Mount Soledad, located overlooking La Jolla, is home to the National Veterans Memorial and is home to the Suess House, the last home of Dr. Suess, where his wife still lives.
The mountain also features great views of the city and the surrounding areas.
The Memorial is one of a kind, featuring names, pictures, and descriptions on the wall of local veterans, mostly focusing on the Korean Wall.
You follow a long winding path up to the top of the mountain, which has limited free parking at the top, and many bike paths to get to the top as well.
Controversy has surrounded the mountaintop, as it contains a large cross that overlooks the site and city. Since it is a government-run site, it has been said that they shouldn’t mix church and state.
Personally, I didn’t have an issue with it, and just ignored the symbolism while viewing the memorial.
The Living Coast Discovery Center in Chula Vista, is located in the San Diego Bay, right next to the US Fish & Wildlife Services center…and isn’t worth the visit.
The Discovery Center has a bus, to take you from the free parking lot down a dirt road to the main building, running on a loop the entire day.
The Center has a lot of rescue animals, and a surprising amount of variety, while a low quantity of each one (about one of each variety).
These animals include birds, turtles, sharks, rays, and snakes.
Key animals on exhibit all have special times that teach you about them, including feedings, mostly in the afternoons (1:15-2:45), with the sharks, turtles, and bald eagles.
This wasn’t high on my list of places to attend but was a time filler one afternoon.
At a whopping $16 admission, it’s absolutely not worth the price, and better to head up the shore to the Birch Aquarium for an extra dollar or two.
I recently finished Unstoppable: My Life So Far by Maria Sharapova, and it was a great read.
A young girl from Russia, trying to make it in the competitive tennis world, Maria was transplanted into Florida, with no friends, only her father around, her mother awaiting a Visa, and her showing immense drive and determination as a child, spending hours honing her skills and power.
Her failures and trials in life lead to her winnings and fame. From living in motels and her father working in the tennis clubs, to the high life of Wimbledon Galas to TJ Maxx shopping sprees. And she never knew where the next opportunity would come from. Whether it was Nike and her signing an exclusive to have her own dress for tournaments, and Motorola using her to unveil the original Moto Razr after her trying to reach her mother on the phone, live on TV, after her big win over Serena at 17 years-old.
Ah, Serena. The rivalry and hatred that comes from Serena towards Maria, started early and has never let off. Serena hates her because Maria saw her at her lowest, knocking her down a peg, and saw the vulnerable person that doesn’t show up on the court.
She spends a lot of time talking out her thoughts over the years, which can get repetitive at times, but that’s what makes the book feel most genuine, and brings a real connection between Maria and the fans.
She also spends some time on her shoulder surgery, and how it changed her powerful rubber-banding serve into a shorter stroke, and during that rehab, she played some of the worst tennis of her life:
Despite the large amount of support and love I received from people in my life, I felt so lonely and small. And nothing they said could make me feel any better. So I decided to resume my childhood habit of writing in a journal, putting my sad thoughts on paper. As days went by, that paper became my best friend, the only friend I could trust, the only friend I could share with.
Which in reality, is what blogging is to a lot of us.
This book is right up there, for me, with Anna Kendricks, getting an 8 out of 10.
The Weatherman Umbrella, designed by Fox News meteorologist Rick Reichmuth, is the last umbrella you’ll ever need to buy…but you don’t need to trust me with that, the details speak for themselves:
Strong – No more umbrellas turning inside out in the wind, as this bad boy can withstand 55-MPH winds
Safe – A reflective strip surrounds this umbrella so that cars can see you walking in the rain, trying to hail that elusive cab
Dry – With a quick drying fabric, no need to leave it sitting in a corner drying for more than a minute or two
Tracking – Never lose your umbrella again, with an addable tracking chip (included) you can check the app and see where you left it
App – Yup, I mentioned an app. The app is designed so that if it’s going to rain, you’ll get a reminder to take the umbrella before you leave the house
The umbrella is available in two models, the collapsible and stick, and a variety of colors from black to orange.
Once again, the day following Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday, after everyone loaded up on foods and spent a ton of money, everyone should feel the urge to give back a little to those around them that are in need.
For starters, if anyone is actually interested in giving money to a cause, I have a story to share in which I personally am collecting money for. But it’s not for internet posting…so feel free to contact me.
In addition to organizations mentioned in 2016, 2015, and 2014, I’m gonna add to that list this year with the NASCAR Foundation – “Helping children survive and thrive. That’s our checkered flag.” – All donations up to $25,000 will be matched by NASCAR.
My new theory on ships…seen one, seen them all. I’ve been to the Intrepid in NYC, the Torsk and other ships in Baltimore, and now the USS Midway in San Diego.
The insides of these ships are all pretty much the same, but it’s the planes and special features that make them visitable time after time.
The Midway starts off on the right foot, offering a free audio tour with headsets, and a great video to set the scene.
Battle of Midway shows the WWII fight that led to the commissioning and naming of this aircraft carrier.
Amongst their floors, you have an array of rooms, from sleeping quarters and mess halls to sick bays, laundry rooms, and a post office.
Inside you’ll find the hanger bay, and up top on the deck, you have a full array of planes and helicopters, as well as some opportunities to sit inside the cockpits of planes or cargo areas of the helicopters.
The full ship will likely take you about two to four hours to walk through, and save time for the bridge tour, which closes early, and gives you access to the topmost parts of the ship.
The San Diego Padres, while not a great team in recent years, plays in the beautiful Petco Park, and a tour there should be on everyone’s list while visiting the city.
The tour takes you through many aspects of the park, including:
Press Box – See where all the writers, from the AP to MLB, and local to national newspapers all sit with their fantastic view of the action on the field
Visitors Dugout, Locker Room, and Batting Cages, all of which are said to be smaller and less impressive than the home teams’
Large Screen – What was advertised as the largest in baseball, stacks up in 5th place when the stats are polled…but when you have a bad team, you need to stretch the facts a bit!
Lexus Club – Their expensive seats include the Lexus Club, which has season-long lockers, comfortable couches, and an open bar
Padres Hall of Fame – Full of Hall of Famers that played at some point in their career for the Padres organization (like Ted Williams’ minor league stint), as well as a leaderboard of career leaders, including memorabilia of their All-Time greats, including Trevor Hoffman and Tony Gwynn
Western Metal Supply – This building existed long before the stadium came around, and still stands in the left-field seats, with the facade facing the field, and the old beer case slide still intact. Inside that porch, the American Flag is displayed using colored baseballs
Taking a Harbor Cruise seems like a great idea in most cities. It gives you a great view of the skyline, and generally a nice look at what a city has to offer. But in the case of San Diego, save your time and money, and head to the sites themselves for better views, for a much better experience.
If you do take the Harbor Cruise North, sit on the top deck, right side of the boat (when facing the front of the ship), for the best views that they’ll offer, here is what you might expect:
Downtown Skyline – San Diego doesn’t have a shortage of views, and the view looking back at the skyline here may be the one perk of taking the cruise
Naval Base Coronado – While you can’t get too close, it is an active naval base after all, you get great sights of helicopters coming and going, and their dry docks and training facilities. If you are lucky you’ll get passed by training boats heading out for exercises.
For better views of ships, planes, and helicopters, just head next door to the launch dock, and hop on board the USS Midway!
Seals hanging out on buoys and floats – A few seals here and there, as the boat cruises on by, just isn’t the up-close and personal experience, and it isn’t the best experience for it. Head to La Jolla Beach and literally hang out with them and take as many selfies as you’d like
My final installment of the museums at Balboa Park, in addition to Natural History and the Model Railroad Museums, will be on two museums that are right next door to each other, in the corner of the park.
Air & Space Museum
This museum will take you in a loop around a central pavilion, going through the different eras of aviation.
From the Golden Age of flight, through WWI, WWII, and an array of modern planes as well, the museum is a great place to get a little piece of aviation history.
When you walk in you get greeted by Charles Lindbergh and his Spirit of St. Louis, which glided across the Atlantic on the first solo non-stop plane to make that journey.
The museum also has a large number of flight simulators, so that visitors can get in the cockpit and fly their own plane, breaking G-Force and performing barrel rolls.
Automotive Museum
This one-room museum has a nice collection of cars and motorcycles but lacks a real history for those without a strong car background.
For enthusiasts of bikes and cars this place is probably a heaven, but besides for a DeLorean and one or two other pieces, most of it was exactly what it said on the outside of the building: Just Automobiles.
They have a few exhibits that bring out the best of motors, from Harley Davidson’s and Louie Mattar, to Barn Finds and off-roads.
The villain that made his name in Marvel’s Daredevil, Jon Bernthal’s Punisher is back, and on the hunt for his family’s killers.
From the first sequence, before the opening credits, you should be pulled in and if you aren’t hooked by the end of Episode 1, then maybe Marvel just isn’t right for you?
Frank Castle, aka The Punisher, aka Pete Castiglione, is back in NYC, trying to work out his anger after being killed in Daredevil, and not being able to avenge the unfair death of his wife and kids on the Central Park carousel.
But through it all, he’s fighting not just the people on the streets, but also the demons and dreams within him.
My family is gone because of what I know. – Frank Castle
The show spends time with Frank catching up with his former unit, as well as other people “dead to the world”, and let’s not forget the tie-in to the rest of the Marvel world, Deborah Ann Wohl’s Karen Page.
And despite the amazing performance by Bernthal, the supporting cast is just as good. Amber Rose Revah as agent Dinah Madani, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as fellow dead man David Lieberman, and of course Frank’s former unit mate, Billy Russo (played by Ben Barnes).
And it’s really hard to listen to Daniel Webber (Lewis) and not hear Lee Harvey Oswald from Hulu’s 11.22.63.
For me, it’s Episode 10 Virtue of the Vicious, that was my favorite, standing out above the rest, as they have multiple views of the same instance, working toward each person’s end game.
And when he goes full Punisher mode, nothing on television will create better scenes than that.
Meanwhile, Castle and Lieberman may both be looked at as “bad guys” to the world, but there’s no duo on television that I’d rather be rooting for right now.
I’ve been in my bathrobe in a basement for a year. – David Lieberman
This show may be one of the best Marvel and Netflix has done, easily pushing fighting Jessica Jones for the throne, getting a 9.5 out of 10.
Aviously 