After I went back up, there were so many more sea lions. I also spotted a new born and got yelled at by this lady, an animal activist I think, that warned me about the new born. She was yelling at everyone. Anyway, I then wanted to go back up and got yelled at again because there was another newborn on the other side, all alone, the mom had left and she said it was dangerous to go closer. I told her I was just making my way up. Anyway, I did then spotted the other new born and continued my way along the ocean. I loved seeing the ocean again, feeling that sea breeze, walking in the sun and seeing sea lions and birds everywhere. What a great start of the day!! I could have stayed so much longer, but because I knew it wouldn't be my only beach/ocean view of the day, I went back to the car.
Next up on my list was Mission Beach and Belmont park, located next to each other. Belmont park is an outdoor amusement park, again free parking. It didn't take long for me to find a spot this time. The park is free too, there's a bunch of attractions, but mostly for kids. There was however a roller coaster that I was interested in, but it didn't seem to ride, so I moved on and checked out a few shops. On the other side of Belmont park is Mission Beach and its boardwalk. I walked on it for a bit and this beach was a 'real beach', meaning people were swimming and laying on the beach. I continued and went for lunch at a pizza place out looking Belmont Park and a bit of the boardwalk. I heard a few screams in the distance and noticed that it came from the roller coaster, so after lunch I bought a ticket. The roller coaster was better than I expected, lots of fun!
After I'd seen and done enough, I made my way to Old Town. There's a lot of parking spots, both free and paid parking and it was quite busy. So again, it took a while before I found a free spot. Old Town is a bit of a mix between history and markets. There's a lot of old buildings that tell you more of the history of San Diego and also A LOT of Mexican shops, music, restaurants, market stalls. It almost felt like I was in Mexico. I also walked passed 'America's most haunted house' or so they say and went in to the 'general store' next door, this is where you can buy your tickets. I found a book with pictures of what was inside the house and its stories. I went through it and felt like the house wouldn't add much. After I walked back outside, I noticed it was around 5pm, I left around 10-ish. I felt tired and went back to the hostel for a well deserved nap (until I was woken by a noise about 30 min later). I then went to the store to get some stuff for dinner and ate.
I still wanted to do something at night and not just hang around, so I drove to Coronado to see the skyline at night. I wanted to go for sunset, but it was very cloudy at night. Crossing the bridge, the skyline looked great. But from across the bridge, not so much. I think I was on the wrong spot to have the best view too. Any way I drove back via Orange Ave, cool street! There's also an old movie theater, or well not old, but the way I know it from tv and movies, with a booth out front to get your tickets. Unfortunately it was already closed and I made my way back to the hostel for a good night sleep. That didn't happen, as some guy was snoring sooooooo loud and non stop. I finally fell asleep, but woke up again because an alarm went off non stop at 3:20 am, I asked the guy to turn it off and tried to go back to sleep.
After a rough night, I got up a bit later than I usually would, took a shower and went downstairs to get free breakfast. There wasn't much left though, some muffins and other sweet stuff. Luckily I had bought apples the day before. I visited Gaslamp Quarters, known for Victorian buildings standing side by side with modern buildings. I think it's cool to go at night and have a drink and dinner, so I walked the walk and left after an hour. If you do go and you go before 6pm, you can get parking for a dollar an hour at 6th Ave and K street. I then continued to Seaport Village and saw a HUGE statue of a sailor kissing his girl farewell or maybe when he returned. Next to it, the navy museum on a HUGE ship. I didn't go on, but saw a bit from where I was standing, standing together with dozens of Japanese people. I saw a sign that explained why. San Diego is a sister city of a city in Japan. This was all close to the hostel and I decided to go in for a pedicure, there was a salon behind the hostel. It was soooo nice, I sat in one of those massage chairs while the lady did the pedicure and massaged my feet and legs for a bit, they deserved it :)!
After a quick stop at the hostel, I went to Bilboa Park, a park filled with museums. I parked, again free and one of the first museums I saw was the Japanese Friendship Garden, which was the one I wanted to see. Leave it to the Japanese to create peace withing chaos. It was super busy outside, but once inside, so calm. Just like it can be in Japan. It was nicely set up and not too busy, so I could really enjoy it. I then walk around the rest of Bilboa Park, saw a few weird vehicles you could rent to see the park and didn't go in anything else except the Botanical building. After that I just sat in the sun for a bit and went to an outside mall to do a bit of browsing and shopping! Won't do much else today, except have dinner and finish my Tripadvisor reviews. Hopefully, I'll sleep better tonight since I'm leaving for L.A. tomorrow!! Can't wait to see what the city of stars has to offer!!
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