San Diego Weekend

We spent Saturday and Sunday in San Diego. We left early Saturday. The last time we tried to leave on Friday, it took five hours to drive down there. This time it only took three hours. We stopped in Old Town San Diego. It's supposed to be historic, but it's mostly shops selling cheap things. We bought Ashleigh a parasol at this place for $8.95. There are a lot of Mexican Restaurants, but we were hungry for lunch and went into the Acapulco that was closest to the parking spot we found.
This store sold minerals and gems.
I always thought stagecoaches were pulled by horses.
These performers didn't seem to have anything to do with history, but the guy did eventually juggle some knives while the girl stood on his shoulders.
Then we went to our hotel, the Embassy Suites in downtown San Diego. It had a nice atrium.

Which we got to enjoy for a while as we had trouble unlocking the door.
Then we took a walk through the shops at Seaport Village and then to the gas lamp quarter where Lorie checked out the Shorelines Gallery where she previously purchased the fish sculpture that hangs in our new family room.
Here is the USS Midway, a museum ship visible from our window. Lorie and I toured it back in October.
Sunday, we checked out and went to SeaWorld. We arrived just in time for the Dolphin show. This guy playing the guitar and singing was pretty annoying.
Still, it is fun to watch the dolphins perform.
I caught this guy jumping over the rope.
We stopped and fed the flamingos.
Here are some sea turtles. I'm not sure what kind they were.
At the tide pool, you can touch the starfish. There is also a place where you can touch some Bat Rays.
They have a raft ride, Shipwreck Rapids. We didn't go on it because we didn't want to get wet and have to drive home in damp clothing. I like the Archimedes' screws.
We went up in the sky tower.
Here it is from the ground.
We visited the Budweiser Clydesdales.
Okay, that wasn't really a Clydesdale. The horses were inside and I didn't take any pictures because they were behind bars.

Lorie and Becca decided to ride the Journey to Atlantis ride. Since it gets you even wetter than Shipwreck Rapids, they bought overpriced ponchos. The ponchos are supposed to look like orcas, but I thought they looked like Jedi. Here they are in line, not noticing me with my camera.
I stood in the sun for about 20 minutes before they finally appeared. Up they go.
And down, down...
Down.
Safe until the elevator phase.
We saw the walrus eating a fish. For some reason he kept expelling the pieces and then sucking them back in.
This Snowy Egret was waiting for an extra piece to float up.
We left around 4:45 PM and drove home. It was a good drive and we made it home in three hours. Here is the Journey to Atlantis ride seen from the parking lot. The tower on the left is the top of the water drop. The big tower is the elevator that lifts the car/boat up a second time.