Saturday, 24 August 2024

A TRYST WITH THE SEA LIONS AT LA JOLLA COVE AND CROSSING THE CORONADO BRIDGE – SAN DIEGO STAY

 We one day went to La Jolla cove right by the La Jolla village, we reached there quite early though it was a chilly morning as parking is quite difficult to get there. 

La Jolla Cove is a small secluded cove with a beach that is surrounded by cliffs in La Jolla, a community of San Diego, Point La Jolla forms the south side of the cove. The area is protected as part of a marine reserve and is very popular.

 It was an awesome place, as we parked our car we could see tourists enjoying their breakfast in the wide variety of restaurants, cafes and locals were either sedately walking or jogging away, I think San Diego is one city where I found maximum number of all categories of people either walking or jogging at all times of the day 

Because La Jolla Cove is within the San Diego-La Jolla Underwater Park (a marine refuge area) swimming devices such as surfboards, boogie boards, and inflatable mattresses, are not permitted, and kayakers are not allowed into the Cove.

We found waves from the open ocean large and strong.  While the beach has only a small dry sand area at high tide, as we went during the low tides, we found tide pools at the cove.

We could see the California sea lions in the waters of the cove and also lazily sun bathing on its beaches, cliffs, and bluffs. 


As an ecological reserve, no fishing is allowed and the collecting of marine invertebrates, (even taking dead specimens or seashells) is prohibited, there were boards displayed to that effect. All sea animals are protected by law, including the orange Garibaldi fish, which are unusually common in the cove. 

we found that the air throughout the La Jolla Cove area was filled with the odor of sea lion and bird feces but the water was crystal clear and obviously warm as we found people snorkeling, diving and checking out sea caves 

As the area was secluded it was definitely congenial for swimming and relaxation, we could see kids swimming under safe guidance of their wards, some older people were relaxing in their portable chairs reading or dozing and some kids were actively building sand castles

The most endearing part of the cove were the hilarious sea lions that have made part of this beach their home and were posing away to glory, they were busy barking, growling and grunting, one small bold kid tried to sit on a sea lion which wanted to adopted him but he was fortunately rescued by the scared mother, we could get down to the beach through the steps and wet our feet

Local tourism asks visitors to take photos from a distance as due respect has to be shown to the beautiful sea lions, so one has to maintain healthy distance from them so that they can peacefully do their sunbathing un interrupted, they however seemed to tolerate the pesky sea gulls sportively 

Another day found us at Coronado an island just across the bay from downtown San Diego, we had to go on the Coronado bridge which was 2.12-mile long with a vertical clearance of approximately 200 feet, allowing the tallest ships to pass beneath it , it was a beautiful and exhilarating experience to go on the bridge with awesome views on both sides

It is a pre stressed concrete/steel girder bridge fixed-link, crossing over San Diego Bay and it was in 1926 that John D. Spreckels proposed the idea of a bridge between San Diego and Coronado.

After a long gap, in 1951–52, the Coronado City Council initiated plans for bridge feasibility studies, the bridge length was increased by taking a curved path rather than a more direct path to Coronado. 

The principal architect was Robert Mosher, construction started in February 1967. The bridge required 20,000 tons of steel and opened to traffic on August 3, 1969, during the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the founding of San Diego. 

The bridge ascends from Coronado at a 4.67 percent grade before curving 80 degrees toward San Diego. It is supported by 27 concrete girders, the longest ever made at construction time.

The bridge contains five lanes, the bridge was designed entirely and exclusively for motor vehicle traffic, there are no pedestrian walkways or bike paths 

The pillars supporting the bridge on the eastern end are painted with huge murals as part of Chicano Park, the most extensive collection of Chicano art murals in the world and the bridge is lit brightly in the evening which is a site to behold



Unfortunately the Coronado Bridge is frequently used as a suicide bridge also.

Coronado is known for its gentle surf, sparkling ( thanks to presence of the mineral mica) wide-sand beaches, charming main streets and great hotels, including the famous Hotel del Coronado,  this charming small town has been dubbed "The Crown City," as Coronado means "the crowned one" in Spanish.

One can rent a bike and tour the island via Coronado's beachfront boardwalk. We had once seen Coronado after having gone there in a ferry from Seaport 

The grand Victorian Hotel del Coronado opened in 1888 and across from the hotel, the wide, flat Coronado Beach draws surfers and sunbathers. Its western stretch includes the leash-free Coronado Dog Beach.

We usually visited the Tidelands Park the biggest of Coronado’s parks which is particularly busy on the weekend when baseball, soccer and other sports teams take over the park. 

What we always liked about the park was the hassle free ample parking, the park offered a small beach, recreational fields, picnic areas and plenty of open space. In addition the park had a scenic bike path from the Silver Strand to the Old Ferry Landing

While we were there, we would see families enjoying the warm weather children would enjoy the park equipment under the eye of watchful adults.

What I particularly liked was the whimsical bike sculpture (appropriately named "My Bike"), there were several other sculptures too

There were benches to sit and rest and look at the world passing by, naval ships docked for repairs and various ships loaded and unloaded their wares

The Coronado bridge glistened gracefully, downtown buildings haughtily looked down on us and flights descended and departed reminding us that time flies fast and our home awaited us.


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