Hey, TBJ Beshies! Let's go to the West Coast in the USA in the next two weeks! Please bear the looong trip in the form of blog posts, but I assure you, it's all worth it!
On my 31st birthday, I flew to the West Coast in the USA for my San Diego-Los Angeles-Las Vegas -Arizona trip. I wasn't expecting at all that it would push through; my mom, cousin, and I were only joking about this trip sometime in December 2018 and it got real around January 2019. They were almost prepared for the trip: visa, budget, secured work leaves, and all, while I was still thinking whether or not I'll push through. To be honest, I was daunted by the cost the trip would entail not to mention I wasn't sure whether I'll be issued a US visa or not. But I sat down one day, prayed, and instantly felt in my heart that I wanted to go so I just did whatever I can to save up for the trip. Thankfully, everything came together: opportunities, the universe, cosmic forces, God, and by June 6, 2019, I was on my way to the USA! Miracles really do happen!
This is the longest travel blog post series that I will make ever! This 8-part series will cover my San Diego, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Disneyland California, and Grand Canyon/Arizona trip! Starting with San Diego!
THE ARRIVAL: I flew with Cathay Pacific. It was a 20-hour trip with a 2-hour layover in Hong Kong and 4 hour layover in Los Angeles. From Los Angeles International Airport, I flew to San Diego, my final destination. Travel time from LA to SD is 20 minutes.
San Diego, formerly a part of Mexico, is one of the most relaxed cities in the West Coast. I was told that there are a lot of retirees living in the state because of the ideal weather, it's a city that isn't too crowded, and generally chill atmosphere; it reminds me so much of Cairns, Australia. La Jolla, a beach town, is also just a 2-hour drive and it added to the appeal of the place; who doesn't want the beach within reach, right?
I stayed the longest in San Diego because part of the reason why I wanted to go to the USA is I wanted to visit my uncle and his family. To be honest, San Diego is not a place of glitz and glamour, unlike LA and Las Vegas; it's a family- oriented place, but there are a lot of beautiful, recreational places to visit as well and I'll take you to them!
BALBOA PARK
Founded in the 1800's, Balboa Park is a 1,400- acre land that has been cultivated throughout the years to the beautiful recreational area that it is today. This park is so huge, one day is not enough to explore the museums and gardens inside it! I'm not kidding when I say that it's as big as one city!
Balboa Park is an important landmark for the community of San Diego because this is where families gather for recreation, groups meet to share interests, organizations come to promote exhibits, shows, and businesses, and tourists go to experience one of San Diego's gems.
San Diego Museum of Art is just one of the museums that you will find in the Balboa Park vicinity. The buildings are so beautiful and intricate; I'm in awe of the Mexican/American- inspired art that adorn the structures!
The gardens at Balboa Park have themes; there's a Cactus park and also the Rose park, which is my most favorite because I love this flower. I didn't know that Roses came in different colors and looks until I came here!
The most interesting for me were the stalls around Balboa that are not only offering food and souvenirs, but memberships to various religious and spiritual groups as well; there's Buddhism, Catholicism, Judaism, and even Atheism. The people manning the groups were all talking to each other happily with no prejudice. What I learned from this experience is no matter what your religion is, at the end of the day, we're all humans and we can all get along!
Balboa Park also has a huge fountain in the middle; this is a great landmark to use in case you get separated from your group LOL.
San Diego Botanical Gardens. If you want to know more about the various flora of the Americas, then pay the garden a visit. There's an entrance fee though and we weren't able to get in.
SEAPORT VILLAGE
Seaport Village is another recreational area by the bay. This place houses restaurants and shops, mostly souvenir and local brands. It's also a great spot to see Humpback whales that are nesting their young in warmer waters.
You will also find the oldest carousel in San Diego at Seaport Village. Love how they restored this valuable piece and it's still working!
Just across Seaport Village is the old San Diego Police Headquarters, which is now converted into a dining and shopping complex. A piece of this historical place has been preserved and it's the jail section of the previous station; you can take your photos in here and vintage police headshots of some of the criminals detained in the station are hanging by the jail section; some of the photos date back to the 30's!
OTHER PLACES OF INTEREST: La Jolla, San Diego Zoo, USS Midway (San Diego is mostly a naval base and you'll see lots of navy ships by the bay!), Coronado Beach, Old Town San Diego.
Check out my USA itinerary:
That's all for Part 1 of my USA trip! For our final San Diego leg tomorrow, I'll take you to shopping and dining!
2 Comments
Thank you for sharing your travels with us. Parang andyan na din ako and parang pumunta na din ako where you went!!!!
ReplyDeletewow Miss Martha! The entire place is so gorg! Sana someday, I can also go to different countries like you. Ayyyy 🌺
ReplyDeleteLet me know what you think of this post! :)