Tuesday – February 3, 2026 – San Diego day 2
The featured photo today is of a hotel that has appeared in many movies (recently in Top Gun II). Hotel del Coronado is a place with much history (dating to 1888) and a beautiful location. It was among the stops on our impromptu tour of San Diego today.
It was another beautiful day today in San Diego – sunny with a cloudless sky. We didn’t have an excursion booked for the day and decided to try our luck getting around the city. We thought about taking one of the Hop-on Hop-off buses but before we could get to that ticket office near the dock a man named Alex approached us and a couple other passengers with the offer to provide a tour for the 6 of us. Sounded like a reasonable price and itinerary, so we boarded his 11-passenger van and drove off. Alex (knows as “Gorilla” to associates in San Diego) is from Romania and has been hosting tours like ours originating at the port for over 25 years. His wife also drives as a tour guide and the 2 of them were in contact as we took our ride around San Diego.
First stop was not far from the ship – Tuna Harbor Park on the South side of the USS Midway museum. The first thing you notice in the park is a sculpture over 20 feet tall of a sailor kissing a nurse. It is titled “Embracing Peace”. Also in the park is a tribute to Bob Hope for his work with military service personnel. That artwork is titled “A National Salute to Bob Hope and the Military”.
As we were riding to our next stop, Alex told us that we should return to the area we just left and walk to Seaport Village – a collection of good restaurants and plenty of shopping. We did take that advice later in the day. Alex had planned to take us to an area called Gaslamp Quarter but in communication with his wife (who was there), he asked if we would prefer to skip that stop – the traffic was heavy and we would be waiting in the van for over 30 minutes just to get a look at that area. We all agreed to bypass Gaslamp Quarter and press on.
We drove over the Coronado Bridge to reach the town of Coronado. The area also houses the Naval Base San Diego. The Navy owns and occupies a large portion of the land on Coronado Island. The bridge was a long time in coming due to the concerns of the Navy that ships might be trapped in the harbor if the bridge collapsed. Construction did not begin until the 1960’s.
The city of Coronado is beautiful and an expensive area in which to live. We drove through immaculate neighborhoods until we reached the expansive property that included the Hotel del Coronado. Alex dropped us at the entrance and allowed ample time for us to explore the property. We walked through the elaborate lobby down a flight of stairs to the lower level and out to the courtyard facing the beach. There was an expansive lawn fronting the beach and on the beach were igloos with clear plastic covers that could be used while spending time on the beach. In the distance you could see Point Loma and the Point Loma Lighthouse – these mark the entrance to San Diego bay from the Pacific Ocean. If you look at this area using an application like Google Earth you can see how large it is and how it is arranged.
Before I knew what the temperature was going to be today, I had decided to wear a long-sleeved t-shirt. That was a mistake because the temperature rose quickly from early morning. While we were at the hotel, I looked for a shop to purchase something cooler and settled on a Hotel del Coronado t-shirt. When we found Alex and returned to the van I changed from the hot long-sleeved to the cooler short-sleeved shirt and was glad I had made the purchase.
Alex continued his tour and drove us through several other historic areas of San Diego including Little Italy and Old Town. We made a stop at Old Town and while there the 3 of us decided to grab ice cream at a Cold Stone store. Leo served us – I took his photo and promised to include it in this website. You’ll find his photo in today’s gallery.
As we ate the no-calories-at-all ice cream we walked and looked at the shops on the streets of Old Town. We found a shop that had a t-shirt like the Beatles album cover for “Abbey Road” (the 4 of them crossing the street in this order – George, Paul, Ringo, John). This t-shirt had VW beetles with surfboards. The shirt was similar to one we had picked up in Christchurch, New Zealand last year with 4 kiwis crossing a street. There is a illustration in today’s gallery showing all 3 renditions.
After our visit to Old Town Alex returned to the dock and bid farewell. We chose to walk from the dock to Seaport Village and look around. There were many shops and for a confirmed shopper like Kelsey, not enough time to visit all of them. She did find a store specializing in socks and found some there she like enough to buy. After this exhausting searching we located a restaurant that served authentic New Orleans beignets. As you can see from the gallery, they were covered with ample powdered sugar – enough to make all our fingers sticky (and they were delicious). We returned to Magnifica and enjoyed our after sunset sail-away from San Diego.
This is a city that we would like to visit again!
You can view today’s photos here.