PotofLuck06
Our Baby Boy Is Here!!!
Member since 11/06 13241 total posts
Name:
Betsy
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Back from California - Our Review
DH and I left for our vacation on 10/3 and returned back to NY on 10/12. We flew in and out of San Diego, CA on JetBlue Airways. We're glad we did after seeing the LA airport area.
We rented a car from Alamo through BJsVacations.com. They gave us the best rate out of all the rental car agencies and through our BJs club membership we got a free upgrade plus a discounted rate.
We arrived at 12:30pm Pacific time, so we grabbed our shuttle from the airport to Alamo (free) and once we got our car, we headed straight to Balboa Park. It was difficult finding a parking spot in the many free parking areas, but after some time, one finally opened for us. We walked around a portion of the park and then went to the SD Automobile Museum since my DH is a car junkie. Balboa Park had coupons on its web site to provide discounted tickets to the many museums, so we got a 2 for 1 deal with this museum with one of the coupons. They had a Porsche display while we were there, along with a Tucker, a number of motorcycles and many other classic cars.
We walked around the park where the House of Pacific Relations/Cottages were located. We then went and checked in with the hotel since we were exhausted. We stayed at the Ramada Inn on Hotel Circle South. The room was spacious, had a refrigerator, microwave, large bathroom with 2 sinks and this is where we stayed for the duration of the trip in San Diego.
On Sunday, we went to the San Diego Zoo. We got there before the Zoo opened at 9am. We were the first group on the double-decker tour bus that showed you around the zoo. Luckily, since it was so early in the morning, many of the animals were active and walking around. This is a good way to start the zoo visit since it shows you the many paths around the zoo and gives you a good overview of the zoo as a whole. When the bus tour ended, we walked the entire bottom area of the zoo. We took in the CA sea lion show, walked around the Children’s Zoo where you can touch friendly zoo animals, walked around the reptile house, saw the Outback exhibit where the Koala Bear’s were a mere arms length away. We decided we didn’t want to walk up to the other end of the zoo, so we decided to take advantage of the tram that was included in the ticket price we paid. The tram goes from the south part of the zoo to the north end of the zoo. The views from the tram are beautiful of Balboa Park and the City skyline. Plus, you get to go over the zoo where the lions, tigers and bears are located. Once on the north end of the zoo, we walked around the entire zoo from the polar bear rim, the tundra, the tropical exhibits, the desert, the African area, the new elephant exhibit that had just opened back down to the Outback exhibit. In truth, we walked the entire zoo back and forth all day. We were there until the zoo closed at 5pm and we got to see ALL the exhibits and follow all the trails around the zoo. By the time we left the zoo, our legs had gotten a full work out that day and we were exhausted.
On Monday, we took the San Diego Trolley Tour. This is the best way to see the City of San Diego and Coronado without having to worry about where you are going to park or navigate. We picked the tour up in Old Town San Diego. There is a large free parking lot here for your car and the trolley is easily accessible. You can get on and off at various stops along the way for any amount of time you want to spend. Most of the driver’s of these tours were former Navy or Marine officers who were retired. They shared their anecdotal information as well as key facts about the city from its inception. Along the way, you pass ship row where the USS Midway is located, then along harbor way where there are a number of yachts, US military memorials and then takes you into downtown San Diego. We stayed on until Coronado. We got off where the Hotel del Coronado was located and walked along the sidewalks in this town, the beaches and the resort itself. The San Diego/Coronado Bridge is one large, TALL bridge. It’s free – surprisingly there were no tolls in either direction. We then headed back up to Balboa Park with the tour and decided to walk the entire length of the Park. We got to see all the garden exhibits this park has to offer its guests, plus we went into the Botanical Gardens and walked along many of the paths it offered. We picked up the tour bus about 3 hours later and headed for Little Italy and then Historic Old Town San Diego. We finished with the tour and decided to see what Historic Old Town San Diego had to offer. If you have been to Willismburg/Plymouth or any restored area with live actors, that was basically what Old Town San Diego offered its guests, but it was free to the public. It explains what life was like in San Diego when it was under Spanish law, then Mexican law and then American law. It didn’t take long to walk around and it was only mid-afternoon. We decided to drive up to Cabrillo National Monument. It is the highest point in San Diego and the view of the area is beautiful. It’s located near Point Loma where there is an active coast guard station. You can see Mexico from the cliffs and the mountains that surround San Diego. The Pacific ocean is on the other side with its crisp blue waves.
On Tuesday, we headed to Los Angeles. Our GPS navigated us north on I-5. It literally goes through a portion of Camp Pendleton and there was a sign that warned you of military drills and bombings. It is also the first time in my life that I have ever seen a highway with 7 lanes in ONE direction. We checked in with our hotel – Holiday Inn Express in Marina Del Rey/Venice Beach. The hotel was about 5 blocks from Venice Beach. We headed to Burbank as we had tickets to the taping of the Jay Leno Show. It was the first time we had been part of a live studio audience and we had a good time. Jay Leno came out to do a meet and greet with the crowd about 20 minutes before the show, and answered questions from the audience. The guests on the show were Tim Allen and a 13-year old actress who starred in Zombieland whose name I can’t remember. We were warned upon leaving to not head back to Venice Beach as it was 5pm and rush hour traffic in LA would have us sitting there for 2 hours, so we found a restaurant at a nearby Burbank mall to eat at. We left around 7:30pm. That was a mistake – LA traffic was still in stand-by mode. No cars were moving on the interstates and since we didn’t know our way around, we had to follow the GPS directions. Needless to say, we got to sit in LA traffic and it’s nothing like NY traffic and it’s much worse!
On Wednesday, we visited Universal Hollywood Studios. Since it was no longer summer, the park didn’t open until 10am. We parked in Jurassic parking and got to walk though CityWalk, which is a combination of stores, restaurants and movie theaters with really big signs. Universal brought out the red carpet when they opened the gates. We headed straight for the Universal Back-Lot Tour that takes you down through Universal studios and their back lot where a lot of filming takes place. This tour allows you to see some of the magic that is created during film shooting, including tv studio magic. We saw where Desperate Housewives is filmed (the homes and cars), where Jaws was partially filmed, War of the Worlds plane crash scene, Back to the Future, Pyscho, the house used for the Great Outdoors, etc. Some of it even had live action for us to see. After the ride ended, we toured through the rest of the park, including the new Simpson’s ride that replaced the Back to the Future ride, the Jurassic Park and Mummy rides, the special effects and Backdraft shows, Hollywood animal stars show, the House of Horrors, Shrek 4-D show and finished with Waterworld – the show. The park closed and we grabbed dinner in CityWalk. Then we headed back to Universal since we had tickets to see Pearl Jam that night. It was their last show in LA and they were playing at the Gibson Amphitheater.
On Thursday, we drove to Santa Monica Pier. We actually got a parking spot on the pier. We walked the entire length of the pier since Pacific Park was closed until noon. We walked the boardwalk and dipped our feet in the Pacific Ocean. Luckily for us, the Pacific Park opened and we rode the Pacific Wheel. What a view from the top!! We then drove along the Pacific Coast Highway (CA-1). We got to drive the 30 miles of coastline in Malibu to Oxnard as my DH wanted to visit the DW Drum factory where they make his drums. He was in drum heaven as he got to see how his drums were made and the studio of drums they had for the tour guests to play. The only disappointing part of our trip was taking a hotel recommended tour of LA at night. The VIP Tours and Charters picked us up at our hotel and we spent the rest of the night being driven around at high speeds around LA seeing the “sights”. We got off the mini-bus twice – once on Hollywood Blvd to see Kodak Theater/Chinese Theater/Sidewalk of the Stars for 30 minutes and once more to see Rodeo Drive for 15 minutes. We saw the rest of the City and surrounding areas by fast glance through the window. Not exactly what we paid for and we plan to complain to the company. That was the disappointing part of LA – everyone we talked to – LA has no public transportation as the bus system is not the most reliable. It has no metro system and if you don’t have a car in LA, you’re crap out of luck!
On Friday, we went to Long Beach to visit the Aquarium of the Pacific. This was a nice aquarium – I would say it’s on par with some of the bigger aquariums we’ve seen in Boston and Tampa Bay. It covers all the marine animals along the Pacific coast. It was a very hands on aquarium for little kids and there is a lot to see. We took the aquarium’s recommendation and paid for the Long Beach harbor cruise. This was a 45 minute cruise that showed off the Queen Mary, CA sea lions, the Long Beach coastline and its history and other random anecdotes. From Long Beach, we drove to Ontario, CA where we stayed at the Quality Inn. My husband is a NASCAR fan (and slowly immersing me into the sport), so we were in town for the Nationwide and Sprint Cup races on Saturday and Sunday.
On Saturday and Sunday, we spent our days at the Auto Club Speedway. We had pit passes that allowed us to go down to where the drivers came out of the garage to race on the track, so we got to see them up close and personal. It definitely was an experience. After the Sprint Cup race ended with Jimmie Johnson’s win on Sunday, we drove back to San Diego. That Monday morning, we flew back to Long Island.
We had an awesome trip and would recommend it to anyone!!
Just a few of the many pictures we took on the trip
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