San Diego Day 1 - California Gurls

Katy Perry's catchy California Gurls has been inescapable throughout the summer of 2010. This smash hit has inspired us to plan a trip to visit the golden coast. Fortunately one week before the Labour Day long weekend I found a flight deal. I love planning last minute trips because of the lingering anticipation and excitement never fading and then the trip becomes a reality! Its been a awhile since we have visited California together. San Diego combines the elements of sun, beach, tourist attractions galore and distinctive culture in its various neighbourhoods. As a youngster, John never visited Southern California so its an added bonus that he will get to experience Sea World and San Diego Zoo for the very first time! We will save Disneyland for next time. Though John thinks my ulterior motive is to stalk my beloved reality couple Ali and Roberto who have just recently moved to San Diego but I know that they be back East during our visit. Ha!

After an airplane mechanical delay at YVR, connecting flight in LAX and a long wait to get our Budget rental car we finally checked into The Westgate Hotel in downtown San Diego in the afternoon. Good thing we started our trip prior to sunrise at 5:00 AM.

We refueled with some grub at Cafe Chloe and then we headed off to the Coronado Island.



Coronado is an island peninsula located west of downtown San Diego connected by a bridge. This bridge is unique in that it curves instead of being straight so that the US Navy ships can pass underneath in the bay. Coronado is famous for the Hotel Del Coronado resort with its iconic red turrets and its affluent beach community. We headed to the beach for a much needed nap. Maintaining its reputation for beautiful year round weather it was sunny with a gentle breeze.




For dinner we headed to Lucha Libre Taco Shop which is tucked away in Mission Hills Valley. Lucha Libre literally means Free Fighting which includes waiting in line. I've read rave reviews about this place and figure if people are willing to wait in line at all hours of the day it must be worthy of its reputation for the tastiest Mexican eats on this side of the border. The restaurant has some funky decor with lucha libre masks and wrestling memorabilia. I don't rave about Mexican food but this one was the best burrito we've had and memorable. The Surf and turf burrito consists of marinated grilled steak, shrimp, avocado, pico de gallo, rice and super secret chipotle sauce.Our entire cheap eats meal which consisted of a Surf and Turf burrito, Surf and Turf taco, pop drink, extra guacamole, salsa chips with 5 different sauces costed us only $12.65! We were more than full!





After dinner we then headed to the Gaslamp Quarter for an evening stroll which happens to be 3 blocks away from our hotel. It is the area where all bars, nightclub and restaurants are located. We were commenting earlier that downtown was quiet earlier in the day but it appears that they have quite the happening nightlife!