“There
are places I remember
All
my life, though some have changed…”
Lyrics
from the 1965 Beatles song “In My Life”
Carol
writes: While
I have taken over the majority of the writing in our travel blog, Al has taken
on the project of preserving the very best of our photos in slide shows set to
music. As I was viewing Al's San Diego
slide show, I was struck by the appropriateness of the accompanying music he
had selected—the Beatles song “In My Life.”
The lyrics seemed to fit so perfectly with all the reminiscing we had
been doing in San Diego, the city where we met, fell in love and embarked on
married life together. In this blog, I
will let a little of Lennon and McCartney serve as some of the introductions
for various parts of my story…
“I'll never lose affection
For people and things that went before”
For people and things that went before”
Starting with a little San Diego
history… In 1542, the Portuguese-born
explorer Juan Cabrillo, sailing under the flag of Spain, entered San Diego Bay.
A statue of Cabrillo
looks out over the bay from a
position of honor at Cabrillo National Monument, high above the bay at Point
Loma.
The view of San Diego Bay and
Coronado Island was simply magnificent!
When Cabrillo first sighted it, San
Diego was then, and still is, a most perfect harbor, an ideal location for one
of the largest U.S. naval bases, with its harbor entrance naturally protected
and sheltered by the broad expanse of Coronado Island.
As home of the Pacific Fleet, much of
the harbor shoreline is occupied by Navy facilities. For much of Al’s sea duty time, he was
stationed in San Diego, and when I met him in 1976, he was serving aboard the
USS San Bernardino (LST 1189), which was homeported at 32nd Street. Across the bay on the Coronado side, it was
interesting to see some of the active ships in today’s modern Navy…
two carriers
and the hospital ship Mercy.
Also, from the Coronado side, the
distinctive ‘toolbox’ skyline of San Diego was a beauty to behold.
“All
these places have their moments…”
Call us kooky, but for nostalgia sake, we took a
drive past some old apartment complexes where we used to live in the mid-70s—
the old Carousel Apartments, a unique circular
building that was my very first apartment in San Diego and is now a pricey
condominium complex with a name not nearly as clever as the Carousel,
and the Franciscan Apartments, likewise condos
now, where Al and I met poolside 40 years ago.
The closest beaches in this part of the city were Ocean
Beach and Mission Beach, two of our favorite beaches back in the day. The waves were pounding the Ocean Beach pier.
It was astonishing to me that the old Belmont Park
wooden roller coaster at Mission Beach was still in existence, even getting a
new coat of paint for the start of the summer season.
One of the most historic sites in San Diego is
Balboa Park, the largest urban cultural park in the country, and home to 15
museums.
The stunning Spanish Renaissance architecture
dates back 100 years to the Panama-California Exposition. Other buildings in the park were created for another international exposition in the mid-1930s.
dates back 100 years to the Panama-California Exposition. Other buildings in the park were created for another international exposition in the mid-1930s.
The 100-year-old wooden lath Botanical Building
has become an iconic structure in Balboa Park.
On the day of our visit the seasonal floral
display was orchids, and they were exquisite!
We found it easy to spend a whole day in Balboa
Park, and even then didn’t have time to see everything. There was:
the Old Globe Theater, renowned as one of the
country’s best regional theaters,
the Spanish Village Art Colony with working art
studios,
and the Timken Museum,
a gem of a small family art
museum that offered free admission. Hey,
we recognized some of these artists!
“Some
are dead and some are living…”
Mission San Diego de Alcalá is the birthplace of
California and the city of San Diego’s link to the past. This so-called “mother of the missions” was
founded in 1769 by Saint Junipero Serra.
Still an active parish, the basilica status of the
mission was denoted by the canopy in Papal colors that hung over the pulpit.
Although the grounds of the mission were not as
impressive as other missions we have visited, some notable viewpoints were
exceptional, especially this dazzling scarlet bougainvillea in full bloom over a
brilliantly white courtyard wall...
and the shrine to Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Although the question had never occurred to me
during the five years I lived in San Diego, it was at the mission where I learned
how San Diego acquired its name. Sixty
years after Juan Cabrillo entered San Diego Bay, the Spanish explorer Viscaino
entered the bay, went ashore and named the area in honor of Didacus of Alcalá,
whose feast day was the following day.
“Diego” is the Spanish form of the Latin name “Didacus.”
The San Diego Zoo in Balboa Park is world famous
for its concept of more natural and cageless animal exhibits. We thought it was well worth a day to visit
with the animals…
The animals were most cooperative on this mild
summer-like day.
The San Diego Zoo is exceptional among zoos of the
world for its successful giant panda breeding program. This panda bear was oblivious to the crowd as it
chowed down on its favorite food—bamboo.
It was surprising to see how truly buoyant hippos
are in the water!
“Some
have gone and some remain…”
Just a few miles from our campground, the Living
Coast Discovery Center, with its own small zoo and aquarium, was a marshy natural treasure on San Diego Bay .
Once the site of a WW I gunpowder processing
plant, the land is now a peaceful wildlife refuge center. Standing in a field of San Diego sunflowers,
we had a stunning view of the San Diego skyline in the distance, bisected by
the stately curving Coronado Bay Bridge.
“Some
forever not for better…”
Lately, there has been a lot of buzz politically
about immigration issues and border security, so we decided to take a trip to
the border for some first-hand experience.
We visited Border Field State Park,
which was located on a beach along the
international border with Mexico in the most southwestern corner of the United
States.
Due to recent flooding, we could
not drive in but instead had to hike in about a mile and a half.
Partway into our walk we came upon a border agent
who was out patrolling on an ATV. As we all looked into the hillsides of
Tijuana in the distance, I asked if it was a good idea to visit Tijuana. He responded by saying that “the beheadings
have tapered off quite a bit.” I’m
pretty sure I got the message…
As soon as we reached the beach, it didn’t take
long for a small group of Mexican teens to run down to the fence and begin
shouting at us to come over, most likely wanting us to give them money;
however, signs specifically warned us not to do that. This was certainly a far different
international experience from our early San Diego days when we made trips
freely down to Tijuana and farther down the Mexican coast to Ensenada for meals,
shopping, and enjoyment of the cultural experience. I even took my parents to a bullfight in
Ensenada during one of their visits to me back in the early 1970s.
What did we think about what we saw? Well, at
Border Field State Park we eventually reached a very tall fence, but
there was nothing ‘beautiful’ about it.
I was touched to discover that indeed there was a big door—a sliding
door in the fence—
which opens on weekends for four hours day so that
residents on the U.S. side can visit with their Mexican family members in a
green area between the two rows of fencing.
This visiting area is named Friendship
Circle and Bi-National Garden.
Isn’t that putting a bizarre rosy picture on the
immigration issue?
…”friends
I still can recall”
And finally, several of our San Diego days were
spent reconnecting with old friends from our past. I visited my med tech co-worker Norma at her
home and enjoyed a wonderful lunch of some of my favorite Filipino food that
she had cooked for us. As always, every
time I have visited Norma over the years, we reconnect on that wonderful level
of friendship that has endured for over 40 years. I also visited with Bernadette, another
friend from my single days who still lives on Coronado Island.
We had dinner in Coronado at the house of one of
Al’s former shipmates. Steve and Madelyn
cooked a great meal for us and were wonderful hosts.
They had their own epic journey on the road during 15-months of traveling with their four children in a trailer back in the 1980s. Their family trip was the spark of inspiration that encouraged us to go on the road twice for a year of travel, once 26 years ago with our young family and recently just the two of us in Europe. And now, look at us; we are a year into full-time life on the road!
We were very fortunate to be included on a Rotary Club tour of the USS Pasadena,
an active fast-attack nuclear submarine. We were honored to be included among the guests of Al's Academy classmate, Jim, that we had connected with up in the Los Angeles area. Al and I were struck by the feeling that submariners are a special breed of toughness and self-sacrifice as they perform their duties in such restrictive conditions beneath the sea for months on end. Since cell phones and cameras were strictly prohibited, I have used a file photo above.
And last but not least, we were treated to dinner in Coronado at the house of Jim and Sue, then a few days later a golf outing for Al with some of Jim's friends.
Al and Jim were classmates from the Naval Academy Class of 1969. Jim and his new pup Elsa reminded me that San
Diego is also known as the birthplace of naval aviation.
For many years, Sue has been an actor in regional theater, and she graciously helped get us tickets at the Welk Theater to see her in the role of "Yente" in “Fiddler on the Roof.” What an enjoyable performance! Bravo!
As we left San Diego, I felt that the city most deservedly had earned its title as "Americas’s Finest City.” After three weeks of meeting up with ole friends and visiting some of the places that were so meaningful to us in our early days, that Beatles song was still playing in my head—the part that says,
“In
my life I’ve loved them all.”
