Tuesday, October 23, 2012

San Diego Gaslamp Quarter Photo Tour

A few months ago, we bought a Groupon for a 2 hour photo tour of the Gaslamp Quarter in downtown San Diego with Snap Photo Tours. We finally went on the tour on Sunday 10/7.

But first, we went to breakfast at Crest Café in Hillcrest. I decided to try something new! I got Crème Brulee French Toast. It was every bit as good as it looked, but too big so I couldn’t finish.
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Todd got Macadamia Banana Belgian Waffle and he ate it all.
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At 10am, we met up with our tour guide, Aggy, in front of Horton Plaza. She was nice and knowledgeable and fun. We started out taking photos around Horton Plaza and then walked and talked and took photos. I love tours like this because you learn a bit about the places you’re walking by, as well as get photo tips! Todd was armed with our Canon T2i DSLR, while I took the little Canon SD850IS point and shoot. The photos below are a mix of both.

A statue of the founder of downtown San Diego, Alonzo Horton.
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Statue of former senator Pete Wilson.
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US Grant Hotel. It was once the most luxurious hotel in San Diego.
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We practiced macro photography with flowers.
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Then we walked around the Gaslamp and took photos of interesting buildings.
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Aggy told us about building histories and architecture.
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I took photos where I thought the angles and lighting were interesting.
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Aggy said that repetition of structures make a good photo.
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Street views are cool as well.
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Photo of the Wyatt Earps Historic Saloon.
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The Keating building from below.
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Keating building street view.
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Reading Cinemas.
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Ghirardelli Chocolate!
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Yuma Building.
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The Hostel, with cool wall painted on the side.
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Some plants growing out of the side of the building.
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Tables and seats outside a pub.
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The Horton Grand Hotel, which some have said is haunted.
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I wish this photo that Aggy took of us wasn’t blurry. It would otherwise be cute!
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Then we went into the historic Chinese district. This was a door into a produce market.
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San Diego Chinese Historical Museum.
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Cool buildings close to the Convention Center.
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The fountains across from the convention center.
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Aggy took this fun photo of us.
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I took one of Todd and Aggy.
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A historic Gaslamp Quarter photo tour is definitely fun and something to do if you ever come visit San Diego!
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After the tour, we went to have lunch at Café Sevilla, our favorite tapas restaurant.

Andalusia Tomato Sauce & French Country Baguette
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Tuna Tartare Tower:  Sushi-grade Ahi, avocado, apple, mango, soy dressing

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Meatballs al Jerez
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Three Tapas Platter with Grilled Sausages, Brava Potatoes, Shrimp al Ajillo. These were the Brava Potatoes.
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The Shrimp al Ajillo.
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Grilled sausages.
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It was more food than we could eat. But Spanish tapas are very tasty!

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Big chandelier inside Café Sevilla.
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We had a lot of fun with the Gaslamp photo tour.  Hope you enjoyed it too! :)

8 comments:

  1. I'm sittin' here with my mouth open. I cannot believe you live in the same San Diego as me. I reallllly need to get out more. Great ideas and great pictures. Bye the way cafe sevilla has blue cheese stuff dates that are awesome.

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  2. Loved the photo tour and breakfast looked delicious!! Thanks for sharing!

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  3. I want to buy the Yuma building!

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  4. That tour looks very interesting. I love tour with 'haunted' stories...adds character to the building.

    The picture of you guys and the trees is adorable.

    BTW I guess Todd is very happy with his Ohio State! Undefeated! We are holding our Penn State breath this weekend! hahaha

    Julie

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  5. @gela - I've actually made the blue-cheese stuffed dates at a tapas cooking class at Sur La Table! Yummy! But Todd hates cheese so I won't be ordering it with him, LOL.

    @Julie - Yes, this weekend will be the battle of the Bowl-Ineligibles, LOL!

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  6. Thanks, I feel like I just had a mini vacation looking at your pictures. I LOVE the one of you and Todd behind those bushes. Perfect picture!

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  7. Hahaha ... your photos of the Gaslamp Quarter in SD and my photos from all over NYC have one thing in common ... they're looking up a lot of the time! I don't know about you, but my neck ached after a long day snapping photos! Seriously LOVE the colour saturation / intensity in your images, Christine ♥

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  8. Thanks for sharing. I feel like I just got a tour.

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