Friday was our “adventure” day. When we woke up it was pretty foggy, so we postponed our kayaking trip until 1pm. On our way to La Jolla, we drove through a wonderful town named Encinitas. So many locally owned shops and restaurants, and even at 8am they were all buzzing with activity. One place in particular caught our eye: Pannikin. The place was swarming with people, sitting outside on the balcony, in the front yard, and on picnic tables . We decided then to return on Saturday, although we had no idea what it was!
Since our plans had changed, we stopped by Torrey Pines on our way to San Diego. This is a famous golf course that has hosted several big PGA tournaments. It is situated on a series of cliffs overlooking the water. Absolutely beautiful. The morning was foggy, so it was tough to get the full effect. Afterward, we drove into Old Town, where the shops and vendors were just opening up. Not too much was going on there, so we went to Seaport Village near the airport. We walked around the shops, enjoying the weather while waiting for the fog to burn off. We ate a salad at one of the restaurants, and sat on the patio overlooking the water. The sun came out and we were finally ready for our kayaking adventure!
We had planned on being on the water early that morning, I was dressed to be cold. Instead it turned out to be a beautifully warm day, and there I was in pants. Oh well. What will be, will be. As we were pushing into the water, I got a little nervous! But it wasn’t long until I felt perfectly comfortable perched on my little boat. That is, until I heard Jason start exclaiming about sharks. And sure enough, swimming right under our seats were about 12 sharks. CRAZY!! We were assured that these sharks were harmless, and even if they did bite they wouldn’t cause too much damage. PHEW. ;D We paddled out to sea, where we saw a couple of seals playing in the surf. We floated over to a series of seven caves, and although the tour usually ventures inside, the waves were too rough on that day. Also, some recent rains made the caves too unstable. We had to settle for observing them from the outside.
As we paddled along the shore, the sounds of a group of sea lions filled the air. Occasionally we would come across floating bulbs with looked like small buoys, but they were actually an unusually form of seaweed. Our guide informed us that the seaweed grows 1-4 ft a day, and some of the bulbs were as big as my head! They felt like rubber – it was like nothing else I have ever experienced in nature.
Another crazy experience in the middle of open water was seeing swimmers swim right by our boats! Here we were, about 3 miles off shore, and these guys were out swimming. No boat, no float. No nothing. Insane.
We made it back to shore in one piece, and thoroughly enjoyed our first ocean kayaking experience. Afterwards we hunted down a suspension bridge I read about, that is in the middle of this neighborhood in San Diego. Very cool, though a little frightening as we rocked back and forth over a huge canyon.
We were thoroughly ready for dinner, and decided to try one of Rachel Ray’s suggestions for Mexican food. We returned to Old Town, and enjoyed a decent meal at a decent cost. Nothing earth shattering, but it was good.
After dinner we watched the seals and the sunset in La Jolla. The perfect end to a wonderful day!
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