Summaries

Introduction (LA, Los Olivos, Marathon, San Diego)
Pre-Trip Road Trip to DC: John Kerry at Senate Visit
Hollywood, Daikokuya Ramen, Universal Studios
LA, Sideways Wine Trail, Santa Barbara
Operation Jack Marathon, WB Studio Tour, and Socal Beaches
San Diego Zoo and Seaworld
Hollywood Sign, Rose Parade Floats, and More Ramen
San Diego Model Railroad Museum

Four points by Sheraton San Diego

As I knew we had a long drive down, we decided to stay at Four Points by Sheraton San Diego. We didn’t leave LA until late in the afternoon as I wanted to use the hot tub and stretch out my IT band at the Hyatt and then having lunch in LA. We got there just after sunset and checked into our room. This property is actually fairly close to the Zoo and a short drive to Seaworld. It is a pretty big hotel. I believe that it used to be an open air motel that was renovated to have the walkways indoors. As we drove everywhere, we didn’t use their shuttles. They have a free shuttle to the airport and a complimentary shuttle to the local attractions. I am not sure how you would get picked up from the attractions but I would think that you would need to call the hotel to schedule a pick up.

I wanted to bring my wife to this Mexican place so we went to El Zarape. We had a two entrees to go and ate it in our room. Both were awesome. We went back to this restaurant later in the trip. I got a shrimp burrito, which was amazing. My wife got fish tacos, which was also amazing.

We went to Coronado Island to see the hotel. We got some street parking and walked through the hotel. I didn’t walk through the hotel on my first visit.

San Diego Zoo

Afterwards, we headed to the San Diego Zoo. There were long lines for parking and after about twenty minutes, I gave up. I drove out of the parking lot and made a left. At that instant, someone was pulling out of a spot on the street. I took it and it wasn’t too far from the entrance. I got pretty lucky on that one.

We paid for a two day pass with Seaworld. It wasn’t much more money than doing it separately.

We didn’t say for too long as the sun was setting. We did end up going back the following day to see the rest of the exhibits. Here are the pictures from the last day in San Diego. We also visited the Safari Park before heading back up to LA.

The Cheetah was trained for this demonstration. There is a small toy that it chases at full speed, which can be up to 60mph. It was very cute that there is a dog that the Cheetah is friends with. The dog helps the Cheetah’s anxiety about new places. The dog will go into an open area and bark when it is safe. The cheetah trusts the dog, which was very interesting. Cheetahs does not have any claws as their paws are devoted to speed. They generally go after much smaller animals and have no use for claws. For any like-sized predator, they would choose to run rather than fight.

Seaworld

We went to Seaworld on the second day in San Diego

Many of the shows still had the Christmas theme, which was awesome. We got there really early the next morning, after the parking incident at the Zoo. We got a good spot and went into the park for the first show, which was Shamu, the Killer Whale. We then saw another show with the otters, which was really funny. We then paid a visit to another polar bear that was much more active. We saw her swimming around as well.

Four Points San Diego Downtown

In order to get more stays at SPG for Gold status, we stayed at the downtown location for a night before staying at the Four Points San Diego on our last night to alternate stays. This hotel was much smaller than the other Four Points and you have to pay for parking. There was a lot of street parking so I drove around to find some. I found one behind the hotel. It is not easy to find a space but its definitely available so you don’t need to pay for parking at the hotel. The hotel itself was very close to the highway so easy to get around.

Our room was pretty small. We stayed here again about six months later on our way back from Hawaii. i believe that we got a complimentary “upgrade” to a slightly larger room and on a higher floor.