California Trip- La Jolla

Our second day in California, I was stunned to walk outside and see it had rained the night before and it was so foggy it looked like we were in the Pacific Northwest. Despite the gloomy weather, we decided to go to La Jolla Cove and look for the famous seals and sea lions. This was, all in all, not the worst decision because there were fewer people there due to the weather. We saw about a dozen sea mammals and quite a few other sea creatures in the tide pools. La Jolla is very beautiful and no wonder it tops a lot of "must see" lists for San Diego. We walked around for a few hours and then left to get lunch.

For lunch we upped our vegan game and went to a restaurant in Little Italy called Cafe Gratitude. James really embraced the California lifestyle by ordering a watermelon infused water that cost $9.50. This is a man who typically will not even drink free water, let alone pay for it. Joking aside, it really was a fantastic restaurant. I ordered a Mexican style bowl and James got a raw "lasagna" made with squash ribbon noodles. Both our dishes were great and kept us full for the rest of the day, which ended up making the meal economical. We walked around Little Italy for a bit and then napped before walking down to the Crystal Pier in Pacific Beach. 

This is no ordinary pier. It has adorable little vacation cottages on it. I was a little weirded out by the fact you can drive onto the pier to access the cottages (if you're staying there). I couldn't help but wonder how the pier holds up with all the cottages, vehicles, and rough surf over the years. But it's been there for nearly 100 years, so I guess none of this is an issue. 

We didn't get a stunning sunset but still enjoyed the view from the legendary Pacific Beach Shore Club. Seriously the people watching is second to none at the beach and the Shore Club has a big upstairs area overlooking the beach. Unfortunately we did witness a fight and probably a drug deal (unrelated to each other) but overall I felt really safe walking around Pacific Beach. We wended our way through these charming alleys to get back to the rental and saw the cutest houses and yards. If only I was a millionaire...

California Trip- Ocean Beach Dog Park

So as described in my previous post, much of day one was spent traveling (getting to the Atlanta airport is no walk in the park either). We arrived to our Air BnB in Pacific Beach around 5 pm and James was literally about to eat his hand. Hunger combined with no air conditioning is a bad mix for a man (strangely, though, he claims "hangry" is not a legit feeling). So I pulled up the handy list of vegan/vegetarian options I found online and found the closest one, which was a "fast food" place in nearby Ocean Beach called Plant Power. Well, nearby in rush hour meant another 25 minute drive BUT it was so worth it. By the end of our trip, James became a walking billboard for Plant Power and spent enough money to probably keep the place in business through the end of the year. 

After eating $50 worth of probably not the healthiest vegan food ever, we felt the need to get some exercise, so the next logical stop was the Ocean Beach dog park. Because it's not at all creepy to go to a dog beach without your own dogs and fawn over other peoples' dogs. We walked around the dog beach and were quickly refreshed by all the pups and people enjoying the evening. I dipped my toes in the Pacific Ocean for the first time ever and we caught the most stunning sunset. Even locals said it was unusually beautiful. The pictures really didn't adequately capture it. 

After the beach, we went to Trader Joe's to get coffee and essentials for the morning and quickly learned another lesson- you have to pay for grocery bags in California. I don't have a problem with this; just wasn't expecting it. James declined to pay .25 cents for a bag so we ended up carrying all our stuff out and have it roll around the back of the car. We are such noobs.