March, 2015
I have a work gig in San Diego, which would be my first visit to California’s most southern coastal city. The weather is fabulous – sunny and 70’s-80’s temperatures – and the people here are calm and happy (and probably spoiled). Balboa Park, home of the famous San Diego zoo, also has an open space area with a path into a wooded glen, old trees, an old train, a row of museums with high admission fees, a Japanese garden, and a cactus garden. Bridges and paved paths connect all of these things, and you can spend hours or even days there.
The historic mission, California’s first, was established in 1769 by Junipero Serra on a site along the San Diego river inhabited by the Kumeyaay people. The native Kumeyaay, who called the hill Kosoi, generally resisted conversion and revolted several times, peaking in 1775 when a friar was killed here and the first “Christian cemetery” was created with the “memorial to Indians” pictured (read more about the mission here)
I visit three beaches – upscale La Jolla on the north of town, bohemian Ocean Beach, and Mission Beach with its roller coaster. The sunsets at La Jolla and Ocean Beach are breathtaking.
Each night I couchsurf with a different host. The first night it’s a UCSD student in a high rise apartment, the next is a dog photographer in a house with a nice garden, and the last has a double-wide trailer with this ridiculous patio view:
It’s an expensive city but the traffic is easy compared to LA and has a much more laid-back vibe. I also have heard it’s a good place to propose marriage, which is what happened to my cousin and her fiance’ when they visited a few months after my visit.
On the way out of town, I stop at the large Balboa Market for Mediterranean groceries and breakfast.
http://www.balboamarket.com/
arianna's creative travels 