New Year's Day! La Jolla & San Diego

Happy New Year! 2014!

Today I woke up with a rental car at my disposal.  Jack and I headed out at 6am to make the short drive into La Jolla, CA.  This is the place to live! We got lots of recommendations on great breakfast places thanks to Allegra :)

First stop, was Children's Pool where the California Grey Seals haul out and congregate when the tide is low and the surf is down.  

It is a small protected cove that was perfect for little kids.  The seals thought it was great too so they invaded the place!  You can get pretty close, but, with all wildlife you do not want to harm or distress them in any way.  I use my zoom lens to get in close.  They come in all shapes and sizes.

I see you!

We went to the Cottage for breakfast...french toast and the best looking and tasting hot chocolate!

We checked in with Scott and Tyler and decided to stay out a bit longer to go to the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial.  It stands 822 feet high above San Diego County, the 360-degree, awe-inspiring view stretches from the South with panoramic views of San Diego, Coronado and beyond to Mexico, to the North and includes University of California at San Diego, and Torrey Pines cliffs and
 golf course, to the East and purple-hued mountains, and West to the Pacific waters at the shores of La Jolla.

The Soledad Natural Park surrounds the memorial with wide-open grass areas, benches on which to rest and enjoy the sights, and descending nature walkways to view the native chaparral and abundant wildlife.

This is an important Part of San Diego History.  It was first used as a Memorial Park in 1914 and used by the Lindberghs for glider flights in the 1920′s. The park was part of the military’s early-warning defense system in WWII.  It has long used by planes and ships for navigation and was transferred Federal Government on August 14, 2006 as National Veterans Memorial.

The most controversial is a 43-foot cross dedicated on April 29, 1954 to honor Korean War veterans.  This has been under attack for years to be taken down.  You can read about it here. Cruciphobia at Mt. Soledad: The Cross the Left Can't Bear

Next stop today was Balboa Park.  We figured that the San Diego Zoo would be a "zoo" on New Years Day so we are anxiously awaiting to go there in the next day or so.  Balboa Park was a bust today...it was busy, but everything we wanted to do was closed for the holiday! We will save that for another day and we just went out for a quick bite for lunch, ran a couple of errands and came home.  I managed a couple quick pics.

Tonight's sunset.

We have firmed up our travel plans for this week staying here in San Diego until Sunday morning, we will return the rental car then head 90 miles back up to Huntington Beach where I secured a beachfront spot for 3 nights.  It will be nice not to have to think about the logistics for awhile. 

~Linda