Not only is San Diego the second largest city in California, it is also a popular year round resort. The city itself spreads more than 20 miles north, south and east with various different land contours. The city stretches from coast to the dessert, encompassing hills, cliffs, mesas, canyons, and valley’s San Diego also contains one of the largest natural harbors.
San Diego was founded in 1542 by Europeans when Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo landed at Point Loma. Point Loma later became a military outpost that is now Presidio Hill. San Diego achieved statehood in 1850 but continued to grow very slowly until the late 1800’s. In the 1800’s San Francisco merchant Alonzo Horton took an incredible journey and moved the nucleus of the town closer to the valuable harbor. This area is now refereed to as downtown San Diego. It has since continued to grow and prosper.
In the late 1900’s, after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States moved it’s Pacific navel headquarters command center to San Diego. This brought a tremendous increase in industry and population. Beautiful Point Loma is now the home of two resorts known as Shelter Island and Harbor Island. The Cabrillo National Monument, which designates where California began,is located as well in Point Loma.
There are several different tapestries within the city of San Diego. Old Town is a collaboration of buildings and artifacts that preserve the city’s rich Spanish-Mexican heritage. The downtown area contains the navel and shipping operations, the business community, a convention center and several theaters. Another popular area is Balboa Park. Inside Balboa Park you will find numerous tourist attractions and recreational activities. Another interesting aspect of San Diego is Coronado, and the Coronado Bridge. The Coronado Bridge is a 2.3 mile long bridge that connects Coronado Island and downtown San Diego.
Also downtown is Petco Park where the Padres play. We did a tour of Petco and were really impressed. The handsome and historic 98-year-old Western Metal Supply Company Building has been renovated and incorporated into the Ballpark, with the left-field foul pole attached to its southeastern corner, 336 feet from home plate. Another interesting fact is that the ballpark has standing room areas distributed throughout the facility which give approximately 1,000 fans the opportunity to watch games for a small admission price. The "milling around" theme of the ballpark is further enhanced by an estimated 2,500 lawn seating opportunities in an elevated grass park located directly behind the outfield wall. Of all of the ballparks I’ve seen so far, this is my third favorite. I would love to come see a game sometime and see what it is like when it’s packed. However, they tend to play a lot of extra inning games, so I will have to make it a night when we don’t have to been anywhere early the next morning. : )Here are some pictures of the San Diego Area , as well as Petco Park . You will have to sign up for a Walgreens account, but it is free!
Only a few hours away from Los Angeles, San Diego makes for a wonderful getaway. We have vacationed in the area numerous times, so I will just inform you of some of the more fun and exciting activities in the San Diego area.
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Page last updated August 2014
