San Diego - Day 17 - February 28, 2015

It was a walking day today. We started out heading down to Tourmaline Surf Beach and turned right and explored the north side of the beach for a change.  It's strewn with smooth cobble stone and interesting sea life in the tidal pools.  And of course the challenge is to not get a hotfoot as you bound along the rocks.   

 

Views of Northern Pacific Beach

 



 

the million dollar mansions are perched precariously at the edge of the cliff 

Love the way the water sparkles in the sunlight

Then we walked down the beach to Crystal Pier and came up on the boardwalk and walked down quite a ways. We decided we would discover Mission Bay which is an area somewhat unfamiliar to us so we hung a Louie and walked the maybe 100 yards to the Bay and continued our walk. We came upon an aquatic center where you can rent paddle boards and ocean kayaks. I want to try the paddle boards but I'm afraid that the water may be too cold and I have the feeling that on my first try I may be in the water often.  It's on the to-do list so we'll see.  They also have ocean kayaks and maybe we can stay dryer. 



Map of Mission Bay.  One can walk for miles and miles along board walks and beaches in SD.  Bring your walking shoes folks.   The ocean is seen on the right.

We then continued our walk and ended up at the Pacific Beach Bar and Grill on Garnet Ave. There we had a beer and wings(BOGO) and watched the first half of the Duke/Syracuse game.   

a PB institution

A taste of home in California ... wings and a locally crafted beer.  I think Ron's smiling because of the BOGO or maybe it's the scintillating company he's sharing his meal with ...

Duke got off to a slow start but they did win!

The only reason we left before the game ended is that Mass was at 5:30 and we didn't want to be late. It was a brief 2 minute walk to St. Brigid's.  How convenient.  After mass we completed our walking loop by heading directly home - about another mile.  All in all we probably walked 5 or 6 miles today. I think I'll skip the gym tonight. It did actually rain while we were in the bar - for all of about one minute barely wetting the sidewalk. There were even fewer sprinkles when we walked out of church but we walked home and were dry. We'll see what tomorrow brings as there is an 80% chance tomorrow and Monday.  It supposedly rained more inland today maybe it just never rains at PB.  However, they truly need it so we'll find some indoor activities if necessary.  We talked to Christine on the phone walking home and let her know we contacted the wedding venue to clear up some questions that we had.  Things are progressing.  We also researched how to take the train to the towns north of San Diego in order to expand our exploration.  With our senior passes we can get a round trip ticket for $5.50 to go as far north as Oceanside.  Perhaps in a future blog we'll share with you that experience.