Another beautiful day in southern California. Temps in the high 60's, sun shining and a light tropical breeze to keep the haze at bay. Tina is definitely better today. We are going to do some sightseeing on the north side of San Diego!After our usual preparations we grabbed our cameras, directions, car keys, water and walking shoes for the drive north on I-5 headed for the small town of Ocean Beach (http://www.oceanbeachonline.com/). OB, as its called by the locals, is located just south of the mouth of the San Diego River, northwest of San Diego Bay. Laving I-5 we headed west on I-8 which ended at the north side of OB.
Driving into town we turned west on Newport, which is the main business street and drove out to the beach where we were able to park right next to the stairs leading up to the Pier. First we walked along the cement bulkhead looking for the tide pools which have been carved out over eosn by the waves crashing onto the mudstone sediment layer that underlies the area.Unfortunately the area was fairly unsavory as there were dozens of "bums" hanging out and, in fact, as we walked back from the tide pools several police were rousting a couple and leading them away in handcuffs. So we decided to return to town rather than continue up to the pier.
Finding a parking spot was easy even though there were a lot of people out. OB is a typical small beach town which relies heavily on the tourist trade. Every third store front is an antique dealer with restaurants in between and a few businesses like Ace Hardware, attorneys, a grocery store, several banks, a couple of old time hotels and a youth hostel. After walking both sides of Newport and exploring several shops we grabbed a coffee at Starbucks and headed across the river to Mission Beach. This is another small beach community but has a totally different flavor as it s obviously more of a resort community. Nestled between the San Diego river to the south, Mission Bay to the east and the Pacific on the west, Mission Beach has over five miles of boardwalk that stretch around Mission Bay and along the Pacific.
We parked in a lot just behind Belmont Park (http://www.belmontpark.com/), a year round ocean front carnival with a large wooden trestle roller coaster and several other rides. We made it out to the boardwalk and cruised around weaving our way through walkers, bicyclists, skaters and skate boarders all vying for their place in the sun. On the other side of the balustrade was the beach, covered with umbrellas and bodies!We stopped for lunch at a small restaurant, the "WaveRunner" where we had an elevated view of the boardwalk and beach. Tina had a really good Turkey and Avocado sandwich while I opted for the Avocado, Jalapeno and Jack Burger, both with a side of fresh fruit. Everything was simply delicious! After lunch we strolled north towards Pacific Beach past hundreds of really nice rental vacation condos that fronted right on he boardwalk. Definitely a great place for Spring Break!
Leaving Mission Beach we made our way back to I-8, then over to I-5 where we drove to the Home Depot just south of Chula Vista. We picked up some caulk and small screws then headed home. After walking the dogs we relaxed for a couple of hours then Tina made grilled marinated steak with a salad and the remaining Crusty Mac n'Cheese. Yum!!That pretty much did it for our day! To see all our photos, click on:
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