Day two of my trip of San Diego began with an early morning since I passed out at around 9 p.m. the night before. I was disappointed when I woke up and the sun wasn’t shining. I thought it was always supposed to be sunny in California. Then I turned on the news and learned that you have to wait for the haze from the ocean to burn off.
Mary, Star of the Sea Church
We planned to go kayaking in the morning, but wanted to wait until it was sunny. So we decided to finish our walking tour of La Jolla. The first stop was Mary, Star or the Sea Catholic Church.
It was a beautiful church. The architecture made me feel like I was in Mexico. Then we walked along Girard Avenue and strolled past the very pink La Valencia Hotel. Its Spanish-style architecture kinda made me feel like I was walking into a drug-lords compound. Still, it was pretty and extravagantly decorated.
Scripps Park
We made our way back down to the ocean to the Ellen Browning Scripps Park to see some more seals in the Children’s Pool. The pool is really a beach that is protected by a long wall. There’s no surf, so it was intended as a safe place for kid’s to swim, until the seals found it.
Now they lounge on it all day. You can’t go on the beach anymore, but there is a fence along the wall which you can walk and get a view of the seals and the sea life living in the rocks below the wall.
Once we finished eating lunch, the sun was out so we went to La Jolla Kayak to go on a group tour of the seven caves and the underwater park. Here’s a little tip. The closer you sign up for a tour to the actual tour time, the cheaper it is.
Seals in the Children's Pool
My boyfriend and I decided to go on a tandem kayak. I don’t recommend that. Get your own kayaks. It’s impossible to paddle in sync with each other when you’re trying to follow a guide. We learned that the hard way. When we finally stopped arguing over paddling, we started to really appreciate how calm the ocean was that day and how clear it was.
We paddled out to the caves, which was tiring, but it was so cool to look down and see the bottom of the ocean. Supposedly there’s leopard sharks and sting rays in the water, but unfortunately we didn’t see any. We did see the bright orange garibaldi, California’s state fish. Their color made them very easy to spot.
Along our route we could see the $20+ million dollar houses that sit along the cliffs. One of them belonged to Dr. Seuss, and he wife still lives in it. Apparently she drives a black Cadillac around La Jolla with a license plate that says “Grinch” on it.
More cool caves, but we didn't go in this one
Out of the seven caves, you can only go into one and it has to be with a guide. One by one we all went in. It was perfectly safe, but I couldn’t stop myself from thinking, “What if there was an earthquake right now and this cave collapsed on us?” I usually assume the worst possible thing will happen to me. But paying for this tour was worth it, compared to the $4 I wasted at the La Jolla Cave Store.
When we paddled back into the beach we hoped in the ocean for a quick swim and then went on a mission to get me my first seafood meal. We went back to the La Valencia Hotel for happy hour, but when we walked in only one person was at the bar. We quickly turned around. It was awkward.
Instead we went to Azul La Jolla for a margarita. It had a great view of the Pacific and a happy hour special. For dinner we decided on Georges at the Cove, whose view of the ocean cannot be beat. It was a pricier restaurant than we’re used to, but well worth it.
Roasted garlic shrimp, yum!!!
For an appetizer, we split a baby leaf salad that had shaved vegetables and citrus-shallot vinaigrette (yum!). And for our main course we split the most delicious meal I have ever put in my mouth.
The garlic roasted shrimp consisted of chorizo and piquillo pepper risotto, roasted fennel, lemon, and almonds. So many flavors and textures combined to make my first meal with shrimp pleasantly memorable.
The most delicious cupcake in the world
We skipped out on dessert because I had my heart set on a cupcake from Cups, an organic cupcake lounge. Yes, they have cupcakes lounges in California. Just another reason why I need to move there. I got a “not-so-red” red velvet cupcake to go. We went back to the Scripps park to watch the sunset and then I devoured my cupcake.
Once again, I was feeling a little jet lagged and the kayaking didn’t help. I hit the bed early again, but we had another day packed with sightseeing at Coronado Island and Torrey Pines to gear up for.
Sunset from Scripps Park
