Lee Thomson

I’m here because my partner is going to a conference, and I was invited to come along. And I have never been one to pass up a trip, so here I am!

I’ve spent a lot of my time so far finding the ocean. The first day here was in the middle of the remains of Hurricane/Tropical Storm Rachel, so it was windy and rainy and basically no one was on Mission Beach except eight kinds of birds dodging the weather and two kite boarders chasing the weather – they were out on surfboard kinds of things being hauled about, at speed, by kites that let them fly for brief amounts of time. It looked exciting, and moderately terrifying.

I found the San Diego Maritime Museum, and went on and off all the boats they had, which was delightful. The whole museum is centered around a ferry they brought down from San Francisco, with art deco stained glass on the second deck, and a lot of exhibits around the engine room on the lower deck. They also have a replica of the first European ship to sail into San Diego harbor in the early 1500s, and a gorgeous steam yacht that made me think of Some Like it Hot, and the Californian, built when every state with a coastline felt they needed a sailing ambassador, so the same age as Spirit of Massachusetts and Pride of Baltimore. The ship that played the part of HMS Surprise in Master and Commander is there, and some of her history as well – she was designed by Phil Bolger as a replica of HMS Rose, and then reworked by Fox studios to be in a movie. The pride of place is the Star of India, a steel ship that had many lives and now (I am told) hosts the fourth graders of the city for overnights, as well as other educational programs. I got a tour of the harbor on an actual Pilot boat, that had been working until 1972 carrying pilots out to ships waiting to enter San Diego harbor. It was funny and informative, and the day was perfect for beign on the water.

I spent all day Tuesady at the zoo. I learned that the zoo is one hundred acres, and I learned why a two day pass is a good idea, and I think I saw between one third and one half of the animals it was possible to see. Also I gave myself very sore feet. I did hang out and watch the elephants for a long time – they are SO big, and moving so slowly, but still cover a surprising amount of ground. They had all kinds of toys with hay hidden in them, to poke, reach into, grab, shake and rattle.

Yesterday I was even closer to the ocean – first in a kayak out to the caves of La Jolla, then swimming on the beach there. The kayaks were fat and unsinkable, and hard to maneuver, but it was fun to be sitting on the waves like a duck as they rolled into the shore underneath us. The surf was too high to go through the cave that they take tourists through, but there were some very nice views of the coast, and the day was, again, perfect. I managed not to get knocked down by the surf when I was swimming later on, and came home only slightly sunburned (thank you Kurt who loaned me his sun screen) and cheerfully salty.

Today I intend to be on a sailboat in the evening, and possibly at the Visions Textile Art museum before I do that. Al has dinner at the conference, so I am on my own for supper. We found the best fried fish the second night we were here, and we keep going back, rather than trying to find a new place. Charli’s Landing, on Quivira Rd in San Diego, if you’re nearby. It’s where the fishermen eat before taking the tourists out for deep sea fishing – highly recommended.