight to SeaWorld. Sam had pretty much memorized the layout of the park from his exploration of the website, and all the kids had enthusiasm bubbling out of them - SeaWorld did not disappoint. We touched rays and held starfish, and Isaac touched (and was majorly splashed by) a dolphin.

The kids LOVED the Sea Lion Show

Here's video of the finale:

And of course the Shamu show (called "Believe")...

They fed flamingos and were awed by the arctic destination: beluga whales and polar bears.

We had the amazing good fortune to be inside the Sesame Street 3D movie when a rain storm passed by. It was over and sunny again already when we came out of the theater. Sam (my sometimes scardy-cat) insisted we go on the ride "Journey to Atlantis" despite how big/wet he saw it was in person. First time that I can recall being in the front row of a coaster - pretty fun for me! Sam & Isaac were in the row behind me.

After that first plunge, you go around and back up and of course whip down some twisty turns... Sam was screaming "NO!" and "I'm all done!" Poor guy. I'm so glad they tried it with me, though - increase their courage.

If there hadn't been an exorbitant fee for parking, we might have been more tempted to come back (we had multiple-park/multiple-day passes) so that we could check out the Bay of Play and Cirq de la Mer, and re-do all the stuff we loved. But there was plenty more still to do in San Diego.

The next day we went to the world famous Zoo.

Oh my, that's A LOT of walking! We made the very wise decision of renting a stroller for Charlie. At the zoo we finally saw some California Condors.

There were, of course, just about every animal you can imagine...

Including regular-old native animals, which can be kind of exciting to spot.

We ended up finishing the zoo another day, there was just too much ground to cover. My favorite zoo memory was as we approached the rhinos...

From a distance Isaac says definitively, "Those are Indian Rhinos!" Sure enough, they were. He explained that it was obvious because of their plated armor and their type of horn. His memory is amazing!

Third day down south, we decided to explore Old Town San Diego - checking out the original, restored buildings such as the stage couch stable, courtroom, and schoolhouse. We also got to check out the old blacksmith shop in action!

Across the street was the Mormon Battalion Historic Site. It was really well done, and the highlight of my Old Town experience.

Later that night we walked along the marina checking out the ships - everything from the world's oldest active sailing ship to giant military carriers.