As part of our stay in San Diego, we went to sea port village a waterfront shopping and dining complex adjacent to San Diego Bay in downtown
Whenever I happened to pass through the down-town it would be really distressing to see the pathetic shelters erected by the homeless and the squalor in which they were living, they were honestly an eye sore for a beautiful city like San Diego
Seaport Village was developed by Morris Taubman built on a landfill area where the Spanish expedition of 1782 buried those who had died of scurvy and quite morbid to know of course!
We had to park our car in the parking which was indeed a Herculean task as most of the slots were filled, we finally got one and started our tour
The complex was beautiful and we could see the tantalizing blue water to one side and many colorful shops and art galleries and eateries on the 90,000 square feet of waterfront property.
I could see many buildings with different architectural styles, from Victorian to traditional Mexican as was very common to see in San Diego which has a lot of Mexican influence, the very tall downtown high rise buildings stood to one side in the background in proud silence
We came across the Historic Carousel with all its 54 animals and two horse-drawn chariots hand-carved in 1895, our grandson loved riding on a horse and of course as we feared wanted to take one home
We ambled along slowly gazing at the shops which mostly contained San Diego souvenirs like T shirts, key chains
We saw the famous Malibu Farm restaurant which boasts of Farm-to-table service, it is founded by celebrity chef Helene Henderson,
There were sprawling green lawns and on the day we went, there was an exhibition of vintage cars, all beautifully glinting in the sun small food stalls were arranged selling various food items and variety of drinks, our grandson wanted a hot dog, I patiently tried to counsel him that it was too hot a day to eat a hot dog but to no avail
A man was skillfully flying a kite with a very long tail, naturally our naughty grandson had to run behind it trying to climb on it, we had a tough time restraining him!
As we had booked for the San Diego by sea and land in a vehicle also called SEAL a “Hydra-Terra” amphibious vehicles Coast Guard approved
We went to the alighting point and had to wait for a while in a queue when I suddenly saw a sewer lid written made in India on it , I was thrilled to see it
After a brief wait we climbed on a ladder and got into the bus which gradually became fully occupied, our Captain was Raymond and 1st mate Lila, a robust young lady who pulled up the ladder with great ease and started the commentary
Our bus first went through picturesque San Diego streets, the Embarcadero and San Diego International Airport before splashing into the water for a cruise of San Diego Bay, Lila pointed out the Aircraft Carrier USS Midway, the old schooner "Star of India" and the old Police Headquarters .The roads were full of happy tourists as it was a weekend
Suddenly we were in the water, transition was very smooth, we could see white fluffy clouds in the blue sky with the Navy ships, tug boats and fishing vessels throughout the harbor merrily going about in the blue water
We passed by the shelter island and heard many stories about the early soldiers, almost the entire San Diego city unfolded in front of us with all the various San Diego attractions like Point Loma with its beautiful mansions lining the hillside, the North Island Naval Air Station, Point Loma Submarine Base, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the Marine Mammal Training Center as they were pointed out by our first mate Lily
Lily had some big flash cards which she used to illustrate the famous tourist spots which I thought was an innovative method
Half way through we saw the famous San Diego sea lions lazily lying in the sun, some seemed to wink at the foolish tourists (us) gawking at them, LOL! We saw a few California brown pelicans and several other wildlife species could be seen
It was a leisurely cruise where we could see the magnificence of the San Diego bay, encircled by all the beautiful historical places of the city
We then went on a ferry to Coronado ferry landing, it was a short, scenic 15 minute sightseeing trip across San Diego Bay which took us to Ferry Landing Marketplace, Coronado’s specialty shopping and dining center. We browsed through the unique shops and galleries and had beautiful city views.
We then took a stroll along the downtown Embarcadero area and saw the 25-foot, bronze statue recreating the famous embrace between a sailor and a nurse celebrating the end of World War II in New York's Times Square in 1945.
The statue artwork was first brought to San Diego’s Tuna Harbor Park in 2007 on a 15-month loan from the Sculpture Foundation in Santa Monica and was then called “Unconditional Surrender,”
It was one of the series of computer-generated statues by Seward Johnson that resemble an iconic 1945 photograph by Alfred Eisenstaedt, V–J day in Times Square. However, they according to Johnson were based on a similar, lesser-known, photograph by Victor Jorgensen
The first in the series made of foam core with a urethane outer layer was installed temporarily in Sarasota, Florida, then was moved to San Diego Tuna Harbor Park’s “Greatest Generation Walk,” honoring the city’s naval history with multiple WWII memorials, California and New York City.
The roughly 7-ton bronze replica was officially installed in 2013, after being transported from New Jersey via a flatbed truck. To this day, it is a popular photo op for visitors of all ages. We of course took the mandatory snap in front of it and I observed few young couples trying to duplicate the pose of the couple in statue but in vain considering the dramatic bending of the girl
We then took a walk along the downtown Embarcadero area and passed the Historic USS Maritime Museums where one can feel the exciting 47-year legacy of the celebrated aircraft carrier which was home to more than 200,000 servicemen.
The Midway's flight deck features an extensive collection of fighters, bombers and helicopters that took naval aviation into the jet age. We can meet museum volunteers who once proudly served aboard the carrier and bring the flight deck to life recounting stories of life on the high seas.
The Maritime Museum consists of several historic sailing vessels including the iconic Star of India, built in 1863
Star of India is an iron-hulled sailing ship, built in 1863 in Ramsey, Isle of Man as the full-rigged ship Euterpe. After a career sailing from Great Britain to India and New Zealand, she was renamed as Star of India
Retired in 1926, she was restored as a seaworthy museum ship in 1962 and home-ported at the Maritime Museum of San Diego in San Diego, California.
She is the oldest ship still sailing regularly and also the oldest iron-hulled merchant ship still afloat. The ship is both a California Historical Landmark and United States National Historic Landmark.
So finally after a long day in the Sea Port Village we were tired and retired to our home
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