If you go to San Diego and are trying to decided between the Zoo and the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, make the trip to the Safari Park. It's worth the 30 minute drive!
The safari park sits on 1800 acres. This give the animals lots of room to roam around.
The elephants especially love it.
This little one had a great time playing with a box.
We paid a little extra to take a photo safari. It was a splurge that was well worth it. We had close encounters with grazing animals, rhinos and giraffe.
A bonus to this safari was feeding the giraffes!
We were all pretty darn excited about this development! The giraffes were so cool!
After our time at the Safari Park, the San Diego Zoo seemed really anti-climatic. My advice if you want to experience both parks is to go to the Zoo first then go to the Safari Park. You won't be able to do both in one day. We spent all day at the Safari Park, but only a couple hours at the Zoo, that's because there were only two animals we wanted to see.
Koalas
And Pandas
We also saw Baboons having sex but none of us had the guts to photograph that event!
(I'm still editing Sea World pictures, so it will be a few days before that post hits the internet!)
If you haven't read it already and are interested the first of my trip to San Diego post is here and here you will find my confession about San Diego.
I'm pretty sure I was the only one excited about going to the Maritime Museum of San Diego and I was excited for one reason, Ghost Hunters.
They investigated the Star of India, the worlds oldest active ship and a California and National Historic landmark. So of course we had to check it out.
We saw some creepy stuff, but no ghosts.
Another boat Ghost Hunters investigated was the Berkeley. It's an 1898 steam ferryboat that operated for 60 years on San Francisco Bay. It is also a California and National Historic landmark. This boat was interesting to me because my Great-Grandfather was a ferryboat captain in Seattle and later his son, my uncle Jack, was a ferryboat captain too. When we would travel to Bainbridge Island he would let me "drive" the boat! Super cool when I was 7 years old.
Nothing weird or ghost-like to be seen on this boat either.
We also checked out H.M.S Surprise which is a replica of a 18th Century Royal Navy Frigate. It was used in the movie "Master and Commander" and in the 4th Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Even before I knew it was going to be used in the next Pirates movie I thought it looked like the Black Pearl. It was a fun ship to tour.
I'm not interested in reliving the tour we took of a B-39 Soviet Attack Submarine, but for the good of this blog post I will, just a little.
We had to climb through 4 of these holes in various spots along the way.
I'm ever so slightly claustrophobic. I'm ok, until I start thinking about it too much, then the hyperventilating starts, then the hot flashes, but I survived.
It turned out that even though I was the only one truly excited about the Maritime Museum everyone loved it and had a great time!
When we were planning our spring break family vacation San Diego was 4th (meaning last) on my list of places I want to go.
First (and always) I wanted to to go to Massachusetts to visit my good friend Chris and her family, but because it was early April when it's very possible to get snow in MA it was immediately taken off the list.
My second choice was New Orleans, where it was possible that my friend Chris and her husband would meet us for a shared vacation. The kids had no desire to go to New Orleans, so it was immediately taken off the list.
Third on my list was Washington DC. I thought it would be interesting, historical, educational and again our MA friends could meet us there. However Handy Man was convinced it would be too cold and possibly snowy so...
We ended up in San Diego. Everyone else was excited, I was... Meh. I was excited to be getting away for a few days, I just couldn't imagine that all the touristy spots we were planning to visit would be fun.
Boy was I wrong! I can't believe I had this beautiful city last on my list of places I wanted to spend spring break. I don't know what I was thinking!
(All photos by Handy Man on his little Canon point and shoot, except the last photo was taken by a worker at the Maritime Museum)
I've recovered from taking a whirlwind trip to San Diego then going straight to work the very next day. If I was being honest I'd have to say I'm still pretty damn tired, but I'm trying to stay in a state of denial, so I'll just keep saying I've recovered.
I'll be posting all about my trip over the next few days, but for today I'm posting about the very last day of my visit to a city that I absolutely fell in love with. It started fairly early with a trip to a great breakfast place in Mission Beach, called The Mission. Clever huh? There I met one of the first bloggers I started following regularly and faithfully, Jenn at Juggling Life.
I love her blog, it's honest, funny and Jenn is really smart. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting her, sharing a meal and having great conversations. Her youngest son and my son are the same age and have the same name! It's so cool to meet a blogger friend in "real" life. When I go back to San Diego (yes I will be going back) we will get together again and I can't wait!
Thanks Jenn for meeting me and recommending such a delicious breakfast!
After breakfast my family and I checked out of the hotel and drove around before heading to the airport. We ended up in Pt Loma where I found the house I want to live in! Do you think the people living there will mind?!
If you missed the beginning of my wine country journey you can read about it here. Part II is continued here.
The tasting and tour at King Estate was something I was very excited for. After tasting other Willamette Valley wine I was looking forward to tasting wine from a larger winery and see what went on behind the scenes. As with every other aspect of this trip I was not disappointed.
We sampled some Pinot Gris first, both the oak and stainless steel aged and not surprisingly I loved them both, but enjoyed the stainless steel one slightly more. Kevin, who poured for us, also took us on a tour. Being the wild women we are one of us dropped the f-bomb which broke the ice with Kevin (and I believe got us some preferred treatment, see the tower shot of us)
Kevin told us all about the size of the property and the organic growing of the grapes.
The inside of the building was just as impressive as the outside.
How cool is that door?! There were a few of them throughout the winery. The whole place was immaculately clean, I was impressed.
We were told about the making of the wine, the pressing, the fermenting, the transferring to oak barrels. It was all rather fascinating.
The next place we went was to see where they store some of the barrels of wine. We learned all about "toasting" of the barrels (the inside of the barrels are charred to give the wine different flavors). I thought this was the prettiest room in the winery.
Can you believe the size of those barrels?
We went back to the tasting room to sample a few more wines, then we went to the tower where we met some fun people and drank more wine (shocking, I know).
We headed back to the house to prepare for dinner, this involved drinking more wine! The journey back might have included some mooning and flashing done by someone in the car to the brave souls who were walking, this might have caused one of the brave souls to jump in the car to avoid peeing her pants was uneventful.
Dinner at the main building was beyond words. The food was perfect, the wine was perfect and the company was perfect. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves!
Appetizers:
The main course:
Completely forgot to take pictures of the desserts. We ordered five and passed them around the table taking a bite of each until they were gone. One of us might have latched on to one and refused to let go We all shared nicely.
The wine obviously consumed:
The loud, gluttonous pigs happy diners!
I started the telling of this epic journey with Sherri and I'm ending it with Sherri. I can't thank her enough for putting this trip together for us. I had the best time and I can't wait to do it again!
If you missed part one of my journey through wine country you can read it here.
As we left Newberg Oregon for Eugene the sun was setting on what had been a wonderful day. There was still an adventure waiting for us at King Estate. Driving along the dark windy road to the winery was very nerve racking, but once we got there all of our nerves turned to joy. Even though it was dark when we arrived we knew it was a special place. The light of morning did not disappoint!
Our home away from home...
We hung out and chatted in both the living room and dining room.
The kitchen was a cooker's paradise! It was stocked with wine and there were two refrigerators, one covered adult beverages, the other snacks and breakfast fixin's.
There were four bedrooms, two were suites with pull out beds in addition to the regular bed. All the bedrooms had an adjoining bathroom. It was truly heavenly. Here was my little room...
We all did our own thing Saturday morning, three of us went jogging (after the guy who checked us in said that people intend to jog but never do while visiting). I guess they proved him wrong!
I grabbed my camera and went on a walk. I couldn't wait to see the vineyards in the daylight. The King Estate property is very large, 1,033 acres to be exact and includes 470 acres of organic vineyards, as well as 30 acres of fruits, vegetables, and flowers. I was not disappointed.
I saw my first blooms of the season...
As I made my way up the road I saw the castle like structure that is the winery, tasting room and restruant...
At 1:00, after showers and breakfast we made our way to the main building for a tour and tasting...
The structure is so beautiful...
The views from up there were breathtaking, I don't think my camera (or my ability to use the camera) did the views justice.
A few months ago, while out to dinner with my lovely friends, I proclaimed that it was time we all took a trip to wine country. Nevermind I had never been to wine country and had no idea how to make a trip like that happen. Thankfully we have Sherri who stepped up and planned the whole trip.
I'm not sure why she chose the Willamette Valley in Oregon over going to Eastern Washington (maybe something to do with the winter weather east of the mountains) but I'm glad she did. The weather was perfect, although a little hazy and the scenery was beautiful.
I was mesmerized by the rows and rows of vines. I couldn't stop photographing them. It's kind of embarrassing how many pictures of vineyards I took. Don't worry, I'm only sharing a few with you.
Aren't they pretty?!
Our first stop was Adelsheim Vineyard where I found out I like Chardonney aged in stainless steel. Who knew?! I also pretty much fell in love with their Deglace, which is a dessert wine made from Pinot Gris grapes that have been frozen before being made into wine. The flavor explosion in my mouth when I took that first sip was unlike any wine I'd had before! I wasn't the only one who loved it!
Here we are tasting at Adelsheim.
We learn a thing or two about pruning vines from Derek at Patton Valley.
Umm yeah... You might notice he's kinda cute! And he's a budding business owner, making the first NW Vermouth called Imbue. He said it will be perfect with Gin or on the rocks with a twist of orange! I can't wait to try it.
We also stopped at Owen Roe Winery, but we were a little late after getting lost, so our tasting was a little rushed. That didn't stop us from buying up some of their wine. I purchase their Pinot Gris and a yummy red called Sinister Hand.
Next up I'll share all about our little oasis where we stayed for the rest of the weekend.
I'm taking off this afternoon for Oregon wine country with these lovely ladies:
I guarantee we will be doing a ton of tasting!
We are taking a long weekend to enjoy the scenery and the taste of Oregon wines! My friend is a wine buyer at QFC so we will be getting the VIP treatment.
I plan to take a ton of pictures!
If you missed yesterday's post go check it out! Asthmagirl has set up a page on her blog dedicated to all the happenings for Blog Fest West! Be sure to bookmark it and start making your plans to come to Seattle this summer. It's going to be a blast!
Have a great weekend and I'll see you on the flip side!
Every year, in October, Neil and Pegi Young host a weekend of music to benefit The Bridge School. The school serves children with severe speech and physical impairments. The goal of the school is to help give these children the skills they need to successfully participate academically and socially with their typically developing peers. Many of the students and graduates are invited to sit on stage to be a part of the show. I was moved by how many of the artists spent a good deal of time with their backs to the crowd while singing to the very people the show was benefiting.
The participants change year to year, but there are many artists who have played the benefit multiple times. Pearl Jam has played the show 8 times. Each year I think about going, but that's about as far as I get. For the show in October my friend Chris said, "This year we should really go. Seriously, we really should." I said, "Let's do it." And just like that we ended up in the bay area to see the 24th Annual Bridge School Benefit.
After spending a couple days in San Francisco we boarded the train to Mountain View to enjoy a weekend of amazing music. The weather was horrible, cold, rainy and windy. Luckily I had packed a rain poncho, just in case.
Night one participants:
Grizzly Bear
Modest Mouse
Jackson Browne and David Lindley
Lucinda Williams
Kris Kristofferson (Merle Haggard was supposed to perform with Kris, but he was ill)
Billy Idol
Elvis Costello
Pearl Jam
Buffalo Springfield
We arrived at the venue while Modest Mouse was playing and met up with other Pearl Jam fans we hadn't seen in over a year. It was great to see everyone and get caught up on what was happening in our lives. By the time we got to the lawn seats we had for that night there weren't many places to sit other than the very back.
Chris and Nick:
Me and Chris (before the rain):
Then the rain arrived!
I couldn't see the stage, not even when standing, so I hunkered down and listened. It really was quite enjoyable even with the cold windy rain. The highlight of the night for me (aside from Pearl Jam) was Billy Idol. Yes, Billy Idol. I wasn't all that excited to see him. I thought it would be cool, but when he came out and started singing I was transported back to the 80's and I loved every minute of it. I even stood up and braved the cold, windy rain so I could see a corner of the screen. I'm embarrassed to say we left night one right after Pearl Jam finished. The next night, after watching Buffalo Springfield perform, I really regretted leaving early the night before.
The next day started earlier, but no less rainy. We vowed to get there early so we could buy merch and see all the bands. We scored seats for that night and were thrilled!
Day two participants:
Grizzly Bear
Modest Mouse
Kris Kristofferson
T-Bone Burnett's Speaking Clock Revue featuring:
Ralph Stanley
Jeff Bridges
Neko Case
Elvis Costello
Elton John & Leon Russell (!)
Pearl Jam
Buffalo Springfield
(Sorry about the blurry picture, it's hard to find a good guest photographer.)
Being in seats was so much better than the lawn! We still got wet, but at least we could see the stage. Too bad the amphitheatre cover didn't protect us from the rain! It looked really cool though.
Didn't take too many pictures because of the rain, but later in the evening after it dried out for a bit I could take some shots. For this trip I was using a small Canon point and shoot. It's a lot easier to get into a show than the big Nikon. The close up shots were taken of the big screen.
Jeff Bridges might not be the best singer, but he sure is nice to look at! At the end of the show everyone came out to sing together... Eddie Vedder, Jeff Bridges and Kris Kristofferson all shared a microphone. It was almost more hotness than I could handle.
Part of what helped my decision to go travel to the Bridge School Benefit was the appearance of Elton John. I'm a big fan, but have never seen him perform live. While this was not, technically, an Elton John performance I was blown away nonetheless. In the fall Elton John and Leon Russell made an album together, The Union. This performance was from that album. I loved all the songs and writing this has reminded me that I really need to buy the album! Rolling Stone magazine rated it the 3rd best album of 2010!
I was so ready when my beloved Pearl Jam took the stage. I may have been in attendance the night before, but I couldn't see a thing and I couldn't wait to feast my eyes on my favorite band.
Another downside to the cold, wet weather was that Eddie was wearing a hat, boo hoo!
Later "Uncle" Neil came out to play "Walk With Me" with Pearl Jam.
Then came Buffalo Springfield! There are really no words to describe the vibe of their set. It's really hard to believe they hadn't performed in over 40 years. Here is a Rolling Stone article describing how the reunion came to be. To say they sounded amazing is really understating it. Stephen Stills still has "it".
It really was an amazing trip. Chris and I planned to catch flights at the same time from the San Jose airport and I'm so glad we did. While walking to the gates I spotted Stephen Stills walking toward his gate!! It was shocking, but I managed to stop him to tell him how much I enjoyed the show! Later, after Chris boarded her plane she texted me that he was on her plane and she got his autograph!!
These are video highlights from the weekend. They are a little long but worth watching.
In October I took a few days off from my new job to take a trip to California. It was a multi-purpose trip, to see San Francisco for the first time, meet up with my friends Chris and Nick, AND see Pearl Jam perform.
San Francisco was pretty cool. We were there when the Giants won the world series, that was exciting. We stayed for two nights on the waterfront. Chris and I scheduled our flights to arrived close to the same time, her from Boston, me from Seattle. We got to the hotel just in time to walk to peir 39 and grab some dinner.
We made plans to go to Alcatraz the next day.
It was a cloudy, rainy, foggy day, but we didn't let that discourage us. In fact, the whole trip was cool, rainy and windy. Just like home.
It was creepy to be in a place that held so many hard core criminals, but the views were amazing.
For some reason I love this shot of a tunnel entrance. I think the colors are stunning.
After the Alcatraz tour we went to Ghiradelli Square and did some window shopping. The three of us bought chocolate at the Ghiradelli store claiming we were buying it for others (yeah, right).
Later we met up with Nick's brother and his girlfriend for dinner and many drinks at a tiny Irish pub.
The next day we packed up and took the BART to the Caltrain and landed in Mt. Veiw for the first of two concerts.
