Day Eight - The Return

Day Eight – The Return Home

Again, I would like to give the advice I mentioned on the first day of this trip regarding luggage. Go with the larger suitcase that is not packed completely full over a smaller suitcase that is jam packed. It doesn’t weigh less because the suitcase is smaller, and the larger, less full suitcase allows room for items that were accumulated during the trip. Items like the Padres souvenir cup that was purchased and left sitting under my seat at the ball game (idiot!).

For those who have not been to the San Diego Airport, it can be rather confusing. All drop offs for departures and pickups for arriving flights are on the same level, so when the cab driver dropped me off and I walked in the doors and saw the baggage claim area, I was a bit confused. The signage at the airport was not real great either, and it took me a while to realize I had to go up a level for the check in area. Once I was through security, I realized what a bad layout they have in the gate area. The gates are basically in the hallway, creating tons of crowding and congestion when people hurry to get in line and wait to board the plane. The seating area to wait on the planes is basically one giant area, situated around a bunch of different gates. This adds to the mystery of wondering which person at your gate will be the one sitting next to you on the plane. With so many gates sitting in one area, you also have to wonder who exactly will be on your flight.

The flight home was long, but survivable. I did come to one realization that anyone who has flown will understand, and that is the fact that it is impossible to sleep comfortably on a plane. No matter what I did, I could not completely fall asleep. When I did, I would wake up with my head tilted in some awkward position that made my neck hurt. Not only that, but I had the constant fear that being in one of those awkward positions would lead to sleeping with my mouth open and drooling. Therefore, I did everything I could to keep from falling asleep, despite my tiredness, just to make sure I didn’t embarrass myself. After landing in St. Louis, the adventure had just begun. The arrival time was scheduled for 5:53 pm. When we touched down, they announced local time at 5:55 pm. Not bad. We then proceeded to pull off the runway, and sit nowhere close to the terminal as we waited on another plane that was at our gate. Great scheduling by American Airlines. We sat for a good 15 minutes, and finally started rolling towards the terminal, only to see that the other plane was still at our gate. We waited some more. Finally, we pulled into our gate at 6:20 pm. After departing the plane, I stopped by the restroom then went to baggage claim, where the adventure continued. American Airlines had another flight that had arrived just ahead of ours, and then our flight. I know that two fights landing within a half hour of each other can be taxing on the baggage crew, but seriously. I waited for a good 20 minutes before bags from our plane started to appear at terminal M2, despite the fact that we were told our bags would come out on terminal M1. Mine was obviously the last one off the place as it took forever. Finally, around 6:50 pm, my bag appeared and I left for the metrolink station, only to find that the escalator was not on. This led to a walk across the airport to the other side and up another escalator, then back the way I came. I left the airport terminal at 6:55 pm, exactly one hour after our plane touched down. Way to go St. Louis Airport!

As I got home from the trip, there were several things that stood out in my mind as having noticed during my week long venture.

Strollers and Kids
Isn’t there an age or size limit on when kids are too old for a stroller? I saw so many parents pushing around a stroller with kids who were way too old/big to be in a stroller. Make the kid walk for crying out loud. No wonder American society is getting fatter and lazier. I realize the zoo and Sea World are exemptions to some of this, especially those kids at the border line age/size, and getting tired with all the walking in those places. I’m talking about other areas though, like around the hotel and shopping areas. When there’s a 9 or 10-year old kid in a stroller, I think that’s a bit much.

Stroller SizesS
Speaking of strollers, what is up with these SUV type strollers now days? Why is it a stroller has to be twice as big as the 6 year old kid riding in it? Some of these strollers were bigger than my car. Not only does this seem ridiculous, but it does nothing but get in the way as these idiot parents push these gigantic strollers in crowded places and bump into everyone around. These must be the same parents with the giant SUV who bang into things in parking lots.

Overweight People
This is a touchy subject for some, but I noticed a lot of overweight people walking around. Sadly, most of them were others at my conference and in my profession. It made me wonder though, with all the walking I did to see all the sites, how could these people weighting 300-plus pounds, or even the short, dumpy people, move around without getting exhausted? I saw numerous overweight people who were stopped and sitting and breathing heavily after a five-minute walk. This cannot be healthy. I felt kind of bad for some of them, as I realized that there was no way they could have seen and done all the things I did without spending an extra $100 on cab fares to get everywhere – like 10 blocks down the street. It also came to my attention at the Padres game, wondering how the 300-pound woman next to me managed to squeeze into that seat. It couldn’t have been comfortable to sit there for three hours.

Airports Good for People Watching
I think airports have to be one of the best places in the world to people watch. I spent an hour in the San Diego Airport just sitting there watching others. There’s such a wide variety of people and characters and personalities, and so many different situations and moods they could be in at an airport, that it is sometimes comical to just sit and watch.

Cell Phones are Killing Politeness and Manners
This is something I have noticed for a while now, but it was very apparent during this trip for some reason, and that is the rudeness that cell phones have brought into our society. I’m not going to say cell phones are evil, I tend to like mine very much. However, I think that some people should have their cell phone privileges revoked until they learn some common manners. The list of violations are many and not worth going into detail about, that will come in a later post at some other time. I’ll just say that cell phones seem to be the cause of a lot of rudeness in society, and it appears to be getting worse.

San Diego - Day Seven

DAY SEVEN

Today was baseball day. I got up and took the five-minute walk to Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres. I got there about 10am and picked up my ticket at will call for that night’s game, and then paid a little extra and took the tour of the park.

Petco Park is fairly new, only four years old, so it still has that clean, new appearance. The tour showed us all the seating areas, including the high rent seats behind home plate. It only costs $23 grand for a seat license, which gives you the right to buy season tickets at $20 grand each. That’s $43,000 per seat, per year. There are 181 seats in that section, and a little math says that’s almost $8 million in income right there. No wonder these pro ball players make so much. The tour showed all the unique aspects of the park, including the old historic warehouse down the left field line and the suites in that warehouse that overhang the left field area. Another unique aspect is the Park in the Park. Beyond the right field area, there is a park with a grassy hill and a little waffle ball field. General admission tickets can sit there and watch the game, or you can buy bleacher seats which go from that grassy park area down to the right field fence. In front of those bleachers, and going right up to the fence is a big beach area with sand for kids to play in during the game. The park is very fan friendly, as it is wide open in every aspect, with no closed off concourse, so you can see the field from just about every part of the park, no matter where you are. Another fan friendly aspect is the seats themselves. Each section of the stands is laid out like normal parks, but the seats are not straight in those sections. The seats are actually angled so the seats are facing towards the infield area, which can save on the neck strain from turning to watch the action the whole game. For the players, Petco Park features a really weird configuration in the outfield as far as distances. The left and right field power ally areas are deep, with the left field ally measuring 400 feet and the right field ally measuring 401 feet. The distance to straight away centerfield however, measures just 396 feet, a little different than most parks where centerfield is the deepest area of the park. I noticed also that there was no tarp anywhere to be found. The tour director mentioned this a little later and said they have a tarp, but it is actually stored under the seats in the left field area. Because it doesn’t rain much in San Diego, they don’t need the tarp that often, so they keep it hidden and out of the way. In fact, in the four-year history of Petco Park, they have had just one rainout and in the past 23 years, they have had just two rainouts. That’s pretty impressive. And of course, like most of these tours, I got to go down on the field. This included walking in the dugout and behind the home plate area. Overall it was pretty cool to see a lot of the park features and areas that the general public cannot visit or see during game days. After that it was off for some lunch, then walking around some of the local shops to kill some time. Then I went back to the hotel to pack for tomorrow’s departure and relax before going to the game that night.

That night I went to the Padres game, adding Petco Park as baseball stadium number seven where I have seen a professional baseball game. I got there early and walked around the park during the visiting team’s batting practice. I stationed myself in the leftfield stands area, hoping for that age old dream of every fan and getting a baseball. I was not, however, going to be the guy from the Budweiser real men of genius commercials who goes diving for a ball. But, I actually saw one home run ball come near me where three men, all in their 40s and 50s, went diving in the seats to try and retrieve. At that point, I felt ashamed to be a fellow human being. It was that embarrassing and ridiculous to watch. I then got pictures of future Hall of Famer Greg Maddux as he warmed up in the bullpen prior to the game before heading to my seat. I decided to take out a second mortgage on my house and eat my dinner at the ballpark. I was actually surprised by the prices at the concession stands, which were lower than I thought. That or the St. Louis Cardinals concession stands are way overpriced. The biggest complaint I do have about the concession stands was their selection. They had a wide variety of foods, but not at the same place. For example, I planned on going for a hot dog, nachos, and a Sprite in the souvenir cup (which, as I am typing this, I just realized I left the cup under my seat – I’m a moron!). Unfortunately, the nachos were at the concession stand half way across the upper deck, but the concession stand with the nachos did not have hot dogs. I didn’t understand that, and I didn’t want to buy nachos at one place then go get a hot dog and drink at another. It all seemed like trouble waiting to happen, so I went with a hot dog, pretzel (no salt) and a Sprite in the souvenir cup that I could conveniently leave underneath my seat (idiot!).

Finally I got to my seat, only to have one of my fears come true. The seat to my left was occupied by a lady who had to be pushing 300 pounds, and did not have a pleasant aroma. That was totally counter balanced by the person in the seat on my right, which was occupied by a four-year old boy attending his first ever baseball game with his dad. I quickly made pals with the four-year old to divert my attention from Shamu on my left. The game itself was a typical baseball game, and I quickly fell in line with the home fans, cheering for the Padres despite their blunders and eventual loss. I wanted tickets for this game so I could see Greg Maddux pitch, who is a future, first-ballot Hall of Famer, and to see San Diego’s great closer, Trevor Hoffman. For those who don’t know baseball, Hoffman has one of the best entrances in baseball, as they play the AC/DC song Hells Bells as he enters. I wanted to hear that song as he entered – that was my only goal. Unfortunately, San Diego gave up four runs in the seventh inning and lost 6-4. Maddux took the loss, and Hoffman never pitched. They did have a great fireworks display after the game, which I stayed for and because of the fireworks got completely distracted and forgot my stupid souvenir cup under my seat (moron!). The evening ended with me stopping by for a large helping of cookies and cream ice cream in a waffle cone, which I ate on the walk back to the hotel, where I got to my room and realized I left my stinking cup under my seat (idiot!).

San Diego Trip - Day Six

DAY SIX

Turns out it didn’t take long for my return trip to the USS Midway. A couple of people I know wanted to go on Monday so I tagged along. We went in the morning, assuring plenty of time to see everything. Having rushed through everything yesterday, I took my time today, listening to all the narratives provided for each section of the ship. It was equally as impressive as the day before, and I got to see and hear more details on the various sections of the ship.

After that, I headed off for Coronado Island. The most direct route from my hotel to Coronado Island was directly across the water in the bay, so that’s the way I went over. I took the Coronado ferry service, which was a 15-minute boat ride across the bay and provided me a new perspective from which to see the city. Once on Coronado, the goal was to go and see the famous Hotel Del Coronado. The bad part was the ferry dock and the hotel are on opposite ends of the island. This led me on a walk that was a little more than a mile, and took me through the residential areas of the island. I have to say that it was perhaps the cleanest place I think I have ever visited. Every sidewalk was clean of dirt and debris; every lawn was kept up nice; all landscaping was well taken care of. The houses were all small and almost right next to each other, with no more than five or six feet between houses, and no two houses on the ten-block walk were the same. Each was different and had its own look. Even the landscaping for every house was different. It seemed like a very peaceful place to live.

I finally reached the hotel, having decided that I should have bucked up and taken a cab across the island. The hotel itself was immaculate and had this aura of sophistication. I walked around the outside and admired the architecture and unique design of the hotel. It reminded me of some kind of castle. I then walked through the shop area of the hotel and realized that aura of sophistication has a price tag, as everything in the stores were about five times more than a normal store. I went through the hotel to the beach access area and walked out on the beach towards the Pacific Ocean. The beach area here was much different than the beach I visited earlier in my stay, as this beach was very clean and was not overwhelmed with kelp. One area in front of the hotel had a bunch of rocks along the beach, creating some great photo opportunities. I walked around the rocks and in the water, and found a really cool looking seashell, intact and unbroken with a cool star design. I later found another one similar to the first, only it was a darker color. When I picked it up, the bottom felt tingly so I turned it over and found that it was not a shell, but some kind of living organism. The bottom was a purplish color and had tiny tentacle-like legs all moving about. I watched in fascination for a while and then gently placed it back in the edge of the surf to let it go about its business. The next order of business will be to look it up and find out just what that thing was. After spending quite a bit of time on the beach, I made my way back to the hotel. I ran across this odd looking tree out front, called a dragon tree that had on sign on it saying the tree served as the backdrop to a famous scene in the Marilyn Monroe movie “Some Like it Hot,” which was filmed in the Hotel Del Coronado. I then walked through the inside of the hotel, at least the part they would let me, and into the courtyard area that has some beautiful flowers and trees and landscaping.

I was so relaxed and happy about the visit to the Hotel Del Coronado and the beach that I didn’t even mind the walk back across the island to the ferry dock. I took a different street this time so I could see another collection of houses on the island. After returning on the ferry to the San Diego side of the bay, it was time for dinner and I decided on a nearby seafood place called The Fish Market, which is famous for its selection of fresh fish. I opted for my favorite, the salmon, and was not disappointed. I ate by myself and sat out on the patio area which was in fact closed off by windows, but had a few screens that let in the breeze. As I was sitting there, a seagull landed on the edge of the patio around the restaurant and walked up and down that edge for a good 30-40 minutes, just looking in at all the people eating. It was as if he was waiting for someone to start throwing him bread crumbs, not realizing there was window in between him and us. It got to be comical as he kept eyeing people in the restaurant wondering why we wouldn’t give him any food. As I ate, I looked out over the bay and was amused by not only the confused seagull, but the little dive bomber birds. I don’t know what kind of birds they are, but they are about 8-10 inches long, with a wingspan about the same, and look almost like miniature sea gulls. They would fly around 10-15 feet above the water, just gliding in the air, then all of the sudden they would dive straight down into the water. When they dove, their entire bodies would go completely under water for a couple seconds, before popping back up with a small minnow or fish of some kind in their mouth. It was amusing to watch. Towards the end of the meal, a pelican flew over and joined in, doing his own dive bombing for food, which was just as amusing.

My timing proved to be absolutely perfect, as I left the restaurant and went around to the opposite side to get a great view of the sunset. The view wasn’t the same as my earlier sunset viewing, but spectacular none the less. As I looked out, I had the water of the bay in front of me, with the reflection of the orange sun. Then there was the hill of the Point Loma area I had visited the other day, with the sun setting behind that hill. Once again, as I was getting pictures of the setting sun, another sailboat crossed the bay directly in front of the setting sun. Another coincidence and bit of luck with good timing on this trip, and another relaxing scene to end the day.

San Diego - Days 4 and 5

DAYS FOUR AND FIVE (Sat and Sun)

Saturday began the work portion of the trip. I vowed to do my best to participate in all the things I should, to make up for all the fun I am having and am planning to have on the trip (minus the sun burn stuff). I slept in before heading down for registration and a brunch. I then proceeded to the exhibit hall, which featured vulture salespeople throwing their website design and technology products to anyone who was in the vicinity. I walked quickly, grabbing as much free stuff as I could without being harassed, and quickly vacated the exhibit hall and headed back up to my room.

After some television to kill some time, I then went to my first meeting of the convention. I think it may have been my last meeting of the convention. It was one of those long, drawn out, boring meetings that took about three times longer than it really needed to take or should have taken. I resorted to sending text messages to my sister just to kill time. The meeting lasted about two hours total, after which I decided I really didn’t have the energy to make the next meeting I had planned on attending, so it was back to the room where I vegged out and watched more movies until dinner.

Our conference office was springing for dinner, so a group of about a dozen of us all went to a nearby restaurant. It was on the bay, and was a very nice place, but ridiculously overpriced. I have no problem paying a lot of money for a meal, but I had better leave the place thinking wow, that was great food. I should not have left the restaurant thinking well, for $23, that piece of fish was just okay. A meal costing that much should be something you can’t walk down the street to another restaurant and get for half that price. But hey, I didn’t pay, so why should I complain?

Sunday was a lazy day to start. I was pretty tired from all the activity the first few days and from all the sun, so I decided to leave the alarm clock off when I went to bed Saturday night. I guess I needed the sleep. I didn’t wake up until almost 10:30. After a luncheon for the convention (again, free food – whose to complain?), I had the afternoon to myself since I had decided the day before I had attended my last meeting of the convention. I decided the visit the USS Midway Museum, one of the hot spots I had decided before the trip I absolutely had to visit.

The USS Midway is an out of service aircraft carrier that was docked and turned into a museum. I wasn’t sure what to expect, other than being a big history and military history fan I was sure I would enjoy it and I wasn’t disappointed. When I first boarded the ship, I was given headphones and an iPod like device that served as a self-guided tour of the ship. There were signs showing which paths to take and directions to go, and each stop or area of the ship had a yellow sign with a number on it. This assured that I was going in the right direction and all I had to do was punch in that number and the iPod device would play a description of the area I was visiting at that time. It was an ingenious way of providing a narrative on a tour around the ship, while still allowing me to walk and visit different areas at my own pace. I became a quick fan.

The tour started on the hanger deck with a few planes on display and the requisite tourist area with snack shop and gift shop. I then started the actual tour by going through the berthing spaces for the crew, showing their bunks and living quarters, which were incredibly cramped and tight. It advanced to the junior officer’s quarters, which were slightly more spacious, but still pretty cramped. Then I took a detour down to the engine rooms and brig. It’s funny how they put the ship’s jail in the bottom, near the hot and noisy engine area, a sure deterrent that culprits would not want to screw up and visit the brig again. Then it was back to the hanger deck for a couple more displays of planes.

Then I went down into the guts of the ship, going down the incredibly small steps, which were no more than six inches in depth, and steep stairs that went almost straight down (mom – this tour is NOT for you). This level featured all the chow lines and wardrooms for the officers to eat and hang out in, as well as some of the living quarters for the executive officer and Chaplin of the ship. It was basically the “city” part of the ship, that contained the post office, sick bay, laundry areas, eating quarters – all the things necessary for day to day activities that were not directly related to the ships operation. It was amazing to see all of the services provided, and the living quarters for the ships crew and basically what they lived in during their deployments. I was constantly amazed at how someone could find their way around the ship without the handy little yellow numbered signs. All the hallways looked alike, and were not made for anyone over six-feet tall.

Then it was up to the flight deck, where there were numerous planes and helicopters on display, showing the different types of aircraft that flew on the ship. Taking note of a tip provided on the museum guide map, I went straight over the line to climb up and see the island superstructure, which contained the bridge and flight control areas. This was a newly opened area and by far the coolest thanks to some good timing and good luck. This part of the tour was guided by volunteers, most of who served in the military and many of them served on that very ship. They only took 20 people per group through this part of the tour, which lasted about 15-20 minutes. As they were admitting people for the next group, I was desperately hoping the line wouldn’t get cut off right in front of me, causing another 10-minute wait before beginning. Luckily, I was number 19, and allowed in this group. Good luck charm number one. As the guide went through a brief introduction and explanation of what we were going to see, a volunteer lady working on the other side allowed a gentleman and his son to join the group, giving us 22, and explained to our guide that this gentleman, by the name of Joe, actually served on the USS Midway. Good luck charm number two. Joe wasn’t that old, and I found out later he served on that very ship as a navigator for five years in the mid 1980s. I quickly made it a point to move close to him and hear his stories.

The tour proceeded to the flight control area. This was the area where the flight control officers directed and managed all aircraft traffic on the ship. There were two seats in an area that overlooked the flight deck, and it had all the information and chart boards used to direct the craziness of moving planes from the hanger to the flight deck, launching planes and recovering planes coming in to land. I can’t begin to imagine how stressful that job must have been. From there, it was off to the navigator area. Good luck charm number three set in as I ended up next to Joe. The guide turned that portion of the tour over to Joe, who told about the area we were in, what it was used for and what their job was. He added stories and little tidbits about that section of the ship from when he served, and it was obvious from his tone of voice and the expressions on his face that he was truly enjoying the moment as he recalled all his past memories. It was really neat to see someone who served on that ship, in this very room we were standing in, talking about all his experiences and the times he remembered from the ship. As the group was leaving to go to the next area, Joe asked if I could take a picture of him and his son standing over the chart table where he once had worked. It was obvious that Joe truly loved being able to get that picture with his son, and I was glad to be able to help.

The group then moved to the captain’s bridge, where the actual sailing and control of the ship took place. Having come in after the rest of the group with Joe and his son, we partially listened to the tour guide, but Joe then started telling his own explanation, complete with stories and anecdotes from his days on the ship. Again, lucky charm number four as I got the inside scoop on some great stories, including the time Joe once got caught sitting in the captain’s chair – an absolute no-no on any ship. He again asked if I could take a picture of him and his son standing at the helm of the ship, and I was glad to help out.

That part of the tour ended, and it was back down to the flight deck. My only bad luck portion of the visit was timing. I didn’t arrive at the Midway until almost 3pm. They say the self-guided tour with the narrative takes about two hours. As I walked out on the flight deck, it was already 4:45 and I hadn’t visited the aircraft or displays on the flight deck, and it closed at 5 pm. I went over to an area in the middle of the ship where a veteran who flew planes on the Midway back in the 1970s was talking about landing on an aircraft carrier. He had some great information on what that experience was like. Because of my bad timing though, I missed the gentleman on the other side of the ship who talked about the experience of the catapult take offs as well as a couple other areas and the aircraft on the flight deck. I tried looking at the aircraft until they basically came around and kicked me off the boat. It was truly a great visit, and one I could easily go back and do again later this week should time allow, which may be tomorrow evening as luck would have it. The convention is actually having a reception on the flight deck of the USS Midway Monday evening, so I’m sure I’ll do what I can to attend that event and be able to walk around and look at the aircraft, although I’m not sure what portions of the boat will actually be open.

Prior to dinner, I met some friends at the ESPN reception that was part of our convention. We met there and decided on when and where to go for dinner. While killing some time before going to change for dinner, I looked around the room and noticed Bill Walton, and decided it was now time for me to head out immediately (I can’t stand Walton). For dinner, a group of us decided to hit a very historical landmark bar/restaurant in the San Diego area, located two blocks from our hotel – the KC Barbeque. Why is it historic you ask? Well, for those movie fans out there who have see “Top Gun,” it is the restaurant where they filmed the scene that has Goose playing the piano with Tom Cruise’s character helping sing. How could I not go to that restaurant and see the place where they filmed one of the best “guy” movies of all-time? Our table was even right next to the actual piano used in that scene. It’s a good thing it has that historical movie significance too, because the restaurant itself wasn’t all that great. It’s very small first of all, and we had to wait 30 minutes before our order was taken, and over an hour from the time we sat down until we got our food. The food wasn’t even that great, it was just okay. The other bad part was leaving my camera at my hotel room and not being able to get pictures. I still have time left though, so I can always hit that place again for lunch sometime to get some pictures.

San Diego Trip - Day Three (The Zoo)

DAY THREE

I’m an idiot. A moron. Not the brightest bulb in the box. A few fries short of a Happy Meal. More on that later.

My third day in San Diego started with a hotel switch. I was staying on my own money at a Quality Inn, in the not very affluent section of town. With the work convention starting on Friday evening, I switched to the ritzy Marriott Hotel and Marina, located next to the convention center on the bay. Missouri tax dollars at their finest. I opted for a cab for the transit between hotels and had what I would say is the fastest service imaginable. I called the cab company from my hotel room, with bags already packed and ready to go. As soon as I hung up the phone, I grabbed my luggage, went down the elevator four floors, walked out into the lobby, and the cab was waiting outside the front door.

After arriving at the Marriott, it was like night and day. For one, I could speak English at the check-in desk and not feel like I was speaking a foreign language. The Quality Inn staff spoke Spanish as their primary language. My room is on the 18^th floor, which is what I wanted, something as high as possible for the best view. Unfortunately, the view out my window faces the downtown area, and not out over the bay and the ocean. But I can see Petco Park – home of the San Diego Padres – about four blocks away from my window. That should be great the next few days when they have home games with fireworks after each game.

After checking in and getting settled, I headed out for the famous San Diego Zoo. It is an extremely large zoo and has a number of various animals and species. However, it would have been nice if some of those animals and species would have actually been on display. The koala bears were the first stop and there were a number of them out. Pretty boring though, as they sleep about 20 hours a day (my heros!). I then went to the elephants just in time to see them being led inside so their keepers could clean, and next to them the Rhino was sleeping and looked to be dead.

I made my way from there to the bear and lion area, only to discover one bear and no lions. Then it was off to the monkey area – never a disappointment. The gorillas were in their afternoon rest mode, so they weren’t very active but still funny to watch them watching us. One of them was sitting on a log with his back to the viewing area almost as if he were doing it on purpose. Every so often he would turn his head and sneak a peek to see if people were still watching him, then quickly turn back around and sit in a statuesque pose facing away from us. It was almost as if he was deliberately not turning around so we could see him. The orangutan were next and were hilarious. There was one baby and a mom and dad who were wrestling. The baby eventually went off on his own playing with branches of food, while the mom and dad continued to “wrestle.” I say wrestle, but it looked like maybe they were getting frisky. At one point, the male was on his back, legs spread and wrapped around the body of the female, with his hands on her head, holding it down in his crotch region. I’m not sure what monkeys consider foreplay to be, but there were a lot of parents blushing when their kids were asking what the monkeys were doing.

I moved on from there to the tiger and hippo area, only to find another missing animal. There was no tiger anywhere to be found. The hippo was there, just chillin’ in the water and was right up against the display glass, which was very cool. He kept opening his eyes and looking at all the kids tapping the glass in front of him, almost as if it was an expected but irritable part of his day. Next was the panda exhibit, which was very cool. There were only two on display, but they were eating and active and were really cool to watch. From there I went to the Polar Bear Plunge, only to find no plunging and no polar bear. I even went and got a quick snack - $7 for an ice-cream bar and water, ouch – and then came back to double check and still no polar bear.

Next was surprisingly one of the better areas, the horn and hoff mesa, that featured a lot of takins, deer, gazelle and giraffes. The takins are surprisingly cool to watch. They have them at the St. Louis zoo as well. They have a body like a cow, with the head that looks somewhat like that of a horse and tiny horns on top of their heads, and long, thick fur, and for some reason are always fun to watch move around. I got to the giraffe area in time to watch them being fed and quickly running around to be first in line at the food area. Another disappointing area was the cat canyon area, that was supposed to contain various wild cats, but contained nothing but empty cages.

I had now circled the entire zoo, and since I was back to where I started, I went back to the elephant and rhino area. With their play space cleaned, there were now three elephants walking around and doing their thing, so my decision to circle back to this area was a good move. One was washing himself, using his trunk to drink water then flipping his trunk back over his body and spraying the water on himself. Such a normal and simple daily task for an elephant that was funny to sit there and watch. The rhino was also awake and active, just walking around his large play area. It was amazing to watch an animal that weighs close to 4,000 pounds just walking around.

Before leaving, I stopped by to catch the sea lion show. Like Sea World a few days earlier, it was fun to watch the interaction of the trainers and the animals – although these trainers didn’t wear full-body diving suits. Overall, the zoo was just average. The paths and directions around the place were very complicated and hard to follow. I could never tell exactly where I was or how to get from one place to the next. I just had to walk around and hope for the best. The lack of animals in certain areas was disappointing as well. They had a wide variety of endangered animals and animals you don’t see at other zoos, but the lack of some of the popular animals (lions, tigers and bears, oh my), was a bit disappointing. They do have a ton of various birds around the whole place, but I’m not a big bird watching fan, so that didn’t appeal to me that much. Anyone from St. Louis, take pride, as I would rate the St. Louis zoo higher than the San Diego zoo. It may not have the variety of animals San Diego has, but it’s easier to find your way around and of course, the price is right.

After leaving the zoo, I decided to walk around Balboa Park, the area immediately around the zoo in the middle of the city. It houses a number of different museums and gardens, but I decided not to visit the museums as the cost for admissions was higher than the satisfaction I would have gotten from the actual museum. There just weren’t any museums that focused on things that would have been of interest to me. It was neat to walk around the park area and see the buildings though. Many of them had very intricate details etched in the buildings and the architecture reminded me of a lot of the buildings I saw when visiting Barcelona a few years ago.

From there it was back to the hotel and a shower, where I realized what a complete and total idiot I am. Or should I say reaffirmed what a complete and total idiot I am. After getting sun burn on my forehead the first day at Sea World, I figured I had conquered that problem by buying a hat. After the trip to the zoo, in which I wore the hat the whole day, I discovered that I should have bought I hat that had a bill in the back as well. I was wearing a regular t-shirt, which allowed the back of my neck to get completely fried. It got more red and burnt then even my forehead did two days earlier. Sad part was I actually had a small, travel size bottle of sun tan lotion with me. When I say with me, I don’t just mean in my hotel room with me on the trip, I mean it was in the pocket of my shorts with me at the zoo all day. Did I put it on at any point? Nope. Does that make me twice as dumb as normal? Possibly three times as dumb as normal. I just didn’t think about and it didn’t bother me until I got back to the hotel and went to take a shower. The minute the water hit my shoulders, I realized what a moron I am.

After a quick shower, it was off to the historic gaslamp district of San Diego for some dinner. There area about a gazillion restaurants in this area specializing in every different type of food imaginable. I settled on a simple Irish pub near the baseball stadium and ate outside before going back to the hotel and walking along the piers and bay area. While there, I ran into a couple of people I know from the convention. It was great to finally see familiar faces, but I have to admit I was a bit disappointed in being sidetracked from my plans to visit the park behind the marina to see the sunset, but what can you do? The rest of the night was spent sitting in the hotel visiting with a group of people from the convention until the wee hours of the night. At that point, I realized the fun and vacation part of the trip would have to be put on hold temporarily as the work part of the trip kicked in for the next few days.

San Diego - Day Two

It’s funny how things somehow seem to work out. I started my second day in San Diego by sleeping in and not starting until around 9 am. My plan was to go to Cabrillo National Park and Point Loma Lighthouse. I left the hotel thinking I had the bus schedule down pat. Turns out I didn’t. The bus stop by the hotel was the correct route, but evidently there is an A, B and C route for bus 28. The bus arrived, and I got on bus 28B. About 10 minutes later, I realized I needed to be on bus 28C. My first clue was when we passed the sign on the road that said “Cabrillo National Park – Turn Right,” and the bus went straight. A half-mile or so later, we pulled up to a security checkpoint to enter the US Naval Sub Base. At that point, I talked briefly with the driver about my dilemma of being on the wrong bus, and he said he would help me out. Since I do not have proper military credentials, I had to leave the bus and wait at the checkpoint while the driver continued his route through the base and back out through that checkpoint. After a 15 minute wait, he arrived and I got back on the same bus. At this point, the driver, who was an incredibly nice guy, basically said I had two options. The first option was to ride this current bus all the way back to the terminal area (about a 15-20 minute ride) and then get on a bus for route 28C. Since this involved another 15-20 minute ride back over basically the same route, I decided that was way too much time on the bus and not doing anything. Option two was I could get off the 28B bus a few stops down the road, cross the street and wait for the 28C bus to come by in the opposite direction. I went with option two. The driver stopped where I needed to get off and showed me where the stop was across the street that I needed to be at and gave me a bus time schedule/map. I thanked him and left. Once I got to the designated stop, I opened the time schedule/map and realized that the next 28C bus would be coming by that stop at around 11:05 am. I looked at the time and noticed it was currently 11:10 am. Opps. No problem, I’ll wait for the next bus, which, according to the schedule, would be arriving around 12:10 pm. Okay, that’s a bit of a problem. That’s a lot of time to kill. At this point, I was rather frustrated with myself and my unfortunate bad decision making and timing and set out to figure out a way to waste the next 45-50 minutes. I was determined to be at the correct stop at least 15 minutes early so as not to miss the next bus.

At this point, I started wandering around the area. The first place I stopped was a small, mom and pop drug store. After my complete breakdown in common sense the day before and the sun burnt forehead, I planned on getting a baseball hat of some sort to use the rest of the week. Originally, I planned on going to the national park and paying about twice as much for a normal hat and just get one there. Turns out, this mom and pop drugstore had San Diego baseball hats for $10. Sold. Problem one solved. Next, since I missed breakfast by sleeping in a little, and reading on a brochure that the Cabrillo National Park had no food services, I decided to grab some lunch. That killed an easy half hour and next thing I knew, it was 11:45. Perfect time to get to the bus stop. As I saw the 28C bus coming to the stop, I got up to get on the bus and saw a familiar face. The driver was the exact same driver I had earlier in the day when I was on the wrong bus. As he opened the door, he had a big grin and was somewhat chuckling and said this time I was on the right bus to get where I wanted to go. We had a pleasant chat over the 15-minute ride as he asked about my visit and I told him all the places I was hoping to visit while in town. Once we arrived at the park, he pulled out his back pack and gave me bus route schedules/maps that went to all the places I mentioned I wanted to see during the week. It was very gracious and will undoubtedly be helpful throughout the rest of the week.

The park itself was very nice. Nothing overly spectacular, but offered some amazing views of the city of San Diego and the harbor area. Sitting high atop a hill at the end of a peninsula just north of the downtown area, it is easy to see why this spot was chosen as a spot for the area’s first lighthouse. And why the US Army used this hill area as a defensive fortification during WWI and WWII. The park featured a 1.2 mile trail that went from the Point Loma lighthouse down the side of the cliffs and along the bay, which was very scenic and wasn’t a bad walk at all. But the 1.2 mile return trip, all uphill, was a different story. Still scenic, but a lot slower pace and a lot more breaks. The neat part was hearing all the seals out there on the rocks barking, but I couldn’t see them. Once going down the trail, I thought to myself this is a dry, sandy area with a lot of dry brush. I then worried whether or not I would encounter any snakes on the trail, which made me a little nervous. I did what I could to put that though out of mind and concentrated instead on the view of the ocean, the pelicans and seagulls flying around and the informational signs along the trail. Then I came to the sign that talked about how the California Rattlesnake was very common in this area. Great, just what I needed. The remainder of the trail walk featured a rather quicker pace on my part. Having not encountered any snakes or any other animals, I survived the trail other than being a little winded by the end. It was well worth it though to see some of the views the trail provided. As a whole, the park was like most national parks, it was a very scenic and offered tremendous views of nature, the water and of the city itself.

After a brief stop by the hotel room to relax a little, it was off again on the fabulous San Diego bus system. And believe it or not, this time I made no mistakes and found my way to where I was going and back with no problems. I took up the advice I got on the bus ride home yesterday, and went to Ocean Beach. It was a very interesting place to say the least. All of the stores and restaurants in the area were small, family owned places. Not one national franchise place around – except a Starbucks – which was nice. There were a handful of bars, Mexican restaurants, small cafes, little stores selling tie-dyed t-shirts, candle shops, and about half a dozen tattoo parlors. The people were another feature of the area that made it unique. You name it, and that type of person was there. Muscular tattooed guys, long haired hippies who came straight from the 1960s, the typical California surfer dude guys, and I swear I saw a dead ringer for Jason Mewes’ character Jay from the Kevin Smith movies. I also thought I smelled the smoke from some really strong cigarettes – the kind that are illegal in our country, or so I thought. Another interesting feature was the surfers. Not that I was surprised to see surfers in the ocean, but I was surprised to see a bunch of eight and nine year old kids out there surfing and doing it well.

I ended up eating at a place called The Blue Parrot, mainly because the name sounded cool. Not as cool as The Drunken Parrot, (inside joke) but it’ll work. As I left, I couldn’t help but wonder if cute waitresses see a single guy eating alone, and intentionally use words like “darling” and “sweetie,” knowing that it increases their chances at a higher tip. If so, it works. After eating, I took a stroll down the beach and walked in the Pacific Ocean, which is now the fourth major body of water around the world I’ve walked in (Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico and Mediterranean Sea). I’ve always heard that the Pacific Ocean is fairly cold. As I walked and the surf washed up on me, I couldn’t help but wonder about the penguins I saw at Sea World the day before and if they came from this beach given the water’s temperature. The walk in the water didn’t last long due to the numbness in my feet and fighting through all the kelp that was washing up. It was amazing how much kelp was on the beach. It was everywhere and gave it a trashy appearance.

After strolling on the beach for a while, I then walked over to the Ocean Beach municipal pier, which is the second longest pier on the west coast. It was a T-shaped pier that extended forever out into the ocean, then split at the end for a couple hundred feet in both directions. There were fishers everywhere up and down the length of the pier, and provided a really good place to see the sunset. One of the oddities I did notice once I was out at the end of the pier on one of the ends of the T, I could see the outward facing side of the opposite end of the T. There was a wooden sign on it, facing out towards the ocean. I couldn’t help but wonder, who was that sign directed at and who did they expect to read it? A person would have to be at the top of a tall boat coming right up to the edge of the pier to have a chance at reading that sign. It was beautiful watching the sun disappear over the horizon from the pier though. It was mesmerizing to watch the sky change colors from a bright yellow, to a soft orange glow, to a bright red and finally to a purplish-pink color in the end. At one point, a sailboat crossed right in front of the sun as it approached the horizon, and numerous pelicans dove into the yellow reflection in the water going after their dinner for the evening. It was a very peaceful and relaxing experience.

San Diego Trip - Day One

Following the lead of a friend of mine who is chronicling his journey with posts on the web, I too figured I would write about my trip. Granted, my trip is not exactly on the same scale as Matt’s trip. I’m in San Diego for eight days, half of which is work related, the other half is vacation. Matt’s trip is a year-long journey to visit all seven continents and see as many wonders of the world as possible. I still thought it sounded like a good idea though. I likely won’t be nearly as good or as witty in my writing at Matt, but hey, if you don’t like it, just click that little “x” in the top right corner of your browser. (By the way, if you want to read about Matt’s journey, go to: www.tallmatt.com)

One important note to keep in mind when taking a trip, which I realized on the way to the airport: using a smaller suitcase and jamming in full of clothes and other items does not make it lighter than a larger suitcase that is packed partially full, just because it’s a smaller suitcase.

All airports now have stricter security in the post-September 11 days, and I have absolutely no problem at all with that despite the inconveniences. I totally understand. My only complaint on this trip was the 80-degree, 80% humidity weather in St. Louis was a bit uncomfortable, and waiting in the long security line with the air conditioner in the airport apparently off made the long wait incredibly annoying.

Once the flight started and the beverage/snack service began, I had my first encounter with the biggest scam in the airline industry. Since when do we have to start paying for food and drinks on a 3 ½ hour flight? I kid you not. And of course the prices were outrageous. Small, turkey sandwich on a bite-size bagel - $5. M&M Cookie - $3. Half-sized bottle of water - $2. All this after paying $450 for a ticket and they’re going to charge for snacks on a long flight like that? Is American Airlines in that much financial trouble? My next thought was to come up with some bogus medical excuse on why I needed a bottle of water to prevent some life threatening dilemma. That or look for some loose change in my floatable seat cushion. Mental note to buy some food at the airport before boarding the plane for the ride home. Check that – buy food at a store before arriving at the airport to avoid their equally over-priced food selections.

After getting checked into the hotel by a little past noon, I decided to hit Sea World for the afternoon. I love animals and any type of theme park that features animals, so I knew I would have a good time. Unlike a zoo, where the animals just sit there and you watch them, Sea World was more of an educational experience with workers constantly talking about the animals and doing “tricks” with them for the crowds. How appropriate that coming from St. Louis, the first thing I saw upon entering was the Anheuser-Busch area that featured a Clydesdale decked out in full Budweiser, pull the wagon gear. The Wild Arctic area featured a pair of white beluga whales which were different looking, and the penguin exhibit was next door so that came next. Having just missed the start of the dolphin show by about five minutes, I moved on and made a mental note of the start of the next show.

Next was the manatee rescue area, which I made just in time for their afternoon feeding. I’ve read and heard about manatees and the problems with them being endangered, but I had never really seen one before. They had three of them in the water and they were huge. It was amazing they could actually move around in the water and avoid staying afloat without sinking to the bottom. Despite their massive size, they were very smooth just gliding through the water. Next door was the shark encounter, which started off very disappointing. It was just a big tub of water with various types of small sharks swimming around. At the end, it saved itself a bit, with a big conveyer belt taking you through a tank with larger sharks swimming on both sides and directly above you. Very cool views of some very scary fish.

Next came some stalling, trying to find things to do in the area I was at so I could make sure to catch the next dolphin show. I stopped by the flamingo area, which was more interesting than I would have thought. Watching the weird looking birds was pretty amusing. Their next or so long and flexible, it led to some very odd looking contortions by the flamingos as they were cleaning themselves. It got real comical when a few starting fighting and biting each other and making one of the most annoying, god-awful shrieking sound I think I’ve ever heard.

I then went and watched an even louder animal, the sea lions, and their barking and belching sounds. There were a pair laying on the rocks that looked cute. One was laying on his/her belly, stretched out. The second was laying next to the first and had his/her head laying on the shoulder area of the first. They very looked comfy and content.

Another animal I saw while wasting some time was the sea turtles. I love them. Animals after my own heart. They all just sat there doing nothing but resting. One poor guy though, tried twice to climb up out of the water and onto the makeshift sand/beach. Both times he/she got the front half of their body out of the water and front flippers in the sand, but just couldn’t get the back side out of the water and he/she slid back into the water both times. I felt so bad because I could see this big ‘ol thing trying and literally grunting trying to pull him/herself out of the water but just couldn’t do it.

Then it was on to the dolphin show, which was really fun. I think the most amazing thing I noticed was watching the trainers – and it had nothing to do with the full-body, skin tight diving suits the female trainers were wearing. It was very interesting though watching the interaction the trainers had with the dolphins during the show. I don’t want to say the trainers controlled the dolphins, because they’re animals and are naturally unpredictable in their actions. But the hand signals the trainers used to communicate with the dolphins and the relationship between the two parties was really amazing to watch. Not to mention watching the amazing things the dolphins actually were doing. All in all, it was a great show that went by incredibly fast but was well worth it.

Next on the list was the best known inhabitant at Sea World – Shamu the killer whale. There were actually four or five of them, but Shamu is the headliner. Like the dolphins, I was again fascinated at the female trainers in their full-body, skin tight diving suits. And again, was amazed at the communication and interaction they had with these incredibly large animals. Where the dolphins were smaller and quicker, the killer whales were huge. It was amazing though to see these incredibly large animals easily glide through the water so smoothly and gracefully. They were so large, yet the trainers would get in the water with them and do tricks going under water and these big, strong whales were so delicate and precise in what they were doing it was amazing to watch. With their grace though, they also demonstrated their strength and power by using their tail to throw water up about 16 rows into the crowd. Following the show, I lingered around the back side of the stadium area and was able to see more the trainers and the whales doing things together and it was great to watch.

Then it was time for the ride home. I carefully studied the San Diego public bus transportation system and used their website to figure out what bus to take from the hotel, and where and witch bus route to switch to in order to get to Sea World. Where I failed was not looking up specifics for the ride back. I assumed it was the same as getting there, just in reverse. I was partially right. It was a different bus route leaving Sea World to the bus terminal where all routes converge, but that was no big deal. We had probably the most happy, enthusiastic public transportation driver I have ever seen in my life. This was a man who truly enjoyed his work. Upon arriving at the terminal, I departed that bus and went to the area for bus route 28C. I took 28B from the hotel to the terminal, and 28C was the same route, but in the opposite direction. However, I got very nervous when the bus at the sign for route 28 said 28A on it, and the time table chart informed me that the last 28C bus for the rest of the night left about 20 minutes ago. About the time I was ready to start looking for the cab stop, I asked a fellow bus traveler if this 28A bus would still go by the stop at Nimitz Blvd, the road where my hotel was located. She said it did and that was actually her stop as well. We then chatted on the bus ride and she was very kind and provided me with information on restaurants in the area I was staying, as well as other points of interest to visit while in San Diego and I was grateful for the bus stop help and the information on my visit.

After getting back and having dinner, I returned to my hotel room and realized what a complete and total idiot I am. I have always had this problem, thanks to my father, of having skin that is very sensitive to the sun and I burn easily. I especially burn easily on my forehead, where my hairline in continually moving backwards. I realized that the one thing I forgot to pack for my trip was a hat. I had suntan lotion, which I conveniently left back at the hotel, but I forgot the hat and now my forehead is burnt to crisp and glowing red. My plans for the second day are unknown for now, but whatever I decide to do, it will involve finding a store that sells hats.