San Diego Zoo

[imcarthur]

1959. I'm the short cute one. I took my kids in 1990 & I have the same picture of them.



Ian

[Scott Douglas]

We went just about everywhere except the aviaries, my daughter won't go in them any more.
All the rhino's were lent out for breeding purposes so there weren't any there. Won't be back for a couple of weeks.
With the heat wave we're having it can get quite a bit warmer than 85*.

[scottmandue]

Originally Posted by Shuie

We got to spend a half day at the Zoo about a month ago. There is a pretty nice Marriott right next to Petco Park maybe 5-10 mins from the zoo parking lot. We stayed there and watched a Padres game that night. On our way out of the city the next morning we spent a couple of hours at the USS Midway Museum.

If you don't have a full day and don't want to wear yourself out hiking uphill through the zoo, try this:

As soon as you walk in go get on the bus tour. When the bus tour ends go over to the sky lift thing that takes you back to the opposite end of the facility where the polar bears are. From there, walk back towards the entrance and see pandas, big cats, aviary, etc.. It's more of a downhill walk if you do it that way. Between the bus tour and the walk back you will get to see a good bit of park in a short time.

Check! Will do the bus tour first then the sky lift... We are booked into the La Quinta mission bay.

Weatherman (that I trust as far as I can throw them) predicts 76 temp for Tuesday.

I was flip flopping on SD or Palm Springs but figured the temps in SD would be more mild this time of year.

[scottmandue]

Just an update if anyone is interested:
Perfect day, temps were in the mid 70's with a light breeze.
Perfect time to go, most of the kids were in school so practically no lines and no crowds.
Downside, lots of moms with ill behaved toddlers, at the mountain lion enclosure, little monsters screaming "WAKE UP KITTY!!! WAKE UP!!! MEOW, MEOW, MEOW!!!"
It took great restraint on my part to not grab one of the kids and toss them into the enclosure.

As said bus tour first thing, then hop on skyfari ride to get to far side of park (uphill) then stroll down hill to polar bears, then past all the gazelles, peccary's, snow leopards, and walked right up to the panda (sign out front said 45 minute wait from this point) did a couple aviaries then the koalas, at that point we were at 6 hours and felt we had enough.

They allow you to bring in food and drink so we brought a rolling cart and loaded it up with water, soda, sandwiches, binoculars, sunglasses, etc. got a lot of "why didn't we think of that?" looks.

[look 171]

Originally Posted by scottmandue

Just an update if anyone is interested:
Perfect day, temps were in the mid 70's with a light breeze.
Perfect time to go, most of the kids were in school so practically no lines and no crowds.
Downside, lots of moms with ill behaved toddlers, at the mountain lion enclosure, little monsters screaming "WAKE UP KITTY!!! WAKE UP!!! MEOW, MEOW, MEOW!!!"
It took great restraint on my part to not grab one of the kids and toss them into the enclosure.

As said bus tour first thing, then hop on skyfari ride to get to far side of park (uphill) then stroll down hill to polar bears, then past all the gazelles, peccary's, snow leopards, and walked right up to the panda (sign out front said 45 minute wait from this point) did a couple aviaries then the koalas, at that point we were at 6 hours and felt we had enough.

They allow you to bring in food and drink so we brought a rolling cart and loaded it up with water, soda, sandwiches, binoculars, sunglasses, etc. got a lot of "why didn't we think of that?" looks.

I thought you were going to tell us about the young mom instead you come up with this boring crap.

[Jim Richards]

Hahaha! Gotta hold these guys accountable! No milf's, no matter!

[Evans, Marv]

Glad you enjoyed it. Six hours is a marathon amount of time. I manage to go about each decade and usually last only three hours max. Your cart idea was a great one, especially since the food you can buy there isn't all that fantastic. Did you take advantage of any other activities in the area?

[look 171]

Originally Posted by Jim Richards

Hahaha! Gotta hold these guys accountable! No milf's, no matter!

Yeah man, Now I am pissed. He teases us with a great start, then its all about him getting upset at some kid. Throw Scott in the cage.

[scottmandue]

Originally Posted by Evans, Marv

Glad you enjoyed it. Six hours is a marathon amount of time. I manage to go about each decade and usually last only three hours max. Your cart idea was a great one, especially since the food you can buy there isn't all that fantastic. Did you take advantage of any other activities in the area?

After a full day at the zoo we were beat and just went back to the hotel... I would have liked to spend more time checking out Balboa park and the museums but maybe we will go back sometime. There is also old town and the gaslamp district... and the ocean temps are reported to be in the 70's so I was hoping to get to the beach.
It is only a 2 hour drive so on the way down on a whim we stopped at the mission San Juan Capistrano and spent an hour or two walking around there.

MILF's? Pfft! Our hotel was in Pacific Beach, right off Garnet Ave, for those of you who don't know Garnet Ave is "Bar row" for S.D., it is also just up the street from the beach... and just down the freeway from UCSD... and it is summer time... do I need to say more?

[Evans, Marv]

If you haven't been, the park has a lot of nice things to see. My wife took me there for the Aerospace Museum & auto museum for my BD. You could eat at the Prado. The food is OK upscale & it's a pretty place. I always love San Juan Capistrano - all of the missions for that matter. Old Town is OK but very commercial and tourist oriented. I prefer the Gaslamp for entertainment and eating. Coronado beach & the Hotel Del as well as the upscale village of Coronado and restaurants are great for a beach day.

[scottmandue]

Originally Posted by imcarthur

1959. I'm the short cute one. I took my kids in 1990 & I have the same picture of them.



Ian

By the way that statue is still there.
And also BTW I went equipped with my own MILF
However if you are a fan beach bunnies in short shorts (who isn't) Garnet Ave is the place to be.