Trip to California during COVID-19. San Diego, CA

San Diego, an hour's drive from San Clemente, is right by Mexico.

We started our tour at "Old Town," which is filled with Mexican motifs, cuisine, and souvenirs at American prices. Unfortunately, the museums were closed, but we saw new types of cacti, including blooming ones!

Afterward, we headed downtown and stopped near the seaside village - a shopping district filled with cafes, small huts, and skyscrapers right on the bay. From there, an unusual bridge was visible, which rises 60 meters above the water and is not straight but shaped like the letter "G" at the top. The bridge leads to Coronado Beach, where we will go later.

In the meantime, we delved a little deeper into downtown and noticed the Convention Center - my intuition told me that Comic Con conventions dedicated to favorite sci-fi TV shows take place there. Across the street is the Gaslamp Quarter historic district, named after the gas lamps that lit the streets. The district is filled with Victorian houses that are somewhat reminiscent of San Francisco.

Before the sunset, we drove across the bridge to Coronado Beach. It is there that the hotel of the same name stands, where the film "Some Like It Hot" with Marilyn Monroe was shot. For the first time in its history (about 130 years), it was closed - due to the virus. They used this opportunity to repair the roof (and probably the inside too), and by the end of June (a month after our visit), they had already partially reopened. During full opening times, you could go inside and imagine yourself in that film.

We arrived at sunset, and the beach rangers were closing the beach and driving people off the sand, checking that no one was left behind, but everyone continued to walk along the path by the hotel and the beach. There were also hills covered with grass of artificial shape nearby on the sand. They looked like letters, but it was still unclear. However, Google Maps helped - along the beach, the letters "Coronado Beach" grew, each about 30 meters high, although only the first letter of "Beach" remained...

We couldn't see many things due to time, distance, and partial closure: the Midway aircraft carrier, Little Italy, Balboa Park, and many other things... But given that we didn't plan to come here at all and it happened quite spontaneously, it's just an excuse to come back.

Our YouTube video

Happy visiting San Diego, CA! :v: