Saturday, March 28, 2009

Playing Tourist - La Jolla

Until I saw it on the news last night, I didn't realize that so many people came to San Diego for spring break. What?? People come HERE for vacation? I guess many college students are coming here for spring break this year, since some of them are heeding the warning about the violence in Mexico. So Todd and I decided to join in today and play tourist in La Jolla. First I should tell you, for those wondering... we didn't do the 10 mile run today with West Coast Road Runners. My shoulder/upper back injury is more severe this time and I can't move my arm very much before it hurt, so running wasn't an option today. Todd took today off too, because of his calf injury. We hope to be back running next weekend, after a week of rest. So I got a good nine hours of sleep and woke up at 8:45 AM this morning! What a luxury! :) The first order of business was lunch. We walked around the street of La Jolla, looking at restaurant after restaurant. Nothing seemed to hit the spot, until Todd spotted Burger Lounge down the street. Well, we hadn't had Burger Lounge yet this month, so I guess it was about time! We decided to be a little less gluttonous this time and share a burger, salad, and fries. The place was packed! (Note the red velvet cupcakes in the background that we DIDN'T try out...) Walking around La Jolla, we noticed these cows EVERYWHERE, all painted differently. I came home and did some research and found out it's called Cow Parade La Jolla, the world's largest public art event. They have 50 of these art cows spread around in La Jolla from March until June. At their website they have a map of where the cows are placed throughout the city, so that might make a fun event to get together with some friends and attempt to find and take photos of all 50 cows! I know if it were hippos, my friend Peppermint would fly here just to find them all. The day was SO gorgeous that there was no way to take bad photos. Here is Todd with La Jolla Cove in the background, flanked by palm trees. La Valencia Hotel: Walking along the cove, it was gorgeousness everywhere I look. I love that I got some people in the photos so you can get a perspective of the cliffs. There were lots of tourists everywhere, so for once I didn't feel out of place with my camera glued to my hand, LOL. Here are some wild harbor seals. They took residence here and the beach is no longer accessible by people, since these seals are federally protected. These are basically some of my favorite colors- blue, turquoise, and green. Can you spot the seals on the rocks? We walked over to the sea wall and got a closer-up view of the harbor seals: More of them along the rocks: What a perfect view! Humans bite too? A view of Windansea Beach: We witnessed something hilarious. We saw these two at Burger Lounge earlier and they got their food to go. They were leisurely laying out in the sun when this clever seagull decided that he wanted some Burger Lounge too! He tried to take their bag of food the first time and they chased him down and took it back. Then they put it BETWEEN them to deter the seagull from doing it again. The seagull wasn't deterred. He was determined to get a taste of the Burger Lounge goodness, so he kept hovering around the couple and eventually went for the bag between them again! But can you blame the seagull? After all, it was Burger Lounge food! We ended our tour with a self-portrait at Windansea Beach. What a beautiful day in San Diego. I'm glad we got to go out and walk around and relax a little bit. Now I'm going to go and start doing our taxes.

10 comments:

  1. Seagulls can be completely fearless when it comes to stealing some good grub. Funny that you caught it on film.

    What great pix! Thanks for reminding me of the cow parade. I will definitely have to get the herd up there for some photos!

    Hope your shoulder feels better soon! A few rest days is a good idea (I should take my own advise once in awhile!)

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  2. Fantastic phots, Christine! They are absolutely gorgeous, wish I had that blue sky to work with here too. :)

    The color of the water is so beautiful, I too love turquoise. And those seals seems to have a nice time, sunbathing in that lovely surrounding.

    I've seen those cows, or similar at least, somewhere in Europe too, Berlin I think. But it was a couple of years ago. Funny idea, they look so cool!

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  3. Those photos are beautiful!!! The colors are just so vibrant--the water and sky are amazing.

    I have seen those cows in NYC and Chicago. My friend and I took lots of pictures with them, too. I think that would make a really fun outing to go and see all of them.

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  4. love your wonderful shots - they are looking like holiday - I love and miss the sun so much!

    Sad to hear your shoulder isn´t better! I´ll cross my fingers and hope it will be better soon!

    Take care of you - and make a break for healing!

    Funny, the story about the seagull

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  5. It is so amazing to see the landscape on the west coast. I've lived in the southern part of the US all my life...spent loads of time at the beach, but we do not have cliffs or seals...we do have white sand (in Florida) and huge hamburgers!

    Here in Raleigh, we have our own version of the painted cows...we have painted wolves. (NC State is located in Raleigh..Go Wolfpack!) I'll have to snap some photos.

    Todd's T-shirt cracks me up! Hope y'all are feeling better soon..

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  6. Such gorgeous photos!! I'm looking forward to when Rick and I have a day off together again to go and do something fun! Ok...I would've been painting if I had a day off today, but soon!!

    Those cows are cool! When we were in Alaska a few years ago, they had fish painted like this all over town. Some were very clever!

    I hope your injury gets better with the rest! No fun!

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  7. What great pictures ... I love your beach pictures! What a beautiful landscape! And the burger looks delicious! These cows were ever in Berlin ... there, I sometimes can admire!

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  8. That does sound like a great day, Christine! And great shots! I hope your shoulder is feeling better soon!

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  9. WOW!! My husband and I both love these photos!! San Diego is beautiful!

    I hope you guys have a good week of rest and get over your injuries. I know it's hard when you can't run.

    BTW....LOVE Todd's t-shirt! LOL!

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  10. Great photo's and looks like you had great weather. I hope you had lot of fun while you were there.

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