Another Perfect Day

We headed out early for San Diego Bay and the Hornblower Whale Watching Cruise. (See link above.) There were only 41 people on the ship, and so it was like having a private tour. One of the crew said that yesterday they had 200 people on both tours. The time passed so quickly because we saw numerous blows, and the ship steered right for them, so we were able to see a lot of the whales up close and personal. Perfect day, good sightings, good company - it was almost my favorite activity of this trip, although it's really hard to pick a favorite. I loved the whole thing. The docent on this trip recommended driving out to the Cabrillo National Monument in the afternoon.

We had lunch at the Top of the Market at Seaside Village.

Cabrillo has a breath-taking view of San Diego, Coronado, and the whole Bay. The view is really the main attraction. My family humored me by watching 2 short movies - one on grey whales, and the other on Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo - both very enjoyable.

We had a great drive home through all types of San Diego scenery - from the ocean shore to the lush green of Balboa Park to the flat plains of Miramar to the rocky hills near Tom's house.

Here's Dick's version of our perfect day:

Monday both Tom and Conni had the day off and we all went whale watching. In the winter, the California Gray whales migrate south to their calving grounds off the coast of Mexico and can be seen just off San Diego Bay. We joined about 40 other “watchers” on a large (150 ft) vessel and sailed out of the harbor in search of whales. It was chilly in the shade but warm if one chose to sit in the sun out of the wind. We saw 6 whales up close, one came within 50 feet of the boat.
One group of four were displaying what we were told was courting behavior. They were swimming in a close pod with a great deal of pushing and rolling. Unlike the other group of two or three that we had seen, these four stayed pretty tightly bunched and would breath nearly in unison.
This was our second whale cruise, the first was a number of years ago off Maui. Based upon our two experiences, we believe that it is required that the ship have a hyper enthusiastic young female guide on board. Today it was Leslie. She really enjoys her job and was very excited at the prospect that the whales might be mating. Someone asked her what the other one was doing.The cynical crewman answered for her “He’s taking pictures”.
The cruise lasted nearly four hours and we were hungry when we docked. Tom took us to the “Top of the Market” at Seaside Village for lunch. He and I had clam chowder and then a sea food linguini, Nan went for pasta capelli with bay scallops and Connie had a yummy looking salad.
Following lunch, we drove out to Point Loma and the Cabrillo National Monument, the most southwesterly point in the continental US. The drive takes you through multiple naval facilities and the remnants of coastal defense batteries left from WW II. The views of San Diego are spectacular and once again we had the perfect day.
We were back at the house fairly early, five or so but Tom’s offer to take Nan out to the movies was politely declined. The day out in the wind and the sun had taken its toll. We didn’t even worry about dinner. Cheese and crackers, a couple of episodes of Monk and the senior citizens were counting sheep.