The previous day had been an exhausting one at California Adventure, but that didn’t stop Jimmy and I from waking up at the butt crack of dawn and getting ready for another full day of excitement on Friday, July 17, 2009. We left his house in San Pedro at about 8:15am and headed back to Disneyland to meet David, where he parked his car and then rode with us. Our ultimate destination of the day was San Diego, a city that I had visited twice without ever really ‘seeing’. We also decided to stop in San Juan Capistrano on the way down to see the famous Jewel of the Missions located there.
The three of us spent a little over an hour browsing the mission, which was founded in 1776. It contains the oldest building in California that is still in use, the Serra’s Chapel built in 1782. We were given one of those earpieces that would give information on the various areas of the mission, as we slowly browsed the remaining buildings and the ruins.
The entrance to the mission, known as the Jewel of the Missions
Relaxing in the plaza
The “Golden Altar” in Father Serra’s Church, the oldest building in California to be in continuous use
The Mission Cemetery that includes over 2000 unmarked graves of mission inhabitants including several of the padres who served here
Overview of some of the mission ruins
We grabbed a quick early lunch at the Jack in the Box just up the road from the mission and then began our descent into the deep southern portion of California known as San Diego. On the way, I noted this brief movie location. You might recall the scene in The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad, where Lieutenant Frank Drebin is trying to forget his girlfriends, stating that “Everywhere I look, something reminds me of her.” Cut to the San Onofre nuclear power station, which bears an uncanny resemblance to a pair of ladymelons.
The Naked Gun bazongas
An hour after departing San Juan Capistrano, we arrived in San Diego about a quarter after noon. The first item on our agenda was a tour of Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres since 2004. We parked nearby the stadium and then headed over.
It was the standard ballpark tour which I always find enjoyable. It included visits to the Press Box, the suites, the home team dugout, and the Western Metal Supply Co. Okay, that last one was not so standard. I found this interesting because when they went to construct the stadium, there was a problem with this particular building that stood on the property. It had been declared a historic landmark, which prohibited its demolition. Hearings determined that this designation only applied to the exterior of the building, so the building was actually incorporated into the stadium as a restaurant and lounge. There were even ballpark seats on its balcony!
Outside Petco Park
Making phone calls in the owner’s box
Nice overall view of the stadium from the press box. Note the Western Metal Supply Co. in left field.
Jimmy and David take a load off in one of the luxury suites
The roadside view of the Western Metal Supply Co.
On the balcony of the Western Metal Supply Co. building, with the scoreboard in the background
Sitting in what is officially the worst seat in the ballpark
As always, keeping off the grass
In the Padres dugout
A great view from the home dugout
With the stadium’s supply of beer. Blurry, perhaps because of beer goggles
I had mistakenly thought that I had once been to the Hard Rock Cafe in San Diego in 1995 during the quest that Bob, Steve Cox, and I went on to find Harry Spear – but in fact this was the Hard Rock located in the San Diego suburb of La Jolla, once known at the San Diego Hard Rock, renamed La Jolla in 1998, and closed in 2008.
This Hard Rock in San Diego opened in 1998 (hence the name change of the other one at the same time). I went with the Caramelized Onion Mushroom and Swiss Burger, which couldn’t have tasted better. I treated Dave and Jimmy to lunch as thanks for all of the hauling me around and the admission to Disneyland. I roamed the displays briefly at this, my eighth Hard Rock Cafe of the year, and we were out of there in less than 45 minutes.
Outside the San Diego Hard Rock Cafe
Proving my presence in San Diego
David, Jimmy, and I enjoy the good eats
With the Beatles display that included handwritten letters from John Lennon and Paul McCartney
Zoos are fun and all, but I was mostly just interested in visiting the mother of all American zoos, the one in San Diego. Never mind that the Beach Boys classic album Pet Sounds had its cover photographed here, this zoo contains over 4000 animals from 800 species. Clearly one could spend more than an entire day here. I spent exactly an hour and a half.
I quickly breezed through the park with David and Jimmy, taking in all that I could in the short time that I had, snapping pictures of the various species of elephants, panda bears, camels, and lizards. But ultimately I left in favor in meeting one of my female animal friends.
Getting ready to enter the world-famous San Diego Zoo
Caught in the Tropical Rainforest
This guy fell out of a tree and landed on me
David and me atop some sort of giant dog
The San Diego Zoo is one of the few zoos in the world to house giant panda bears
Me and some elephants
Jimmy and I were just a wee too big for this cutout…but we tried
Camel or something
April, with whom I had been good friends back in the early 90’s, (and whom I had finally had a reunion with last December as seen here), currently lives in San Diego and picked me up at the zoo at around 5:30 after she got off work. We headed over to the Ould Sod Inn, a pub in nearby historic Normal Heights. Over a couple of pear ciders, I enjoyed catching up with April as she told me about her new job, blogging, and any other topic we saw fit to discuss. I was so glad that we got to meet up while I was in the area.
Hangin’ with April at the Ould Sod
April took me back to the zoo a little after 7:00, where we waited at the entrance (noting a batch of rogue peacocks roaming the parking lot) for Jimmy and David. When they came out, April and I said our goodbyes and the three of us departed for our final destination of the day, Old Town.
Old Town, which touts itself as the Birthplace of California, is a historical park in San Diego which recreates the old city as it was in the mid-1800’s. I only had a short amount of time to actually look around a browse a couple of shops. Since it was dark outside by this point, it was hard to get the full effect of the area. I bartered with a salesman to get an “Official Taco Inspector” tshirt.
Entering Old Town
Three old tired guys, one old town
But the main reason that I didn’t have a great deal of time to look around was that my ex-wife Lisa, whom I hadn’t seen in more than two years, came from her home elsewhere in San Diego to spend an hour or so with me while I was in town. We sat at a table at O’Hungry’s over an appetizer and a couple of Stellas and chatted non-stop about our most recent life adventures. When it was over, I left my new taco inspector t-shirt at the table.
Meeting up with Lisa for the first time in over two years
It was of course great to see Lisa, but I had promised Jimmy that we could head out by 10pm, so we cut our meeting relatively short. I know we were all exhausted and I felt bad that Jimmy had to drive back after the last two exhausting days. I tried to keep everyone entertained with my brand of slaphappy ridiculous humor as we made the drive back to Disneyland. I went home with David that night so I could be closer to my Burbank destination the next morning. Although we were exhausted for the two previous days, we still stayed up a while to continue the laughter.
I had just one more day left in California, and this would be when most all of the celebrity encounters came into play.
California will conclude in the next posting…
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