Hello Everyone!
This week has definitely brought a dramatic change in scenery as I have transitioned from the coast to the desert. It was nice to spend as long as I did cruising down the California coast, but there isn’t a whole lot of the country left south of San Diego so after one last walk on the beach I turned my headlights east. I enjoyed a few days in the Palm Springs area and finished my week in incredible Joshua Tree National Park. It’s been a really good week and I’ve been looking forward to telling you all about it.
Last Thursday I said goodbye to my friend Molly, and headed out to Old Town San Diego. I had been to Old Town before but it’s been a while so I thought maybe I could stop in and take a few photos. When I arrived I realized that my memory wasn’t as clear as I thought it was. There was a lot to see there and I ended up staying for a good chunk of the day. Old Town has a stretch of commercial street which ends at Old Town State Park and the State Park has a ton of historic buildings and plenty of shops as well. There was a woman singing and playing her guitar at the entrance to the State Park and it was beautiful music with a wonderful message of peace and love and I enjoyed sitting and listening to her play for a while. Then I made my way down into the parj, poking my head into places and taking some photos. I think my favorite spot was the old tobacco store which looks amazing inside right down to the proprietor who was dressed in period clothes. In his younger days he had been stationed at Quantico for a few years so we chatted about the East Coast a little bit and he let me take a photo of him which I really like. Breaking a bit from the spirit of Old Town I had a fantastic Nepalese lunch at a place called Bhojan Griha a couple of blocks up from the park and it was the most flavorful meal I’ve had in a long time. After lunch I meandered a bit more and took a few more photos. The only bad part about my afternoon was that the sky was so grey. I learned that the locals call the coming time of year the “May Grey” which is followed by the “June Gloom” and that grey skies are not at all uncommon, but it was still a shame that I couldn’t get the photos I wanted with blue skies behind them.
In the late afternoon I headed down to the San Diego waterfront to pay a quick visit to the Maritime Museum there. I had been to this museum a few times, but wanted to revisit one of my favorite ships there, the Star of India. My attention was first called to this ship during my very first season as a tour guide when my two passengers from the Isle of Man (both of whom I saw this past January) told me that this ship had been built on their island. It was built on the Isle of Man in 1863, has circumnavigated the globe 21 times and is considered the world’s oldest active sailing ship. After visiting the Isle of Man this winter, I thought it was appropriate to stop and have another quick look at this beautiful tall ship. From there, I made my way over the amazingly high bridge to Coronado, right across from downtown San Diego but considered a whole different city. I wanted to go and see the Hotel Coronado, the area’s most famous hotel and certainly a San Diego area landmark. Built in 1888, it was the largest wooden structure in the United States until 1944 and it is a stunning building. The general public is more than welcome to visit the lobby, shops, bars, restaurants and beach and I may have taken a quick peak upstairs as well. I enjoyed a quick beer at the old mahogany bar and a lovely stroll along the beach as the sun went down. From there I wandered a few blocks down to the Village Theater and caught the last showing of Air of the day. This is an entertaining movie about the origins of Nike’s Air Jordans and I would have never guessed that a movie about a shoe could be so good. The theater itself was adorable with lit murals on the walls depicting the grand hotel up the street and reasonably priced popcorn to boot. I enjoyed the show and settled in nearby for the night…