San Diego, Part 2. Lighthouse & A Dessert Cart!

I have always liked lighthouses but have seen very few. I just finished the book, “Keepers of the Light” about Point Conception Lighthouse which is near Santa Barbara. Visitors aren’t allowed on the property there so we didn’t see it when we were in that area in December.

On President’s Day we went to Cabrillo National Monument. I was so thrilled to be able to go inside the house, climb the stairs, and see the light. The Old Point Loma Lighthouse went into operation in November 1855. It served mariners for 36 years, until March 1891. 

At one point, we were walking back to the truck and Kevin saw a light pedestal along the path. He pointed down to it and said, “There is the lighthouse!” Oh, did we laugh! The “real” one is behind him in the photo. HA

Along our path we  went into a small structure that was part of a vast coastal defense system embedded into Point Loma. It was built by the Army in 1918. During WW2, soldiers used the building as a meteorological station to support coastal artillery. Best sign said, “One time a fellow called and said there was machine gun firing going on, so the major said, ‘Get on the instrument and see where the machine gun firing is….’ He gave us the coordinates and I looked and the water was shooting up. It looked like machine gun firing…The major called back, ‘Don’t you know the difference between machine gun fire and whales?’” Master Sgt George H McGlothlin, Btty. E, 19th Coast Artillery, Fort Rosecrans. 🤣

We drove down to the tide pools parking but it was full so we went to the next one and there was one open spot. Wahoo. We sat on the bench and just took in the expanse and beauty. The blue water of the Pacific Ocean, the white spray of waves crashing, the brown sand, the green wild grass and the purple, yellow, and red of wild flowers, seals and birds. We even saw a coast guard helicopter fly past.

We walked along the dirt path towards the tide pools. It was a dramatic drop down but the stairs were short drops and weren’t hard to use. (No guardrail, if someone needed it.) Down at the tide pools, still many feet above sea level, the water would crash and wouldn’t be drained off the rocks before another crash of waves would come. Low tide was 1:00-4:00 pm today. We were there right before and could see the pools but no creatures in them. 

I did a funny, making it look like I was going to push Kevin off the tide pools and down the cliff into the ocean. It got a great bit of laughs from the people around us. We could just stay there forever. But, we got hungry. HAHA

After lunch we went back to Point Loma to Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery https://www.cem.va.gov/cems/nchp/ftrosecrans.aspThis cemetery has quite the history. From the cemetery you can see the mountains in the distance, San Diego and the cities surrounding it, the bay, and the Pacific Ocean. The tombstones, all lined up in rows and mathematics, are stunning. It reminded us both of Arlington Cemetery. After this amazing day, we went to Hobby Lobby for decorations for HOWE (our name for our 36 ft 5th wheel – Home On WhEels). Kevin found and bought decorations that say, “Lucky Me I Have You” and another one “Lucky Me, Lucky You, Lucky Us.” So sweet! A truly remarkable weekend (see the last post for the beginning of the weekend) with my favorite person in the whole world…despite almost throwing him into the ocean!  😉

Some new friends of ours drove down from Los Angeles area just to have dinner with us one Friday evening. It was fun to dress up a little for dinner. We had such a great visit with lots of laughs. At one point, the waitress brought out a fancy box with different knives in it and told us to each pick one for our meal. Kevin picked out what looks like a huge hunting knife. The dessert cart was out of this world! How to decide between all the fancy cookies, cakes, pies, etc. etc.?! Our pick, Creme Brûlée were delicious.