Looking for somewhere a bit quieter than L.A.? San Diego is a pleasant alternative with quirky beachlife and some giant attractions.
I am not a huge fan of the urban characterless sprawl of Los Angeles (though I do have a soft spot for Ventura and Pasadena) so I am usually only too happy to hightail it straight out of town.
It is possible to be on the 405 South within about 5 minutes of picking up the hire car at the international airport and this leads directly to the interesting climes of San Diego county and a much gentler pace of life.
As the 405 merges into the 5 and then hits the coast, it is impossible to ignore Camp Pendleton, the biggest US marine base in America. Stop at Vista Point for a fine view over their training grounds and the coast to the north and south. There are friendly ground squirrels and a variety of birds: it is a little introduction to American wildlife!
Oceanside
The first town one comes to is Oceanside, 35 miles north of San Diego and 83 miles south of L.A., which has a delightfully retro air about it. With its 1,942 ft long wooden jetty, 3 ½ miles of fine golden sands and low rise buildings, it harks back to a quieter era and is quite charming. Follow signs off the Interstate for the friendly California Welcome Centre – they have tons of info on the entire state.
The town caters heavily for the marines. Simon went into Knuckleheads for a marine haircut, but fled when he saw what the other customers looked like – I liked the camouflage protective sheets they used!
More to his liking were the extensive military shops with lots of cool kit and clothing; unfortunately we didn’t have much use for the gun holsters and flak jackets but I did find a smart goretex jacket in blue navy camouflage. The T-shirt in Arabic script saying F~~~Isis was quite amusing but might be quite dangerous to wear in England!
We stopped long enough for breakfast at Swarmi’s, a rare healthy food option with a good range of coffee, then had a taco lunch at Colima’s which fitted in well with a visit to the surfing museum next door before wandering on south along the coast.
South to San Diego
There are some attractive beachside communities here; Carlsbad is well known for its spa baths (hence the name) and Carlsbad Ranch with 50 acres of great wildflower viewing in the spring. Legoland and Sealife are also nearby – I would suggest the Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography for a more authentic experience.
It would be easy to linger along this coastline of quirky shops, golden beaches and surfie lifestyle. Cardiff-by-the-Sea is another characterful spot, after which you find the huge Del Mar racetrack. Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve protects a stand of endangered Torrey pines and is a nice place for a walk on the cliffs above the beach.
La Jolla (literally ‘jewel’ in Spanish and pronounced ‘hoya’) is the best address, a beautiful bay colonised by seals and with sea caves that can be explored on fun kayak expeditions. Windansea Beach is a surfing hotspot with a 1940’s Surf Shack.
To its south lies Mission Beach, a classic beach scene of surfers and sun worshippers, then the less classy Ocean Beach which leads one finally into San Diego.
We based ourselves in the Super 8 Motel in the Hotel Circle: with a great freeway system, it was quick and easy to get around town.
With unsettled weather forecast for later that week, we decided to visit the zoo while the sun shone. San Diego Zoo is world famous for its conservation efforts and we spent an enjoyable day meandering along its hilly trails. From pandas to rare leopards, flamboyant flamingos and shy aye-ayes, we were enchanted by a wide variety of animal life.
The Japanese signed the surrender treaty leading to the end of World War 2 on the USS Missouri on 2nd September 1945 in Tokyo Bay. We had toured this battleship on a visit to Hawaii. Now Simon was keen to visit the Midway, an airship carrier which was decommissioned in 1992 and opened as a museum in 2004.
The Midway was a lucky ship: she was launched in March 1945 and commissioned in September 1945, so avoided the battles of a world war. She did send out the first MIG kills of the Vietnam War though her main claim to fame was probably her role as flagship for the Persian Gulf Battleforce in the 1990/91 Gulf War and Operation Desert Storm and Desert Shield. It was interesting to see the maps of Basra pinned on the ops room wall and the ready rooms where the pilots waited.
This thing is huge, 1,001 feet long with 18 decks, really a floating city which housed 4,500 crew members: pilots and all the mechanics and ground personnel needed to keep them in the air, the men to run the boat and the kitchen crew to feed them, right up to the overall command structure.
It is slightly disorientating on the ship as it is so large. We started with viewing a short film on the battle of Midway, after which the ship was named; these famous battles on 4-7th June 1942 finished off the Japanese navy, and were won against great odds by the Americans and their brave pilots. After that, one is largely free to wander round the ship, from the subterranean catering and dentistry areas to the island above the runway with the bridge, radio room and admiral’s quarters.
There is a collection of aircraft on view, including those that would have been used at Midway, through to the modern fighter jet and helicopters. I particularly enjoyed the talks on the deck, interestingly given by veterans or docents, which really brought home to me the sheer skill of landing one of these jets on a moving runway, especially at night. Taking off was impressive but seemed relatively straightforward by comparison.
If you want your ships a little more historic, just to the north lies the Maritime Museum of San Diego which has the world’s oldest sailing ship, the Star of India, and a couple of submarines. Just to the south, there is a giant statue of a kissing couple, commemorating the return of the troops, and a memorial to Bob Hope who entertained them.
Cabrillo National Monument & Point Loma
This peninsula commemorates Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo’s landing in the area on September 28th, 1542. He was the first European to set foot on what is now the west coast of the United States. Sailing north from Mexico, his mission was to map and explore, and to claim any new lands for Spain.
For Cabrillo it was an ill fated expedition: he died following an accident on 3rd January 1543 in the Channel Islands. The ships continued as far as Oregon before returning to Mexico in April 1543.
Today, most of the peninsula belongs to the military and indeed, the very impressive Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery is passed on the way down. It has the remains of 112,000 people from military conflicts dating back to the 1800’s, including 23 winners of the Medal of Honour. Apparently, ex military veterans and their wives can be buried there too. They certainly have a wonderful city view.
There is a friendly visitor centre after the entrance point ($15 for a day pass) with a cinema showing little films about the area. Nearby is a statue of Cabrillo with fine views over San Diego and the city. The views are actually quite spectacular and I enjoyed this area far more than I expected. It is a great breath of fresh air after the city.
Nearby, the Old Point Loma Lighthouse is particularly charming: I would quite happily move into the lighthouse cottage tomorrow. The actual light, an oil fired Third Order Fresnel lens, has been moved to the next door cottage and is a work of art in its own right. It opened in 1855, but it had one major design fault: it was so high that it was frequently shrouded in fog so another was opened lower down in 1891.
We finished with a visit to the tide pools, which were sadly largely under water at the time. However, there is a bracing walk along the cliffs with great coastal views so well worth a minor detour. Seasonally, grey whales pass on their annual migrations, going southwards in September to calve in Baja California and returning northwards in January and February.
As to food, I confess we didn’t get beyond Cafe Coyote in the Old Town area. Kitschy and colourful with a lively atmosphere, the margaritas alone would have drawn us back, let alone the generous portions of Mexican food and the fresh handmade tortillas. We didn’t even see the historic Old Town, where San Diego was first built, as we only visited at night.
