Seaport Village and the Embarcadero in San Diego offer something for everyone. You will find shopping, restaurants, museums, boat tours and stunning views of the Big Bay.
After spending the past three days in 100+ degree heat, I decided that I’d like to spend the morning shopping in air-conditioned stores. I woke up to find the temperature had dropped to a balmy 95 degrees and decided after 103 degrees, 95 would feel quite nice. I decided to walk the mile to Seaport Village from the hotel. I made it less than half way before I realized I had made a bad choice. I forgot to account for the furnace blasting air of the Santa Ana winds. I comforted myself with the fact that I’d be in air conditioning for the rest of the morning. Wrong! When I arrived at the village I immediately noticed almost all of the doors propped open with fans in them. I wanted to cry….I know, first world problems, get over it….I did, after standing in front of the shop’s fans for 5 minutes.
Although most of the shops were dreadfully hot, they did carry a fun and eclectic variety of items. (I did find two stores with air conditioning, that I frequented repeatedly.)
Upstart Crow Bookstore
My first order of business was to find the Upstart Crow Bookstore, an adorable shop/coffee-house with new and used books. I had finished my book on the flight to California and I needed another book for the flight home. I was absolutely delighted with this store. Unfortunately, they have become another bookstore casualty and are no longer in business. Seaport Village contains over 50 shops, I visited most of them. Wanting to support California’s economy, I purchased items at Upstart Crow Bookstore, Wind Song, Sock Harbor, Seaport Village Shell Co., and Crazy Shirts.
USS San Diego Memorial
Next, I headed down to the Embarcadero. This is where you will find boat tours, the piers, and at the end, the naval museum. My first stop was the USS San Diego Memorial.
USS San Diego Memorial
The USS San Diego anti-aircraft cruiser played a major role in World War II. It was involved in 34 battles and miraculously never lost a man or suffered major damage.
USS Midway
Farther down is the USS Midway aircraft carrier which has been converted into a museum. The museum is open from 10am-5pm daily. You can buy tickets online (for a discounted price) or at the pier. Online tickets are $22/adult, $19/seniors and students, $9/youth and retired military.
USS Midway
The ship houses a large collection of fighter planes and helicopters, as well as, many exhibits. You may take tours or wander around on your own. It is recommended that you plan to spend 3-4 hours on the ship. Unfortunately, I did not have time to tour the ship.
Adjacent to the Embarcadero is Tuna Harbor Park, where you will find the well known Unconditional Surrender statue, shown on the title photo. I was much too hot to continue walking, so I viewed it from the boardwalk.
As a side note, there are a lot of homeless people along the Embarcadero. If you happen to eat at Seaport Village and are so inclined, I recommend having your leftovers wrapped up and offering them to someone who is hungry. As this is something my husband and I always do, I had my wrap cut in half before I started eating. While I was eating, my husband texted me that he had finished with work and would like to join me for my visit to Cabrillo National Monument. I told him I’d head back to the hotel as soon as I found the woman whom I wanted to give the wrap to. She had moved from her spot, but I was determined to find her, as she made quite an impression on me during my walk.
Despite the heat, I enjoyed myself. I would have liked to have visited the USS Midway. If I happen to find myself in San Diego again, that will be on my list, as well as, returning to Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve for the hikes I was unable to complete. I do recommend taking part of your day to explore the area, potentially the whole day if you decide to visit the museums or take a boat tour. Looking back, I would have explored the Embarcadero and piers before shopping, as I got tired of carrying my bags around. As always, wishing you happy travels and fantastic adventures in this thing called life.
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Unconditional Surrender
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