La Jolla

Glad I could fit in a little pre-FNCE sight seeing for me with my mom and Joe.  We stayed in La Jolla, so it made sense to spend some time walking around the beautiful area there.

The hotel did have breakfast offered, and I liked that they had hard boiled eggs.  I would have loved some cheese, but it was mixed in with the meat, which I don't do, so I passed.  Probably better off because that saved some room for dessert later in the day.

 Although the weather was not the best, we still walked around all day outside.  The sky was overcast, but thankfully it was not too cold.  Before walking all along the coastal area, we stopped for lunch at Girard Gourmet, a local cafe with really great looking foods, including an awesome bakery.  

Mom mom had a BLT...I think!

Joe and I both ordered eggplant pesto sandwiches.  So yummy!

Then we were fueled up and ready for a nice afternoon walk.  La Jolla is a beach town on the coast, and known for their sea lions and seals that inhabit the rocky shores.

 There were also plenty of birds hanging out there too.

 Compared to many coastal areas, there is not a lot of beach here, but the coast is still very pretty.

 Lots of kayakers come here to go in the caves and get close to the sea lions.  There were also a lot of snorkelers in this spot.

 Here I am with my mom.  You can see it is foggy and grey, but we were still able to wear short sleeves.

 This is the other side of the cave.  You can enter through a store at the top of the hill.

 Looking closely you can spot some sea lions.  They camouflage with the rocks so you have to look closely.

 More kayakers.  There were tons out there.  I saw they had this on Living Social, but I didn't sign us up.  

 Lots of birds with a sea lion at the end.

A close up of a bird.

 There are some sea lions.  A little easier to see here.

 These are much easier to spot!  And there are lots of them.

 It was nice to be so close to the ocean again and watching the waves roll in.

 Love standing at the ocean!  Since living on an island I really love being near the water.  The good news is that in Japan we are just a few miles from the Pacific Ocean.

Over in this area are the seals.  Last time I was here with my friend Amanda (who I am staying with now) there were lots of seals, but we were there at night and they were harder to see. 

 Walking home we went by an art museum.

 Oh yes, we stopped for yogurt on our way back to rest at the hotel.

Another exciting thing was that we are here during San Diego Restaurant Week.  Oh, and even more exciting was that my cousin (on my mom's side) lives nearby and was able to join us for dinner at Aloha Sushi.

This place offered their 3 course dinner menu for restaurant week for only $20.  Awesome!

I started with a sushi roll.  I know, I know I always eat sushi, but there were only 3 options, and this was the best for me.

 Joe started with a cucumber salad.  I love how they serve these.

 My mom was brave and tried the Ahi Poke.  Yay mom for trying the raw fish!  This will be good preparation for her when she comes to visit me in Japan sometime.

 For the entree, my cousin Melissa ordered some more sushi.  I think it was called the lobster bomb or something like that.

 My mom and I both tried the salmon and it was amazing.

 Joe went with the third entree choice, which was steak.  Needless to say, in the dark, I just didn't get a picture of this.

But I did some dessert since it was part of the 3 courses.  Joe and Melissa had the fried bananas.

 I couldn't resist the chocolate mousse pie.

Great meal!  Great day in La Jolla!

QUESTIONS:  Have you ever been to La Jolla?  Ever seen a sea lion not in a zoo (wanted to say the wild, but not sure this counts as the wild)?  Does your town have a restaurant week?