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Saturday 3 December 2011

Super Saturday & a Sunny Sunday

So. This is about LAST Saturday and Sunday not yesterday and today. SEE I am way behind.

Super Saturday is another day of shopping deals. Though we didnt really go deal shopping.

We had planned to go to the farmer's market in Poway, which was on early until 11.30, we didnt wake up until 10. I am guessing the mad busy Friday had caused us to be extremely tired! Still somehow, not quite sure really how we were able to get to the farmer's market for 11.

The main reason we had gone to the farmer's market was to try and see the BBC Pasty Heaven stall, however, this stall was not there. No big issues, just fancied a pasty, sausage roll or scotch egg. None of which I have had for three months.

We didnt really need anything from the Farmer's market and wanted to get on to sightseeing a little more so off we went to Oceanside. Usually when we go to Oceanside we park behind the main street however, this time we chose to park a little way along the beach and take a decent walk along the boardwalk (promenade).

We decided whilst in Oceanside to have some lunch. We decided on a place called Davina's Cabo Grill, I would link to it but it seems they don't have a website currently. There is a roof terrace which you can sit up on which has beautiful views and has a great atmosphere. Great place for drinks and some tortilla chips with dips.

On the way back to the car we went along the road which is directly behind the beach and is actually higher up.

We walked past the house which they used in Top Gun, the balcony scene. I didnt realise it was 25 years since that film had been released! The house is beautiful, currently there is metal railings around it. Having read more it would seem that the house is on land which has been approved for a 4 star resort and they are going to incorporate the house into this resort.









Yes this is the Top Gun House! SEE pic above and the one below...









Next stop was Carlsbad, yes this is where Paranormal Activity 1, 2 and 3 is supposed to be set but then all you ever see in those films is the houses! In fact looking on IMDB it would seem that Paranormal Activity 1 was filmed in Rancho Penasquitos which is literally just a minutes drive from where we are (it is the neighbourhood next to us!!). It looks like the other two were filmed in that area too though IMDB has not said this!

Carlsbad is home to the Carlsbad Premium Outlets and Legoland. We have yet to go to Legoland! We had never actually take a walk round the small town there so this was our chance. We liked it, it is really small but there is a lot of places to eat so we must return.











Our next planned stop was to be the Carlsbad Premium Outlets and perhaps to look at the flower fields. However, the premium outlets were rammed and there was nothing in the flower fields so we moved on.

The Flower Fields are it seems only open in the spring time. That is definitely something we need to go back for.

Our next stop was the North County Mall. I needed a few gifts for some friends who had sent me some stuff so went to the Sanrio store. As well as getting those gifts I got a new purse, as in a wallet not a handbag. They had their decorations up and we saw this little dude in the Sears store:

I wish I had a garden!

Here are pictures of the decorations:




My new purse/wallet (depending on where you are living):



After that we did boring stuff (read that as food shopping)!

Sunday we had a much less hectic day. Well, it depends on what you call hectic. Less hectic for us anyway.

We were up late so it was about midday before we ventured anywhere. We had a walk around the Gaslamp district and Horton Plaza (I have previously posted pictures so there wont be many on this one) and had lunch at a place in the Gaslamp. The food was quite a letdown but it was fantastic to be able to sit outside in the sunshine and drink a beer in November!



This was where we were sat in the sunshine

A tree made up of tons of Poinsetta plants in pots


We went and bought our dining table and chairs in the afternoon around 3pm, popped to Costco (gotta love buying in bulk!) and did some chores then at 7pm our table and chairs were delivered! Amazing!






So that concludes the long and hectic thanksgiving weekend!



Friday 2 December 2011

Black Friday

Back again. I am aware that I should be writing another differences entry, however, I would prefer to get somewhat caught up with what we have been up to and do the differences entries during quieter times!

I had hoped to cover the whole of the rest of last weekend in this entry but this is long just talking about Black Friday so another entry shall be coming soon with the remainder of the weekend!

So the day after Thanksgiving is known as Black Friday. On Black Friday people go queue at silly times to get items at great prices. Whilst we still have some things on our list that we need to get neither of us were really up for queueing for hours so we instead had a day out.

Of course, as we had been out til 2am on Thanksgiving, we slept in a bit later, that was fine, no rush. We got into Misty (the name of the Mustang) and set Betty (the name of our satnav) to take us to Coronado. It took us a much easier way! Of course we still went over the Coronado Bridge, well other than taking a boat from the harbour there is no other way to get there! Coronado is an island connected only by that bridge!

We have learnt in the past that finding parking in Coronado can be quite difficult so we chose the spot we normally have. It's only about a 5 minute walk and we havent got an aversion against walking!

In Coronado we walked along Orange Avenue, then went and had a sub at Avenue Liquor, yes a liquor store that sells freshly made sub sandwiches. They were not too bad either.

I had forgotten my sunglasses so we went into a pharmacy and bought me another pair, whilst the temperature was hot (I believe in the mid 80's so around 25 degrees C) the sun was low because well... it is late Autumn after all!

We had a wander around the grounds of the Coronado Hotel and on the beach. There is an ice skating rink which has been set up there for winter. It really felt surreal seeing the beach, palm trees, an ice rink, warm sunshine and Christmas decorations. It almost felt as if it was mid summer and they had forgotten to take down the decoration!

Also in the grounds of the Coronado hotel there was the Dr. Seuss Travelling Art Exhibition, Dr. Seuss who wrote Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, Horton hears a who! and How the Grinch Stole Christmas was a resident of La Jolla (which funnily enough was the next stop on our day out) after the war up until his death in 1991.

We had a wander round the other side of Orange Avenue which included looking at bikes, both hubby and I are really contemplating getting some bikes.













After we jumped back in Misty Mustang and set Betty Sat Nav to take us to La Jolla. Whilst Coronado is amazing, La Jolla is actually my favourite beach area.

We parked in our usual place, a little walk away from the main beach area, two hours free parking. Avoiding parking charges is always a must for us.


We took a walk along the beach, well on the boardwalk. There is a place on the beach which is known as the Children's pool Beach, a seawall is there in place and was built to create the pool. However, this area is now home to seals and sealions and many give birth on this beach during the months of January to April. Even out of this season they dont like humans to go on this beach (to allow the seals and sealions to have peace). Some ignore the signs (yes this bugs me greatly).


You can still go on the seawall and look at the beach and the beach is still viewable from the boardwalk. There was many seals and sealions there on this particular day! One was really close too. I still personally get confused on the difference between seals and sealions!

We carried on after a few minutes and walked past the park and up to the caves. We have yet to go inside a cave- there is a shop where you can pay to go into the cave, we will probably try this another time. A lot of people Kayak and snorkel around the cave and other parts of the beach. There are seals and sealions almost all the way up to the caves too!

After we had a walk through the town and of course indulged in some Ice cream. Well it would be criminal not to when the weather is so gorgeous!












It was almost 4pm, we knew we had maybe an hour of sunlight left. So we decided to head on at this point to Torrey Pines.


There is not a great deal I can say about this place, we literally just walked along the top of the cliff it is truly beautiful. They say a picture says a thousand words. I will post a few...









Lastly we headed to Del Mar to watch the sunset. Yes, we have seen many sunsets since we have been here but we never get tired of them.












I can't for the life of me remember what we did during the evening. Can't have been exciting right?


Entry to follow for Saturday & Sunday. Then another for this past week or so... maybe two. Differences entries will resume when things are quieter!