This past Saturday we drove down to San Diego, stayed the night in a hotel near the marina and went to the boat show. Josh was very excited about this trip, as he’d wanted to go to a great boat show in a warm place since…. forever. We went to one down in PV, Mexico when we stayed for an extended period back in 2010, but it was a disappointment with few boats to see.
This time, he had researched the boats that were going see, and it was supposed to be a big show, so off we went. There were several docks full of high end yachts, various types of sail boats, and fancy oversized fishing boats, so we strolled up and down, picking and choosing those that looked worthy of our skepticism or praise. I carried Rylie in our Manduca carrier which was a good idea both for security of carrying her down the busy, narrow docks, and for size constraints while onboard the boats. Some didn’t allow kids at all, and I can only imagine her desire to get down and walk would be way to tempting without a carrier.
Other than spending a couple hours at the boat show, we had a lovely dinner out at the hotel, and enjoyed some nice walks along the bay. The next morning, we decided to go check out Balboa Park, which after being there seemed like the San Diego version of Central Park in NYC. It had beautiful open parks with endless walking paths, numerous museums, a Japanese friendship park, Spanish art district, restaurants, and a botanical garden. How we had not visited this place before, is beyond me… its excellent.
We began our visit in in the Spanish art area, full of quaint street front studios and colourful cobble stone streets, then made our way through the museum area (we didn’t actually visit any of them, but there are a few that may have peaked some interest – for the next visit perhaps) and into the botanical gardens. Ry focused her energy on the flowers, smelling and touching numerous species, until she found a small finger sized puddle. Puddles are kind of her new thing. Afterwards, it was off to have a snack by the Japanese gardens, then a quick walk around the dome when someone decided to secretly fall asleep in the stroller on the way back to the car. Oops, that siesta was supposed to be reserved for the 2 hour car ride home.
