San Diego!

We recently went on a weekend trip to San Diego, which was wonderful and provided a much-needed break.  Our first stop was the San Diego Zoo- a zoo I had been hearing about my entire life (I think it was mentioned a lot on Animal Planet and Nickelodeon when I was younger, aka my source of news and current events as an 8 year old). The zoo is gigantic and sprawling; it has to be the largest zoo I have ever visited.  There is a great cable car ride that takes you from the zoo entrance to the other side, near where the polar bears and other delightful cold-weather-loving mammals reside.  It was an amazing way to see the entire zoo from so far up- you can look down and see into the exhibits, but you can also look out and see a lot of the city.

We had the most squealingly-adorable experience of watching a baby panda named Xiao Liwu climb a tree and be cute.  He was all by himself, being a big kid and climbing through the branches.  There was a special line to view the pandas (there was an adult, too), so I'd say they were definitely one of the most popular creatures at the zoo.  I was so distracted by the fact that I was watching a baby panda CLIMB A TREE, I actually don't remember which adult panda was out that day, but he was just eating some lunch and having the best time and looking awesome doing it.

Located across from the baby panda was this adorable and decidedly disappointed red panda.  It looked like it just gave up hoping people would form a line in the blazing sun to watch it climb up a tree, so it just sat there dangling its little legs, sighing heavily (assuming red pandas sigh, that is).  

Little red panda, fear not- I thought about you and your silly pose all day.  (I really did.)

Red panda- look at your little face.  Don't let a baby panda steal your thunder!!!

Brown bear swimming (and smiling?!?)

There are so many giraffes at the San Diego Zoo!

On the second day of our visit, we took a nice walk around the Gaslamp district and near Petco Park.  It was spring-y and wonderful, even if it was a bit cloudy.  

Tree in bloom near Petco Park

The sun came out and we made our way to Seaport Village on the bay.  It is the definition of tourist destination, but it was nice to walk by the water, watch sailboats, and yes, listen to an extremely enthusiastic jazz flutist while standing in a fudge shop and buying what is basically a log of solid sugar. (Note: I referred to him as a flautist because that's an awesome word and also what I believed to be the correct term, but that's not what he called himself, so I let it go.)

View from Seaport Village

Park area/ tree-climbing paradise, Seaport Village

We also stopped by Balboa Park - a museum-goer's dream!  We made quick visits to the Museum of Photographic Arts and saw their stunning Jessica Lange exhibit.  We also visited the Timken Museum of Art, a lovely free museum displaying, among others, American, Dutch, French, and Italian paintings.  Also, the entire museum is a time capsule from the 60's- most things, including design and decor, remain seemingly unchanged.  I loved it!

The Timken Museum of Art, est. 1965, Balboa Park



Just a wonderful little trip!