After grabbing coffee and a light breakfast from the Starbucks in our hotel, we departed for the San Diego Zoo. It was a warm day so we started with a zoo loop on the tram to get the lay of the land.
From what we saw on foot and from the tram, it is clear that a lot of maintenance must go into upkeeping the grounds.
We made a special effort to see Mason’s favorite zoo animal, the capybara, which lives with the guanaco, a relative of the llama.
Before wrapping up our visit, we traversed the park in the sky buckets and then headed back to the hotel.
Parked all around the downtown, we spotted scooters and rental bicycles like the ones pictured here under the jacaranda tree. These are definitely the wave of the future. Log into an app, scan the QR code and off you go. Never mind that the stipulations include wearing a helmet, being 18 years and older and having a valid driver’s license; kids of all ages zipped along the marina and just about everywhere else in the downtown areas. The fee for initiating the service is $1 and then $0.15/min.
Mason wore a perma-grin on his face as rode, traveling away from Bill and me and then circling back as we walked the stretch along the water. When we were done, we just logged back in the app, ended our session and abandoned the scooter right where we were.
We cleaned up and drove to Coronado for the Saturday vigil mass at Sacred Heart Church. Did I mention that we were toodling around town in a convertible BMW? Southern California in the summer is even better when you can go topless.
Bill scoped out a great restaurant for dinner in Ocean Beach called OB Noodle House. This is one of those places we would become regulars at if we lived in San Diego. Pictured (clockwise) is Dry Chow Fun with Tofu and Vegetables, Summer Shrimp and Korean Beef Short Ribs. YUM!
It was sunset by the time we finished dinner so we walked down to the beach. Along the way, we stopped at 7-Eleven for Mason’s first slurpie.
Oh, did the experience bring back memories for Bill and me of days gone by: the Coast Guard, bashes, and campfires on the beach with friends. Good times then and now! Looking at the time, we decided to call it a night as we had a few more items to accomplish on our San Diego list before we checked Mason in at camp tomorrow afternoon.
I am humming the tune to the song “memories” in your honor.