Today we visited Balboa Park and the Model Train Museum. This place was amazing. I easily could have spent hours here looking at all of the detail that went into recreating parts of San Diego in miniature scale, but finally gave up after only an hour and a half.
For lunch, we again splurged and ate at The Prado Restaurant at Balboa Park. Some of the best food and amazing desserts, but not as good as Extraordinary Desserts!
Since our border wait coming back from Ensenada was more than 1-1/2 hours, we were late returning the Hertz Rental car, so we had to change the drop off location to a after-hours drop off. To my surprise, when we typed in the new Hertz provided drop off location into our borrowed Garmin GPS (Thanks TGIWF! It was a HUGH help!) we were met at our destination by armed military informing us that we were trespassing on a guarded base. Oops!
Apparently, Hertz does have a drop off location at the San Diego Naval base, but you’ve got to be active military to use it! Hertz Customer Service was wonderful and ultimately let me keep the car overnight for my convenience since it was getting late.
Keeping the car an extra night worked out great, since it enabled us to go to Extraordinary Desserts off Union Street in San Diego. Without the car, we might have not made it there! Certainly the BEST dessert I have ever had, and defiantly a place to visit next time you’re in San Diego. Mmmm.
A interesting “Fact vs. Fiction” was solved on Tuesday with the question – Can you rent a car and take it to a foreign country. The answer is…yes. Hertz Rental Car will allow you to rent a car and take it across the border to Mexico as long as you disclose that you are taking it across the border.
Which is exactly what we did on Tuesday. Sarah W., JD (J mom’s new nickname) and I visited the lovely Baja California city of Ensenada.We did the normal shopping on main street and saying no to small children trying to sell us Chicklets gum.
This is a very familiar city to me, since I visited it often when I live in San Diego and Victorville. My favorite place in Ensenada is Mango Mango’s. Mango Mango’s is across the street from the famous Papa’s & Beer, and is more of a dance club for locals, rather than a get drunk club for the Carnival Cruise Lines, which is why I like it better.
Since we were in Ensenada during the day, we only stopped outside and did not go dancing, but someday, I’d like to go back!
For almost five years, I lived in California in the San Diego area and never visited the Hotel del Coronado. Today, now that I am back here visiting on vacation with Sarah W, Mom W. and Mom D., I finally got to visit one of USA Today's top ten resorts in the world.
The hotel resort was built in 1888 by two mid-western businessmen, Elisha Babcock and Hampton Story with the vision of it being "the talk of the Western world." It was promoted as a fishing and hunting resort offering a more refined amenities. The Del also showcased modern technologies to include electricity lighting, telephones and elevators.
Times have changed, but the Hotel Del has certainly remained "the talk of the Western world." I'm glad I finally took the time to see it.
I wonder how many blogs are out there today with comments regarding airport security after yesterday's terror threat. Do I feel safer with the extra efforts of the TSA? No! Do I feel safer when they take away my shampoo? No! Do I feel safer when they take away the shampoo of the pilot and crew of the plane that is flying me to my destination? Absolutely not! If the pilot of my plane wanted to "take me out", he/she certainly wouldn't do it with shampoo. My guess is they'd just take it down! Don't hassle the crew. That's just absurd!
Now...why do I not feel safer because they took away my shampoo? Because if you take away my shampoo and liquids, those clever minds that came up with the chemical mixing idea for a bomb will find another way to take down a plane. I don't feel safer, because we're never going to be smart enough to think ahead and come up with the ideas that terrorist do until they do it for us. Even if they for the rest of time require everyone to check all baggage and not allow anything but a strap around our necks with our picture ID and money, terrorists will find a different way.
There is no way to make the world 100% safe or make flying 100% safe. It's the risk you take when you buy the ticket.
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