A day in San Diego

I was boring even myself with continual bitching about the weather. So I decided I was going to plan a full day of activities even if I returned a soggy mess. It actually worked out rather well.

My first stop was Sunny Jim’s Cave . Inside the infamous Cave Store , a century-old bootlegger's tunnel leads through the sandstone cliffs of La Jolla Cove into Sunny Jim's sea cave. 145 steps down opens into a cool cove. Actually, the perfect indoor activity! The cove was nifty, but the best part was meeting Lucy, who greeted me at the front desk. Lucy is actually my middle-namesake and we connected immediately over nature and art (she is also an artist).

The rain actually held off long enough for me to walk around the bluff, which houses a brown pelican colony. One of the tourists photographing the pelicans complained that a surfer walked through the colony each day on his way to the water, scattering the birds each time. I had this in mind as I continued my walk around the bluff to observe the impressive surf due to the continuing storms.

I stopped to chat with Doug, a San Diego native and surfer with long-standing roots in the area. He had a different opinion about, not only the pelicans, but the seals and seal lions. He said that historically, none of those species were present in the area, at least in large groups. I’m not sure about the pelicans but Doug said that the presence of seals in the area was due to SeaWorld rescuing seals and releasing them in the area .  Sounds good on its face, but he explained that they bring in seals from all over the world, not just species native to the West Coast. They have thrived, which again sounds good on its face, but the huge increase in the seal population has attracted white sharks, which historically were not found in this area. This has created hazardous conditions for the surfers. See for example video 1  and video 2  These issues are always complicated, with divergent and conflicting points of view.

As several more hours of rain were predicted I headed over to Balboa Park and the plethora of great museums. I visited the San Diego Art Museum , The Museum of Photographic Art s and the Japanese Friendship garden .
For my friends from our Oaxaca trip, you will appreciate that one of the exhibits features Oaxacan artist Sergio Hernandez, who uses cochineal , the red beetle-based pigment, in many of his pieces.

For dinner, I was able to snag a bar seat at Juniper and Ivy .

Tomorrow, heading inland.