TRAVELING THE WORLD 365 days/year. You can visit us on Instagram at whereintheworldaremikeandjan. Do not hit “Reply” to message us – Use Contact Tab, above.
We did a few posts on San Diego a few years ago – and here is one more! It is a fun town, fresh, vibrant, warm, and sunny! What’s not to like? We realized that we had never really explored the famous, historic Gaslamp Quarter in San Diego, but had just driven by it and through it. So we set off for a walk from the cruise ship to visit this area, and liked it an awful lot.
We know NOTHING about major spectator sports, and we started talking with each other about how the San Diego Padres had moved from San Diego to Los Angeles, and how frustrating that must have been for the local fans. We kept seeing “San Diego Padres” signs all around the Gaslamp area, though! We thought, wow, they really miss their baseball team! So we stopped a 30-something guy, asked if he was a local, and said, “So, the Padres moved to LA, right?” NO, he answered – “It was the San Diego Chargers, and it still hurts my heart after five years!! TODAY is the Padres’ Opening Day; the baseball diamond is just down the street.” So much information in these two sentences, as we literally had no idea about any of it.
There were Padres t-shirts and signs all over the streets as we wandered along, with people heading in the direction of Opening Day at the baseball field. There was even a live radio broadcast on Fifth Avenue about the game.
Since the Gaslamp Quarter is the historic center of San Diego, there is also some fantastic architecture, with buildings dating from the late 1800s, and you can see the dates on some of the terrific buildings we photographed. Mostly, though, you will see a lot of whimsy and fun. We were in a cute candy store, passed lots of bars and restaurants, saw some fun retail stores, and walked by many outdoor dining stalls, just like other big cities across the US have. They certainly have changed the look of main streets in our cities.
San Diego – drink, sing, and make a friend! This was just written on a bar, but what a great motto for this pretty city!We love, love, love these wavy, whimsical street lights. Aren’t they great?This little piggy went snacking….It is hysterical that there is a “Lunch Special” for cars!A little park near the cruise terminal with a pretty fountain.What a cute retro woman!Great fingernail pattern!Our first encounter with the Padre-mania that was all around us.He was very proud of his t-shirt. Since it ONLY applies to Opening Day, we wonder if he will ever wear it again?The “Gaslamp Quarter” arch over Fifth Avenue.The street names even get special signage in this part of San Diego.This poor hotel has seen better days.We liked the architecture on this Wyndham Hotel, even though it only dates to 2000, especially the three middle tubes and two red “buttons” at the top.What gorgeous Art Nouveau stained glass windows!The Yuma Building dates to 1882. Isn’t the design fabulous?The Nesmith-Greely Building has a date of 1888, as you can (barely) see at the right top.The Louis Bank of Commerce Building, dated 1888.We couldn’t stop staring at it, with those two fabulous towers. We would love to see inside! That would truly be life in a “tiny house/room” to live in the towers!It is great that Ghirardelli used their location in an old theater, with a marquee, to list a “Now Appearing” feature of their menu. (No, we did not partake.)Yes, it says, “American Junkie;” since it is a gastropub, we assume the name refers to junk food offerings.Is that a great face, or what? It looks like it is out of a 1930s cartoon!This restaurant/bar had lots of fun stuff going on, including the next two photos.Upstairs were these two characters….…and laminated onto the table was a great quote from Zapata himself.This was definitely fun – a parking space, on the street, reserved for scooters! They are usually just left “wherever.” WELL!The candy store, “IT’SUGAR”made a lot of fun of itself, including this statement that sugar/candy has absolutely no nutritional value!And we had to include some peeps for Easter…Kiss my…..what??? It clearly says underneath the “artwork” that the candy is Sour Peachy Hearts! Wanna peach of me?!What a cutie!This place had some great-looking glasses, but with our mobile lifestyle, we buy inexpensive reading glasses and sunglasses, as they are oh, so likely to get lost or crushed.
