San Diego day 5, 6 and 7

San Francisco to Napa to the Russian river and now in San Diego. What a beautiful country.

Water, mountains, wonderful old trees, vineyards and now some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. We are staying at a beautiful resort called Loews Coronado on Coronado which can best be described as a spit of sand down where our resort is. You could probably hit a golf ball from one side to the other, ok maybe not me, but Jim for sure.

San Diego has a large military contingent and a large harbour with warships and cruise ships. Sitting on the beaches or at dinner there are always lots of helicopters doing manoeuvers (or looking for sharks). Fighter jets zoom around the island, it is quite entertaining. We did lots of walking on beaches and the piers. Lots of fisherman but never saw a fish. One day we popped up to Old Town, which is like our pioneer village, with the history of San Diego. There was even a cigar shop that was started by 2 Quebecers in the 1800's. Had an authentic Mexican meal (tamales for me chimichanga for Jim) while being serenaded by two guitarists.

The next day we went up to see Torrey Pines, a famous public golf course, sitting on cliffs overlooking the Pacific, breathtaking. From there we headed into La Jolla (pronounced La Hoya). Unbelievably beautiful, it had everything the beaches, caves and lots of wildlife, seals, pelicans, herons, coromoronts, etc. Tons of little shops, art galleries, including a Peter Lik gallery, he is a fabulous photographer who just sold one his pics for $1m to an art museum. The restaurants (our fav http://www.georgesatthecove.com/ocean-terrace) were on the hills and had balconies on their top floors overlooking the ocean. It was like sitting in the sky.

We had 2 beautiful meals at the Coronado, I can't say enough about. The chef is one of only 45 French master chefs in the Us and his food and presentation were delish. The first night we were sitting there overlooking the beautiful city of San Diego when we blinked and it totally disappeared. Blackness, it was totally shocking. We were thinking blackout, but thankfully it was only fog. A few minutes it all reappeared. The staff provided some of the best service we have ever had at a restaurant. 7 days have just flew by and the only exciting thing is that the Breeders Cup is here again next year. Woohoo