Day 05 - 10/06/2021 - San Diego

Yesterday when we departed from Avalon, the Captain announced we would sail an hour and then shut off the motors and drift for 3 hours before re-starting them to sail the short 70 miles to San Diego.

 

When we woke up this morning, I had no recollection of bumping the dock, but there was slight motion to the ocean that I felt while reading.  This morning there was only the Cruise Director's announcement over the PA system that the ship was cleared and we could depart the ship for the day.  That was an announcement worthy of rolling over for a bit more shut eye. 

 

After a leisurely breakfast, we assembled our touring items and made our way off the ship and through the terminal to the street. We didn't have to be back on board until 6:30pm.  We're moored next to the USS Midway museum ship (we visited it previously) and there was a hop on hop off (HOHO) bus ticket office nearby.  So we purchased a couple of tickets and waited for the next trolley.  We rode it around to Coronado Island, Balboa Park, and got off at Little Italy to tour the farmer's market and look around. While there, a couple from Atlanta saw Angela's keycard and asked us about the cruise and cruising in general.  It was a fun discussion. We then hopped on a later trolley and rode that to the end of the line in Old Town.

 

In Old Town, we walked around and shopped a lot in Hispanic Markets.  Preparation for the Day of the Dead celebration on 11/1 & 2 was in full swing with lots of skeleton mannequins dressed in bright colors.  If you are unsure about this celebration, watch the movie, Coco, or google the term.  We also enjoyed a nice lunch at Hungry's Kitchen & Tap across from Immaculate Conception cathedral.  The Wild Boar chili was thick enough to eat with a fork! The rest of our time there we spent walking around the Old Town state park grounds which is a mixture of historical monuments and little artisan shops.  Angela especially enjoyed a tile shop owned by a lady from Puebla, Mexico which is a city she has visited many times for educational reasons and mission trips.

 

We hopped back on the HOHO bus and rode it past the Nieuw Amsterdam to the Seaport district where we hopped off and walked back to the ship.

 

When we got on the ship we learned that a small camera battery that I lost in the security scanner yesterday had been found and could be picked up at Guest Services.  So we did!

 

Dinner tonight was in the Lido and our main course was a small shrimp salad as we were still full from lunch.  There was some sort of issue delaying our departure, so we didn't watch it, but we went down to the Lincoln Center Stage to listen to the string quartet play pop tunes reimagined.  From there we went to the Main Stage to watch the One Step Dance Company perform (some of which I missed).  After the performance I met up for a few minutes with the only 4 people we know that we have cruised with previously: Mary & Brent and Peter & Harry (who just boarded today). Angela found me and we sat in the Billboard Online area and listened to the new piano artists.  This is their first gig together and they need more practice which they're going to get.  Across from us, the casino was packed.  It's the busiest casino we've seen on a ship!

 

At dinner the captain announced that after we left the harbor, the ship would come to a full stop and pivot 360° so that a technician can perform the annual compass adjustment. We never felt that activity.

 

I finished up the evening reading the final chapters of Kevin Chapman's Righteous Assassin.  If you like mystery thriller novels, I highly recommend this one.  Tomorrow I'll start the next book in the series: Deadly Enterprise.  I've already read the third book in the series, Lethal Voyage, which is set on a cruise ship.  It's terrific also.

 

The next couple days are sea days so it's going to be laid back! Stay tuned.



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