San Diego and Tijuana - Days 60 and 61

Koala's hanging out
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The drive from LA to San Diego was beautiful, as expected given the rest of our journey down the West Coast.  We stopped briefly to see the Queen Mary and for lunch at a cool mexican hole in the wall to have our first fish taco - not too bad!  Well technically we had a shrimp one and a calamari one, but we think it was close enough.

By the time we rolled into San Diego it was later than we had hoped, plus we were still recovering from the partying the night before.  Not ones to waste any time, we made our way to the Gaslamp Quarter, about 8 blocks from our hotel.  San Diego has done a PHENOMINAL job of revitalizing this area - there are bars, restaurants and clubs lining the streets for blocks, all in good shape, all teaming with both visitors and locals - a little something for everyone.  We bummed around for a while, went to some good bars with great views, had a few drinks and then decided we really needed to finally sleep.

Polar bears playing
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The next day we planned on going to the zoo and then leaving...but things always seem to change on road trips, don't they?  We did go to the zoo and had a great time.  The polar bears were really fun and we loved the monkeys and chimps.  Actually we loved most of the zoo; they have done a fantastic job creating habitats for all of the animals and the tour we went on talked a lot about the research they are doing with endangered species etc, which always makes you feel better about gawking at animals in captivity.

He's about to flip me off!
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After the zoo we decided to grab lunch...and what better place to grab lunch than in Mexico?  Knowing the border was just a few miles away we hopped on the trolley.  Okay, so a few miles by trolley is a bit longer than expected, and then you actually walk across the border.  You dont' even realize you are in Mexico at first since there is really no border security going IN to Mexico.  We had a specific destination and walked quickly to it.  Along the way we were asked by dozens or more people to come in their shop, buy their wears or give them money - the walk alone was an adventure.

One small happy family
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We found the restaurant we wanted pretty easily, and by god if it wasn't the best Mexican food I've ever eaten!  The marguritas weren't half bad either.  It was a great lunch, and despite the long travel time and the people asking for things it was well worth the visit.  Crossing the border to get back to the US was pretty easy too, to be honest.  We just handed them our licenses, told them where we were born and walked thru.

By the time we got back to our car it was pretty late and we still wanted to hit a store for some camping supplies since we knew our next trip was to the desert, so we decided to spend another night in San Diego...which meant another trip to the Gaslamp Quarter!  We didn't stay out long again, too  much to do in the morning.  But given that we had decided against even going to San Diego, we were glad we spent two nights there.