Port of San Diego and The Big Bay

San Diego is a wonderful US Navy town! Where else can you look out your hotel terrace and watch a air craft carrier sail by? (all photos enlarge when clicked on)


The Port of San Diego was created by the state Legislature in 1962 to manage San Diego Bay and surrounding waterfront land. The Port is made up of Imperial Beach, National City, Chula Vista, San Diego and Coronado waterfront properties.
On my husband's and my last day in San Diego we walked from our hotel along the Embarcadero and Harbor Drive to find a harbor cruise to enjoy.

Along the way we passed Tuna Harbor Park, next to Tuna Harbor, is a wide walkway which makes its way to Fish Market, at the point of the park. The north side has a narrower walkway with a grassy area, trees, two war memorials, and a great view of the USS Midway Museum.


Below - the statue “Unconditional Surrender,” which represents a famous photo taken by Alfred Eisenstaedt of a Sailor kissing a nurse in Time Square, New York City 1945, after the announcement of V-J Day. The statue is owned by the Sculpture Foundation of Santa Monica, Calif., and is on loan to the Port of San Diego.

U.S.S. San Diego Memorial by Eugene Daub & Louis Quaintance. This public artwork provides a commemoration of the distinguished service of the cruiser USS San Diego and her crew, serving as a reminder of their selfless contribution to victory in World War II. The floor of the monument features a large, colored terrazzo map of the western Pacific and the Asian and Australian coastlines, which proscribe the theater of operations in which the ship served during World War II.

The Battle of Leyte Gulf Memorial by Moon Kim. This beautiful monument is dedicated to the memory of Vice Admiral Clifton A. F. Sprague and the 13 ships and 7,300 men of Task Unit 77.4.3, also known as Taffy 3, which were under his command during the furious and heroic naval action fought off the island of Samar on October 25, 1944, during the Battle for Leyte Gulf.


We decided to take the 2 hour Hornblower cruise, where we saw both the north and the south ends of San Diego Bay. Some of the highlights we saw during the cruise were the US Navy ships and submarine base, the Navy Seals training base, the America's Cup harbor, the North Island Naval Air Station, the beautiful marinas of Harbor and Shelter Islands, Cabrillo National Monument area and Point Loma, and lots of wildlife, including seals and pelicans.


The USS Nimitz a nuclear powered aircraft carriers. Named for one of our nation's greatest military leaders, Fleet Admiral Chester W. NIMITZ , was under maintenance and repair in the harbor.

Shipbuilder General Dynamics NASSCO has been designing and building ships since 1959, specializing in auxiliary and support ships for the U.S. Navy and oil tankers and dry cargo carriers for commercial markets. Located in San Diego, California, NASSCO employs more than 4,700 people and is the only major ship construction yard on the West Coast of the United States.

Two views from the harbor cruise of shipbuilding and repair now in progress at NASSCO.

Two views, below, of the U.S. Aircraft Carrier, "USS Midway." The Midway served 47 years, from the end of WW II to Desert Storm. By the time the Midway was decommissioned in 1991, more than 225,000 men had served aboard. The carrier is now a naval museum, telling the story of life on board the ship, of the wars she fought, and of the records she set.

The Star of India, below, is a tall ship that sailed during the 1860s, which is still seaworthy today and is the world's oldest active ship. She began her life on the stocks at Ramsey Shipyard in the Isle of Man in 1863.

It is one of the ships in the San Diego Maritime Museum on North Harbor Drive.

In the photo below, on the right is the H.M.S. Surprise, another ship at the San Diego Maritime Museum. This ship is the very one upon which Russell Crowe and his colleagues filmed "Master and Commander," one of the hit films of 2003.

A submarine docked at Naval Base Point Loma. We saw many seals in the water and pelicans and other sea birds in this area as we sailed by. Naval Base Point Loma (NBPL) was established on Oct. 1, 1998 when Navy facilities in the Point Loma area of San Diego were consolidated under Commander, Navy Region Southwest.

Two views below of the North Island Naval Air Station, part of the Naval Base Coronado, where the U.S. Navy ports some of its large aircraft carriers and fighter jets.

Naval Base Coronado (NBC) is a consolidated Navy installation compassing seven military facilities stretching from San Clemente Island to the La Posta Mountain Warfare Training Facility.

We were lucky enough to see this fighter jet practicing its take off and landing!

There were remnants of the old piers when this area was home port for Pacific Fleet carriers. It was explained to us by the harbor cruise guide that they are now they are not all keep in one area for security reasons.

Our last look at beautiful San Diego from the great bay as The Hornblower heads back to its pier.

We had a wonderful time visiting the city of San Diego, and enjoyed its fine restaurants and entertainment venues, its wonderful shore front, it's beautiful parks, and learning about its history, and we especially enjoyed seeing the pride of the US Navy!

'Till we visit again next time .... anchors aweigh!

A Day On The Town With Blog Friends!

I met two of the nicest bloggers last week while I was in San Diego, Cori of Gingerbread Crumbs & Company, and Joanne of My Cottage In The Making. They had both contacted me by e-mail when they read I was going to be in Southern California, and offered to drive down from Orange County, CA to meet me!

Joanne of My Little Cottage In The Making is on the left, and Cori of Gingerbread Crumbs and Company is on the right in the photo above.
Both Cori and Joanne live within 15 minutes of each other, but never met before or even read each other’s blogs, so this was a three way introduction of bloggers meeting for the first time!

We met on Wednesday, as I knew my husband was going to be in meetings all day from breakfast until dinner, and I would be alone, so it was a wonderful way to spend the day instead, by being with friends.

We met outside The Marriott and Cori offered to drive Joanne and I around to see some sights, as she once lived in San Diego and knew it well.
First stop was “Old Town.” Old Town San Diego is considered the "birthplace" of California. San Diego is the site of the first permanent Spanish settlement in California. It was here in 1769, that Father Junipero Serra came to establish the very first mission in a chain of 21 missions that were to be the cornerstone of California’s colonization. Father Serra’s mission and Presidio were built on a hillside overlooking what is currently known as Old Town San Diego.
In 1968, the State of California Department of Parks and Recreation established Old Town State Historic Park to preserve the rich heritage that characterized San Diego during the 1821 to 1872 period. The park includes a main plaza, exhibits, museums and living history demonstrations.

We saw just a small part of the town that morning, as we were there early, and so much was not opened as yet and we were having too much fun chatting about ourselves, our blog, people we knew in common, and just generally getting to know each other!

We browsed around as many of the stores as we could and saw many beautiful things, many with a Mexican folkloric flavor. I think I’d love a chance to go back someday to really explore this section of San Diego more as there was a lot to do and see
We stopped for an al fresco lunch at Casa de Reyes which had a lovely garden courtyard with lively cantina ambiance.
I asked the waitress to take our photo together. That is Cori and myself on the left, Joanne on the right.
We strolled along the courtyard and visited fascinating shops one called "Design in Shell" had exquisitely decorated bird eggs, many made into Christmas ornaments.

Another shop called Casa de Serrano had delightful Mexican folkloric figurines.

After lunch and shopping we had a short car ride to Heritage Park . “This 7.8-acre county park is dedicated to the preservation of San Diego's Victorian architecture. Expansion downtown after WWII threatened these structures with demolition on their original sites. Public and private funds paid for the acquisition, relocation, and restoration of these buildings. Now owned by the county, the structures are leased to private and commercial entities responsible for interior renovation and operation in keeping with the park's Victorian theme.”

Temple Beth Israel, below, is San Diego's first synagogue, constructed by the Congregation Beth Israel, also became temporary quarters for many religious sects before they established churches of their own. This was a very sentimental place for Cori as she was married in a Christian ceremony here 14 years ago.


The McConaughy House, below, is named after it’s original owner who founded the first scheduled passenger and freight service in San Diego County. We stopped to take photos on the pretty autumn decorated porch and especially because the stone rabbit in the middle of all the flowers reminded us all of Dana of The Stone Rabbit blog!


Dana, did you know your stone rabbit took a trip to San Diego to meet us?
We also went into the Burton House, a Classic Revival home decorated with pediments and dentil cornices where the absolutely darling Mrs Burton's Tea Room is located! We spent a lot of time taking photos and looking at all the wonderful rooms and decorations and objects for sale. It looks like the most enchanted place to have tea!


Their are many different teas available, from Friendship Teas, to Red Hat Teas, and bridal and baby shower teas.

The view from the front porch:
Because Cori knew I loved lighthouses, from reading a “six things about myself” tag I once did, she drove Joanne and I up to see The Old Point Loma Lighthouse. This lighthouse was only functioning for 36 years, as there was a flaw in it’s location as it’s position was prone to low lying fog and clouds which covered the light, and a new lighthouse was constructed in in 1892.

The view was spectacular at 422 feet above sea level, overlooking the bay and the ocean and I was so amazed by the very blue San Diego water – very reminiscent of the Mediterranean sea.

We could see the skyline of downtown San Diego framed by the Cuyamaca mountains in the background. To the south, we could see Mexico across the shimmering waters of the bay and, to the west, the Pacific ocean extending to the horizon and beyond.

Can you see the three amigas in the photo below?
The interior of the lighthouse was refurbished by The National Park Service to its historic 1880’s appearance.

The Cabrillo National Monument, established in 1913, commemorates Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo's voyage of discovery, as he led the first European expedition to explore what is now the west coast of the United States. A heroic statue of Cabrillo looks out over the bay that he first sailed into on September 28, 1542.


Finally, as the day wound down we all drove over the long Coronado Bay Bridge to the city of Coronado, CA. where we parked and went inside the beautiful the Hotel del Coronado. Del was built in 1888 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1977. The beautiful wooden Victorian structure faces the pacific Ocean.

We entered the elegant lobby and perused the gift ships and boutiques. The hotel was originally designed to cater to the well-to-do, and attracted quite a notable legacy of guests. L. Frank Baum was said to have written “The Wizard of Oz” during his stays, and the Hotel Del was the setting for Marilyn Monroe’s comedy “Some Like It Hot”.

Look at these delicious pastries in the hotel coffee shop:
We decided to have coffee and sit under a table umbrella on the long porch outside where we spent an hour relaxing, enjoying the sounds of the surf, and each other’s company. The time flew by!

This was the view we had of the magnificent Pacific Ocean! It was a perfect day.

A last look at The Hotel Del in Coronado as we drove away to go back to The Marriott Hotel in San Diego, so I would be able to join my husband for a dinner we were both invited to by one of the companies at the convention.

It was sad to say goodbye. I felt as if Cori and Joanne were old friends that I've known for a long time! We had so much fun together!

I really appreciated that they both took the time to drive down for the day and that Cori drove us all over to show us the special sights in the area.

I hope to be able to return the favor and show you some sights in New York City someday, ladies.

There is nothing like having bloggers as friends, and sisters at heart!