San Diego – New Adventure
New adventures equal new ideas, creative juices tend to bloom and explode. Travel opens my world in ways that one can never plan. Travel doesn’t have to be far or even new. A revisited place can be familiar and new when experienced at a different time.
My sister, Patti and I had been talking about our annual trip. Last year it was to the north coast (click to read). Having elder parents with around the clock care, we didn’t want to venture off too far or too long.
San Diego was mentioned. She had been there a couple of years ago with her daughter, visiting family and loved it. I had been there a couple of years ago to see a baseball game and in the late 90’s an invitational wearable art competition, which I participated in. Those were great memories and would love to see more of what the city had to offer. We agreed and off we went.
Beach Adventure
When Patti was there before, she stayed at the Mission Beach area and thought it was genuinely nice, so we booked a VRBO. It was right off the beach cliff. There were stairs that led you down to the sandy beach. Once there you could walk along the shore for miles. There were many surfers out in the water, waiting to catch that perfect wave. It was fun watching them as they occasionally got a successful ride.
Out our front door, on the cliff above the sandy shore, there was a paved trail for walking or biking. Restaurants and shops lined the side with
different offerings to sell. The weather was perfect, with sunshine and a nice breeze to cool us. Soon after arriving we realized that neither one of us had a hat. That was our first shopping quest before going much further. I was so excited to find a child sized hat, to fit my small head, which was also cute for an adult. Sis found one of her liking, too.
We enjoyed some great food including tacos for lunch at a great little take out place, dinner at PB Shore Club. There was no lack of food within walking distance as well as a grocery store across the street.
Coastal Floral Color
The coastal flowers did not disappoint. Just walking along the pathways, blooms at every turn, I could not take photos fast enough.
I added these two macro photos to my greeting card collection. Click here to view the collection or to purchase.
Adventure At Balboa Park
Day two, Balboa Park a place I’ve always heard about and wanted to explore. A 20-minute Uber ride took us right to the heart of it. I had no idea that it was such a large, wondrous area with such beauty. Some of the areas were not yet open because of Covid, such as the botanical gardens, but there was enough to keep us busy for the entire day. Knowing that there was probably no way that to see the entire park, we went to the most interesting to us first. We enjoyed the Japanese gardens, the art museum, Spanish village, and some outdoor musicians. We ate lunch at the Tea Pavilion and ended the day with a glass of wine and crab cakes at Prado’s restaurant patio. I had gathered so many inspirational photos in that one day to last a month, or a year. Such a great day!
Bazaar Del Mundo Then & Now
With such great memories of Old Town when I was there in the 90’s, I wanted to re-visit. Patti was interested in that, too. Bazaar Del Mundo, the store that had the wearable art event, was on my mind and so I made it my mission to find it. I remembered it had a beautiful outside garden area where the fashion show was held. To give you a little back story, I worked for a fabric store in the 90’s and was inspired to create wearable art. These garments would be, by invitation, for galleries, competitions, and fashion shows. The jacket you see here, titled Fiesta, was in a fashion show in 1993. They added the skirt and hat.
Old Town was so fun to wander around in, with the wide variety of things to do and see there. From making your own souvenir candle to shopping for keepsake pottery and lots of eating available. We finally found Bazaar Del Mundo. They had moved to a location just outside of Old Town. Still had the same flavor of wearable art items most not handmade but unique with an ethnic Mexican style. We were told that eating at Café Coyote was a must, so we did, and it was great! Again, we found ourselves there all day, and so we found a wine tasting bar with an interesting passion fruit/habanero wine. We enjoyed sipping while waiting for a table for dinner at Casa de Reyes, which I think had been where Bazaar Del Mundo was in 1993.
I love the colorful Mexican art, the coastal flowers, the inspiration was abundant. There is so much more to explore in San Diego, I look forward to our trip next year!
