San Diego - Day 3 Trip Report
Day 2 - In which we visit the SD Zoo and love it. But first, tissues!
When my wife sneezes like that it means one thing. She's got a cold, stage 1. That in effect means 3 things. First, I needed to find a CVS (there was one right near the hotel) and get tissues, robitussin and halls for her, DayQuil and NyQuil for me. That's because #2 is that I will have a cold within 24-48 hours. #3 is that at some point my cold will (and did) probably turn into bronchitis)
I'm not going to go into the details of our varied and sundry expectorations, but suffice to say we were not at our best health for most of the trip (she recovered by Universal Studios. I....managed.
So, as I was saying.. Zoo.
Well before that, breakfast. In lieu of the hotel restaurant (pricey), on our wanderings the night before we had noted the Broken Yolk cafe about 1/2 block from the hotel, open for lunch and dinner. We asked the doorman at the hotel and he actually recommended it over the hotel so we headed there. Great choice. Very reasonably priced and HUGE breakfasts. We ended up chatting with a local dining next to us who gave us a 50% off coupon from the local paper expiring that day (we passed the unused tabs off to another diner).
Thus fortified, and with camera in hand and meds in backpack, off to the zoo. The cab ride was about $20, plus a nice tip for a very friendly and informational driver. From the cab stand we walked right past the ticket counters (we had pre-purchased a CityPass/Disneyland combo via our TA) and waited for the zoo to open in the little restaurant at the entrance. We also were able to pick up lanyards that came with the Backstage pass tour we had pre-registered for, which included priority bus boarding and show seating (the zoo was quiet enough we didn't need those).
We had our battle plan, so when the doors opened we headed off into the Zoo. Scratch that. We headed off into the San Diego Animal Educational and Entertainment facility. Though I shall refer to it as such, this place is not just a Zoo. I say that because so many of the habitats, shows and presentations are designed to showcase the animals and their lifestyles as opposed to "Hey, look at the Monkees!"
We hung around the entrance area for a bit, because we wanted to do the Double Decker bus ride first and it started 30 mins after the park opened, so we checked out a presentation on rare owls and the flamingos, then boarded the bus (top deck, front row - probably not the best choice when incubating a cold, but you will find this is a recurring theme).
The bus tour (as opposed to the shuttle) is a non-stop circuit around the Zoo. This zoo is bloody huge. According to the guide to walk every inch of every trail takes approximately 6.5 hours. I believe them.
After the bus tour was done, we set off on a hike to cover as much as possible before our backstage pass at 1 PM, our primary goals being to see the koalas (CUTE!) and Pandas (CUTER!). Our dining companion that morning had suggested Alberts for lunch, a fine restaurant within the Zoo but we never made it there and grabbed fast food for time before heading to the BSP meet point.
The BSP is a fairly new program where for a moderate fee ($99 pp) in addition to the benefits noted above, you get a 90 minute presentation. The max is 40 people, but it being a slow day, we had about 10 or 12, which was perfect. Before you sit down, they take your picture with a miniature donkey (one free print is included with the package, plus they take lots of pictures which you can purchase or buy them all on CD - we did, it was $40 for 135 very good shots, AND they give you written print and post rights!)
There's a private viewing area, with complimentary drinks, and the keepers bring in a variety of animals up close. Some you can pet, like the bearcat, some, not so much, like the Arctic Wolf, and they talk a little about each animal, how they are raised for educational programs, etc. One thing they do there we thought was really cool was they raise big cats (like a cheetah) with companion dogs from birth so that they are more comfortable in crowds. Animals we saw that day in the show area were cervil cats, a bear cat, arctic wolf, kookaburra, cheetah, miniature burro.
Also as part of the program, they have it set up with a walking area that takes you into a fenced off part of the Rhino enclosure. The program is held in an area of the park called the Urban Jungle which we think was pretty much designed around this program. In the Rhino area you get to feed, brush and pet a Rhino. Much coolness! You also are taken into one of the Flamingo areas to feed them (and its very disturbing when you sit there because these birds are looking you in the eye!). On the way there we got to pet a kangaroo as well and interact with him.
It's important to note they do vary the elements of the program depending on the size of the group and also at random, for example you may feed giraffes instead of flamingos.
After some final photos, we said goodbye to the keepers and explored as much of the Zoo as possible before our legs gave out, even using the shuttle bus and skytram (included with city pass) to move around. We made it everywhere but tigers (we can see them in Philly) and Hippos (kind of disappointed in that, but they were WAY off on the side and we had no go left).
We took a cab back to the hotel, freshened up and had dinner in the hotel restaurant, JSix. Highly recommended, even if service was a little slow. The restaurant is known for sustainable and organic food, I had the chef's whim (farm raised salmon cooked perfectly with a wonderful sauce) and my wife really enjoyed her grilled shrimp. The house made gelato was excellent as well.
Then, it was an early bedtime, for tomorrow was Sea World, and unbeknownst to us, BABY PENGUIN!!
Pictures from Day 1 (except for the ones that we bought from the zoo, will have them up shortly):
http://loonbeam.smugmug.com/Travel/2...49203387_FTLgb
All the pictures are up in galleries, and you can look ahead, but that would be cheating!
When my wife sneezes like that it means one thing. She's got a cold, stage 1. That in effect means 3 things. First, I needed to find a CVS (there was one right near the hotel) and get tissues, robitussin and halls for her, DayQuil and NyQuil for me. That's because #2 is that I will have a cold within 24-48 hours. #3 is that at some point my cold will (and did) probably turn into bronchitis)
I'm not going to go into the details of our varied and sundry expectorations, but suffice to say we were not at our best health for most of the trip (she recovered by Universal Studios. I....managed.
So, as I was saying.. Zoo.
Well before that, breakfast. In lieu of the hotel restaurant (pricey), on our wanderings the night before we had noted the Broken Yolk cafe about 1/2 block from the hotel, open for lunch and dinner. We asked the doorman at the hotel and he actually recommended it over the hotel so we headed there. Great choice. Very reasonably priced and HUGE breakfasts. We ended up chatting with a local dining next to us who gave us a 50% off coupon from the local paper expiring that day (we passed the unused tabs off to another diner).
Thus fortified, and with camera in hand and meds in backpack, off to the zoo. The cab ride was about $20, plus a nice tip for a very friendly and informational driver. From the cab stand we walked right past the ticket counters (we had pre-purchased a CityPass/Disneyland combo via our TA) and waited for the zoo to open in the little restaurant at the entrance. We also were able to pick up lanyards that came with the Backstage pass tour we had pre-registered for, which included priority bus boarding and show seating (the zoo was quiet enough we didn't need those).
We had our battle plan, so when the doors opened we headed off into the Zoo. Scratch that. We headed off into the San Diego Animal Educational and Entertainment facility. Though I shall refer to it as such, this place is not just a Zoo. I say that because so many of the habitats, shows and presentations are designed to showcase the animals and their lifestyles as opposed to "Hey, look at the Monkees!"
We hung around the entrance area for a bit, because we wanted to do the Double Decker bus ride first and it started 30 mins after the park opened, so we checked out a presentation on rare owls and the flamingos, then boarded the bus (top deck, front row - probably not the best choice when incubating a cold, but you will find this is a recurring theme).
The bus tour (as opposed to the shuttle) is a non-stop circuit around the Zoo. This zoo is bloody huge. According to the guide to walk every inch of every trail takes approximately 6.5 hours. I believe them.
After the bus tour was done, we set off on a hike to cover as much as possible before our backstage pass at 1 PM, our primary goals being to see the koalas (CUTE!) and Pandas (CUTER!). Our dining companion that morning had suggested Alberts for lunch, a fine restaurant within the Zoo but we never made it there and grabbed fast food for time before heading to the BSP meet point.
The BSP is a fairly new program where for a moderate fee ($99 pp) in addition to the benefits noted above, you get a 90 minute presentation. The max is 40 people, but it being a slow day, we had about 10 or 12, which was perfect. Before you sit down, they take your picture with a miniature donkey (one free print is included with the package, plus they take lots of pictures which you can purchase or buy them all on CD - we did, it was $40 for 135 very good shots, AND they give you written print and post rights!)
There's a private viewing area, with complimentary drinks, and the keepers bring in a variety of animals up close. Some you can pet, like the bearcat, some, not so much, like the Arctic Wolf, and they talk a little about each animal, how they are raised for educational programs, etc. One thing they do there we thought was really cool was they raise big cats (like a cheetah) with companion dogs from birth so that they are more comfortable in crowds. Animals we saw that day in the show area were cervil cats, a bear cat, arctic wolf, kookaburra, cheetah, miniature burro.
Also as part of the program, they have it set up with a walking area that takes you into a fenced off part of the Rhino enclosure. The program is held in an area of the park called the Urban Jungle which we think was pretty much designed around this program. In the Rhino area you get to feed, brush and pet a Rhino. Much coolness! You also are taken into one of the Flamingo areas to feed them (and its very disturbing when you sit there because these birds are looking you in the eye!). On the way there we got to pet a kangaroo as well and interact with him.
It's important to note they do vary the elements of the program depending on the size of the group and also at random, for example you may feed giraffes instead of flamingos.
After some final photos, we said goodbye to the keepers and explored as much of the Zoo as possible before our legs gave out, even using the shuttle bus and skytram (included with city pass) to move around. We made it everywhere but tigers (we can see them in Philly) and Hippos (kind of disappointed in that, but they were WAY off on the side and we had no go left).
We took a cab back to the hotel, freshened up and had dinner in the hotel restaurant, JSix. Highly recommended, even if service was a little slow. The restaurant is known for sustainable and organic food, I had the chef's whim (farm raised salmon cooked perfectly with a wonderful sauce) and my wife really enjoyed her grilled shrimp. The house made gelato was excellent as well.
Then, it was an early bedtime, for tomorrow was Sea World, and unbeknownst to us, BABY PENGUIN!!
Pictures from Day 1 (except for the ones that we bought from the zoo, will have them up shortly):
http://loonbeam.smugmug.com/Travel/2...49203387_FTLgb
All the pictures are up in galleries, and you can look ahead, but that would be cheating!