California - February 2017 - Day 2

February 9, 2017 (Thursday)

Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery

San Diego, here we come! It was about an hour drive from Ramona to San Diego. Our first stop was the Cabrillo National Monument. Actually we stopped at the Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery for some photos before heading to the monument. The monument opens at 9am (we were the first in line). There is a $10 fee/car to get into the site or free with a NPS pass. It was super foggy on the drive to the site, luckily some of the fog lifted by 9.

A few video options were available and shown on the hour. The visitor center did not have a ton of information, but enough to explain the importance of the site.  It is believed that the park site was the first location that Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo stepped onto what is now the West Coast of the US (1542).

USS Theodore Roosevelt - Cabrillo NP

There are a couple of things to see while visiting the site. Then the tide is low you can check out the tidepools, there is a lighthouse that you can climb into, and there is the Cabrillo Statue. There is also a 2-mile hike that takes you thru a coastal sage scrub habitat. We hiked the trail and it provided nice views of activities going on in the bay.  The USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier was going out to sea during our visit – very neat!  Unfortunately during our visit it was too foggy to do any whale watching.

Old Town State Park Area

Old Town State Historic Park was our next destination. There are a bunch of old buildings, shops and restaurants. We headed to Old Town Mexican Cafe for lunch and then wandered around Old Town. Parking was free. The restaurant again, was just okay.

The Gaslamp District was next on the docket. Mike needed to stop by the Hard Rock Café to collect another Zippo. The Gaslamp district is a shipping district, with lots of stores and a mall. It is known as an entertainment district with nationally recognized nightlife venues. We did not do much exploring of the area since we do not go on vacation to shop!

Our last stop for the day was Balboa Park. The place was very busy so we just did a drive-thru before heading back to Ramona for the night. Balboa Park is the home of the San Diego Zoo, 15 major museums, performing art concert halls, and gardens. Of course there are also playground areas, restaurants, and trails.