Spring Weekend in San Diego

We head down to San Diego for a long weekend, a combination of business and pleasure.  But first, a stroll around San Diego.  We park over by the airport and walk into the city along the San Diego Bay, over to the convention center, about 4 miles.  The view of the pleasure boards, cruise boats and aircraft carriers are somehow all complementary.

Downtown San Diego from the Airport (we are walking there)
 

Aircraft carriers across the Bay

Bougainvillea in full bloom at the airport

 Sailboats anchored along the way, cruise boat in the background

San Diego's climate is quite temperate, with a average high of 69.8°F (21°C), an average low of 57.5°F (14°C) and only 43 rainy days each year.  San Diego was the first part of California that Europeans settled in and is still an incredibly attractive and popular place to live and visit.

Along the walk way are signs about the creatures with whom we share the bay.

Our neighbors in and above the water

The San Diego Embarcadero stretches all along the San Diego Harbor, from the cruise boat terminal past the USS Midway to the convention center, with museums, hotels, restaurants and shops.  It's a little crowded around the cruise boat terminal as people get on and off the ship, but fine for walking, biking, jogging, and just enjoying the day.  The USS Midway, about halfway down the Embarcadero, is the longest-serving aircraft carrier in the Navy and is now a museum with over 1 million visitors each year

USS Midway

 As we continue on past the USS Midway, we come to the commercial fishing fleet.

Fishing boats at rest

Fish for sale, fresh off the boat

We continue on to the San Diego Convention center, about 4 miles from where we parked and started walking, and turn away from the water to enter the Gaslamp Quarter, 16.5 blocks of entertainment, dining, shopping and hotels located in historic buildings dating from the Victorian Era.  The term "Gaslamp" refers to the gas lamps that were common in San Diego in the 19th and 20th centuries.

View of downtown from the Convention Center

 Entering the Gaslamp Quarter across from the Convention Center

As we wander through the Gaslamp Quarter, we start to think about lunch and spot the Gaslamp Union Kitchen & Tap with an open table outside.  Although the craft beer list is appealing, we settle for Diet Cokes and some great food. We share fish tacos (beer battered cod with cabbage, jalapeno cream and pico de gallo on corn tortillas) and a blackened chicken wrap (with corn and red pepper salsa, avocado, cotija cheese and roasted red pepper aoli). Both are excellent.

Sitting outside at the Gaslamp Union Kitchen & Tap

We relax and prepare to wander back to our car and head up the coast to Carlsbad.