San Diego Mini-Vacation: Day 2

Our second day in San Diego started at about 7:30.  Lily woke up asking for Mommy, but would still hold my hand as long as I didn’t say much.  We got dressed and headed down to the Handlery lobby for breakfast.  With our upgrade, we got a free continental breakfast, but I wanted something more.  I ordered the 3-in-3 omelet which was three eggs scrambled with my choice of three ingredients.  I chose Monterey Jack cheese, tomatoes, and mushrooms.  It was delicious, and it came with hash browns and multigrain toast.  I figured (correctly) that I’d be walking all day, so I made sure to eat it all, even if I was a little more than full.  The girls shared Cheerios, blueberry yogurt, fresh melons, and oatmeal with raisins.  In my opinion, a very nice meal to prepare us for what turned out to be a very busy day. 

We arrived at Sea World a little bit early.  The morning was a bit cold and drizzly, but that didn’t dampen our spirits at all.  We got our yearly Fun Cards and prepared for a rush to the Rocky Point Reserve for the 10:00 dolphin feeding. 

The dolphin feeding was not the same experience I remember as a child.  I seem to recall going right up to the dolphin tank wall and waiting for them to come to you so you could feed them the fish.  It’s very organized now, and I’m sure it’s more profitable for Sea World to charge $6 per person aged three and up for three fish and three touches.  For me, though, it was totally worth it.  I got to watch Lily overcome her initial fear of touching the dolphin, and I got to pet the dolphin myself, which was pretty cool.  It was an exhilarating start to the day. 

We left the Rocky Point Reserve and headed over to Pacific Point, where we purchased more fish to feed the sea lions.  Lily’s first reaction upon seeing the sea lions was “Aw, so cute”.  Even a two year old can recognize the emotional and cognitive expressions common to mammals.  Those big eyes strike a cord in our hearts that seems to say to us “I have feelings, and I am intelligent, just like you.”  Then you hear the impatient barking and howling as they realize that you have fish, and are taking just a bit too long to get it into their mouths.  And don’t bother throwing the small fish, because these picky pinnipeds will just toss those aside.  They get fussy when it’s time to eat, and are finicky and critical when the food finally gets there.  Yes, they are a lot like us.     

Our next stop was the Shark Encounter.  I remember being really excited about this when the exhibit first opened.  This time, for me, it was kind of a dud.  Lily really liked it, though, and that's the most important thing.  It gets easy to be critical of these kinds of attractions as an adult.  We are used to seeing sharks all the time on TV and getting a week-long dose of these powerful predators every summer during Shark Week on Discovery Channel, but Lily got to see a real shark swim slowly right overhead.  Slow enough for Heather to point out to Lily the mouthful of backward facing razor sharp teeth.  Lily has now been up close and personal with a real shark, not Lenny from Shark Tale.  That is now in her memory.  It’s part of who she is.  The fact that I was less than blown away by it doesn’t matter at all, and I guess that is the lesson.  Just because something may not be a big deal to us does not mean it’s insignificant to our little ones.  That goes across the board, and I’m glad I was reminded of that.    

After the Shark Encounter, we made our way to watch the shark’s acrobatic arch-rival in action at the Blue Horizons Dolphin Show.  What we saw at this show was a little bit of dolphin, a moderate amount of pilot whale, and a whole lot of humans swinging around on trapezes dressed up like birds from the Tiki Room at Disneyland.  Rather disappointing when you are expecting a dolphin show.  Lily agreed, and upon her signal, we left about halfway through the show. 

We wandered around a bit after that, and ended up at the California Tide Pool where Lily got to hold a sea star.  In her excitement, she kept bringing the sea star up out of the water, but the worker was kind as she reminded Lily several times that sea stars need to be underwater to breathe.  Lily was intrigued by the hundreds of little tube feet on the underside of the sea star, and the fact that she got to hold it in her own hands will add to her confidence as she encounters new animals and new experiences in general.   

For mommy and me, the humorous highlight of the day was when Lily got to play in a small semi-bouncy playground with soft oversized blocks to stack and throw.  Shortly after arriving, Lily looked over at us, pulled her pants down, and started rolling around on the ground like a crazy person.  My first thoughts were “Please let this be the last time she ever feels the compulsion to do this.”  We were promptly informed by the playground supervisor that Lily did indeed need to be wearing pants to play, so she allowed herself to be hindered by her clothes for a short time before we exited the area for a much needed nap. 

During Lily’s nap, Heather and I probably logged about 5 miles of meandering through the park, trying to avoid large noisy crowds so that Lily could sleep.  By the end of her nap, Heather and I were exhausted, so after some climbing around on giant nets which Lily referred to as “spider webs” because of her affinity for Charlotte’s Web and all bugs in general, we left Sea World in search of sustenance. 

The rest of the night was pretty regular, except for my oustanding meal at the Bay Park Fish Company.  I had never tasted macadamia nut crusted halibut before, and it completely knocked my socks off.  An ample sized filet of fish on top of mashed potatoes, asparagus, and carrots, along with a Calico Pale Ale (or three) was the cherry on top of a wonderful day at Sea World with my girls.  One of the best meals I’ve had in a long time, and if you find yourself hungry in San Diego, look this place up.   

That pretty much sums up Lily’s first Sea World experience and my first Sea World experience as a dad.  Just a side note, if any of you are teachers, get the Fun Card.  It’s free, and Sea World is the perfect sized park for kids.  It’s interactive.  You can do a lot of stuff in a short amount of time.  And you’re in San Diego, which is a great city to spend time in.  

'Til next time.  Cheers.