Superturismo en San Diego

Although this is not my first time in San Diego, I've always come to visit family rather than do anything particularly touristy.  So I decided to take advantage of the perfect 68 degree sunny blue skies and do a long bike ride to see all the sights.  My route was a bit over 40 miles as I passed through the unimpressive historic Gaslight Village, Balboa Park, the gorgeous if a bit touristy Coronado Island, the iconic Silver Strand, and back to Bonita.

About 40 miles of superturismo.

My first stop was Balboa Park via the historic Gaslight Village.  While I was not impressed by the Gaslight Village as it reminded me a bit of the failure of Washington DC's Chinatown, Balboa Park offers a wonderful cluster of museums, green space, and the famous San Diego Zoo.  I only stopped by the San Diego Air and Space Museum due to time limitations and not wanting to spend too much time indoors on such a perfect day.

Not quite as awesome as the ones in DC, but still cool!

I decided to head towards the water and found the USS Midway which now houses a museum.  I debated back and forth about forking up the $20 entrance fee, and ended up just admiring the exterior while partaking in some local food truck fare.  

BBQ pork sliders from the food truck next to the USS Midway.

Silliness at the Broadway Pier across from the USS Midway.

From there, I decided to take the ferry across to Coronado Island... they allow bikes on for free!  

Look, my bike is on a boat!

The USS Midway from the ferry to Coronado.

Coronado Island was beautiful, its sand speckled with gold flecks.  The Silver Strand offers a lovely dedicated bike path and I was inspired by the half dozen military amputees zooming down the bike path on hand crank bikes or with the aid of prosthetics.

I'll pretend my bike didn't fall the first time I tried to take this shot.

Of course the first order of business back at the house was to get some hammock time in with an ice cold Karl Strauss Pintail Pale Ale, a local San Diego craft beer, and a good book.  

Friday is departure day!  My U.S. cell will no longer work so please contact me privately if you need my Skype information.  While I will have a Mexican SIM card for my dumb phone, I don't plan on using it except for emergencies or making local calls.