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La Jolla : San Diego, California : Trip Report

La Jolla

Our first excursion in the San Diego area was to La Jolla. We've heard from several people that La Jolla is a great place to visit for the scenery, shopping and dining. We planned to spend the afternoon there checking it out then have a friend meet us for dinner.

Fortunately the weather was great, just a little chilly. The skies were clear, the grass was green and the ocean was blue. Wonderful time! My daughter was afraid of the water but it was freezing cold anyway.

The highlight for us was seeing the Harbor Seal Colony on the beach. There are dozens of Seals that just sun themselves on the beach. There were hundreds of tourists and their families taking that in. I really think this is the top draw in the city.

After we got tired of the seals we went into town and walked around. Besides the trinket shops close to the water you have the upscale shops and restaurants on Prospect Street. It's nice but it's just like any other "upscale" shopping area and closely resembled Rodeo Drive in Los Angeles. Right on Prospect we ran into Billy Crystal walking into a hotel so that counts as our celebrity sighting for the week.

Eventually my friend made it down to dinner and we enjoyed a beautiful sunset over dinner at George's. The food was good and not too terribly expensive but the view was the best. It was a bit chilly so the staff had set out those portable heaters which didn't do that much to help.

A couple days later I was sitting in my hotel reading the local paper when I noticed an article about the battle over the Seals in La Jolla. Apparently that area was originally designated as "childrens beach" but the Seals have basically taken it over. There was the completely valid concern about high bacterial levels in the area of that beach caused by the Seal's feces. C'mon, anyone who thinks that the people were there first is out of touch with reality. The Seals have been in this area FAR longer than any humans. On another level, it's obvious that the Seals are the single biggest tourist draw in La Jolla. There are obviously other things to do in La Jolla but it's also very obvious that moving the Seals would be the worst thing that could happen to La Jolla's tourism. The coastline has a ton of beaches and the Seals feel comfortable here. So be it, move along to another beach if you want to go swimming.

10/2/04: I was just informed that the seals have been evicted by the city council. That's horrible for the seals but bad too for the city of La Jolla. Not only did they lose the best thing about the city but they themselves chose to cause harm to the environment.

Links to articles about the appalling decision:

Sep 14, 2004: City Council Approves Dredging Children's Pool
Sep 20, 2004: Can Seals, People Co-Exist At Children's Pool?
If you look at the survey on the second link, an overwhelming 59% thought the seals should use the beach and only 28% thought it should be for the kids.

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Next Section: Our two-day visit to the San Diego Zoo.