In the morning, we went out for breakfast and found a great place only a few blocks away, Breakfast Company. Their menu looked amazing and I had trouble picking what to eat. Jenn had the chilaquiles and I had the shrimp enmoladas. (Both with poached eggs, because: breakfast.) They were both great. It’s the kind of place that, if I lived there, I would visit regularly to try the entire menu.

After breakfast we headed to the zoo in Balboa Park. Balboa Park is this immense park with something like 17 museums (or maybe it’s 17 attractions) in it. It’s on a hill overlooking the city and there seems like there is so much to do. If you are headed to San Diego, know that you could spend your entire trip in Balboa park.

The zoo is justly famous. There are something like 4000 animals and though it is actually smaller than Toronto’s zoo (in area, and total animals but not in terms of species) it sure doesn’t feel like it. (I also haven’t been to Toronto’s zoo since I was a tween, FYI.)

There’s so much to do and you could absolutely spend more than one day here. We spent much of our full day in San Diego at the zoo, as you do. In terms of highlights I guess I’ll mention the birds and the big cats and the reptiles. But it’s a zoo, and there are lots of animals. Like many zoos, there are popular places and less popular places and we generally enjoyed the less popular areas more. There’s also alcohol everywhere and though we didn’t partake until the very end, it feels so adult to be able to just grab a craft beer just anywhere in the zoo while you’re wandering around looking at animals.

I understand why it’s a destination. If I had been to the Toronto one at all in the last 30 years, I’d be able to tell you which is better but it definitely rivals ours. Regardless, it is the thing to do in San Diego and I understand why.

After the zoo, we went looking for a residential suspension bridge. Yes, you read that right: a suspension bridge in a residential area.

This is just on a side street somewhere. It’s…just there. In a rather nice neighbourhood. This part of San Diego is quite hilly. I don’t know of anything else like it but I’m sure they must exist somewhere. Anyway, that’s where we went after the zoo.

Then we headed to Ballast Point’s Little Italy location because Jenn has always loved Pineapple Sculpin. It’s a big space that was relatively empty while we were there. I like how they have little paper coaster labels for each beer in your flight. It’s better than the slips of paper.

Then we went back to the hotel and I had the pleasure of watching kickball on ESPN Ocho. I don’t really have words to describe how incredible this was; it was coed and very specific rules and it was treated very seriously.

For dinner we went out for BBQ. The food was pretty good but the beer prices were hilariously expensive. It was clear we were in a touristy place.

After dinner, Jenn and I went back to the Lost Abbey “church.” It was pretty simplistic but had a fair amount of choice. Very dog friendly. Last call was oddly early.

<<<< Riley Goes to San Diego and LA Day 1 | Riley Goes to San Diego and LA Day 3 >>>>