Lions, and Tigers, and Okapi, oh, my!
Oct. 8th, 2003 11:11 amLast weekend my mother and I went to San Diego to celebrate her birthday. I've been there several times for Comic-Con, and did touristy things in between con stuff, but until now I hadn't actually gone just to see the city. It was great.
Mom and I got there on Friday, and checked in at the Holiday Inn at the harbor across the street from the Star of India, which is now a museum. We walked into the Gaslamp District for lunch, and found a place that served Meditteranean food in a historic building that had once been a bank. They had still kept the original decorated ceiling, and the wall of teller windows. It was very cool. After lunch we walked down through the official Gaslamp District, reading the historic plaques and looking at buildings. We passed a Cuban cigar store and wandered in, to find an old Cuban man making cigars by hand. He had a wooden cigar mold, made of two pieces of wood with several cigar-shaped grooves cut in them, which shaped the leaves. He them put stacks of these molds in a press and squeezed them down, turning them periodically. After being pressed a few times, they would be placed in a special room to age. We also went through one of the oldest houses in the area, which had been made into a museum and furnished the way it would have looked a hundred years ago. In the basement they had about twenty antique clerk's desks in a row, that had belonged to a private men's club and had been sitting in the attic since it converted to a restaurant. The desks were made to sit side by side in a large square facing in, and the desks on the corners curved. I had serious desk envy.
Friday night we had dinner at Ruth's Chris Steak House, an orgy of the most delicious steak I've ever had. It was also incredibly expensive, but worth it.
Saturday, my brother Bruce drove down from L.A. to spend the day with us. First we went to Old Town San Diego, where I'd never been, and wandered around the reproduction of the old part of town. Some of the buildings were originals, including Casa de Estudillo, a large adobe with a courtyard furnished in period style. There was also a barn museum, which had several period buggies on display, and upstairs some very interesting old west items. They had cards, chips, and chip holders from old saloons, a photograph of a scalped settler, a photograph of a man about to be hanged, an Indian headress, and other somewhat unusual things. Old Town also had some shops that weren't tourist traps, in the Bazaar del Mundo, including some really nice Mexican and Indian pottery, jewelry, and baskets. Very cool.
We then took advantage of my brother having a car and drove to the Wild Animal Park, about thirty miles outside of town. We got there an hour before it closed, just in time to jump on the last train. The park has quite a few habitats set up for endangered species, mostly from African and Asia. We got to see two species of white rhino and some black rhino (which are likely to become extinct, because the few remaining animals are getting too old to breed). There were a couple of baby white rhinos, including one that was only six weeks old. It was amazing to see a tiny white rhinoceros running, jumping, and gamboling about. We saw a tiger, and lots and lots of ibix and giraffes and sheep and zebras and various kinds of deer. We passed a species of goat that climbs trees, and sure enough, one of them was up in a tree. My absolute favorite was the okapi. This creature was once believed to be just a legend, because it really looks like a cross between a giraffe and a zebra. Here's a picture: http://www.colszoo.org/animalareas/aforest/okapi.html. It's the closest, and only, relative of a giraffe, and the guide said its fur really is as soft and velvety as it looks. Unfortunately, we only had time for the train ride and a couple of quick peeks at animals on our way out. It was much bigger than I had expected, and I plan to go back someday.
The next day Mom and I went to the San Diego Zoo. I'd been twice before, once when I was five years old and once about ten years ago on a break from Comic-Con. The zoo is still incredibly impressive. We only had a few hours because I had a plane to catch, so we concentrated on what we wanted to see. We went to the African area, and saw the elephants (African and Indian), more rhinos, hippopotami (including a baby, feeding from its mother underwater), two of the pandas (though we didn't get to see the new baby), gorillas, birds, monkeys, and more okapis. The okapis were very close, so I got to see their fourteen inch tongues in action. They're my new favorite animal. I also made a quick visit to the reptile house and to visit the Galapagos tortoises, and then back to the hotel to catch the airport shuttle. Mom is still there, and will be coming back tonight. What a fun trip.
Mom and I got there on Friday, and checked in at the Holiday Inn at the harbor across the street from the Star of India, which is now a museum. We walked into the Gaslamp District for lunch, and found a place that served Meditteranean food in a historic building that had once been a bank. They had still kept the original decorated ceiling, and the wall of teller windows. It was very cool. After lunch we walked down through the official Gaslamp District, reading the historic plaques and looking at buildings. We passed a Cuban cigar store and wandered in, to find an old Cuban man making cigars by hand. He had a wooden cigar mold, made of two pieces of wood with several cigar-shaped grooves cut in them, which shaped the leaves. He them put stacks of these molds in a press and squeezed them down, turning them periodically. After being pressed a few times, they would be placed in a special room to age. We also went through one of the oldest houses in the area, which had been made into a museum and furnished the way it would have looked a hundred years ago. In the basement they had about twenty antique clerk's desks in a row, that had belonged to a private men's club and had been sitting in the attic since it converted to a restaurant. The desks were made to sit side by side in a large square facing in, and the desks on the corners curved. I had serious desk envy.
Friday night we had dinner at Ruth's Chris Steak House, an orgy of the most delicious steak I've ever had. It was also incredibly expensive, but worth it.
Saturday, my brother Bruce drove down from L.A. to spend the day with us. First we went to Old Town San Diego, where I'd never been, and wandered around the reproduction of the old part of town. Some of the buildings were originals, including Casa de Estudillo, a large adobe with a courtyard furnished in period style. There was also a barn museum, which had several period buggies on display, and upstairs some very interesting old west items. They had cards, chips, and chip holders from old saloons, a photograph of a scalped settler, a photograph of a man about to be hanged, an Indian headress, and other somewhat unusual things. Old Town also had some shops that weren't tourist traps, in the Bazaar del Mundo, including some really nice Mexican and Indian pottery, jewelry, and baskets. Very cool.
We then took advantage of my brother having a car and drove to the Wild Animal Park, about thirty miles outside of town. We got there an hour before it closed, just in time to jump on the last train. The park has quite a few habitats set up for endangered species, mostly from African and Asia. We got to see two species of white rhino and some black rhino (which are likely to become extinct, because the few remaining animals are getting too old to breed). There were a couple of baby white rhinos, including one that was only six weeks old. It was amazing to see a tiny white rhinoceros running, jumping, and gamboling about. We saw a tiger, and lots and lots of ibix and giraffes and sheep and zebras and various kinds of deer. We passed a species of goat that climbs trees, and sure enough, one of them was up in a tree. My absolute favorite was the okapi. This creature was once believed to be just a legend, because it really looks like a cross between a giraffe and a zebra. Here's a picture: http://www.colszoo.org/animalareas/aforest/okapi.html. It's the closest, and only, relative of a giraffe, and the guide said its fur really is as soft and velvety as it looks. Unfortunately, we only had time for the train ride and a couple of quick peeks at animals on our way out. It was much bigger than I had expected, and I plan to go back someday.
The next day Mom and I went to the San Diego Zoo. I'd been twice before, once when I was five years old and once about ten years ago on a break from Comic-Con. The zoo is still incredibly impressive. We only had a few hours because I had a plane to catch, so we concentrated on what we wanted to see. We went to the African area, and saw the elephants (African and Indian), more rhinos, hippopotami (including a baby, feeding from its mother underwater), two of the pandas (though we didn't get to see the new baby), gorillas, birds, monkeys, and more okapis. The okapis were very close, so I got to see their fourteen inch tongues in action. They're my new favorite animal. I also made a quick visit to the reptile house and to visit the Galapagos tortoises, and then back to the hotel to catch the airport shuttle. Mom is still there, and will be coming back tonight. What a fun trip.