All content & photos: Copyright© 2008,
Jan Hight. All rights reserved.
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1997 Jan's Journeys West Coast Roadtrip! Mon. afternoon 9/29/97 thru
Fri. morning 10/3/97 Thur. 10/2/97
Another high spot of the day was John’s participation in If you’d like to stay at the Bed and Breakfast Inn at La Jolla during your visit to the beautiful San Diego area, you may contact the innkeepers at 619-456-2066...you just might be able to meet your own dolphin up-close and personal!!
>> Next Stop -- Cheshire Cat Inn, Santa Barbara, CA
Copyright © 1997 - 2008: Jan Hight
Published -- October 04, 1997 |
We’re in La Jolla to welcome October,
which happens to be my favorite month since I adore Autumn (I also start getting excited
over the approach of Halloween followed closely by Thanksgiving and Christmas...I'm a
"holiday person"). What a sensational little village this is, contained
within the San Diego metro area...a terrific place for autumning!
Our current home is the
Bed and Breakfast Inn at La Jolla. Listed on the historic sites registry, it was built in
1913 and designed by the celebrated architect Irving
Gill who was part of the Cubist movement (which believed that a structure
should exist in synch with its environment rather than dominating it). Architects from all
over the world still visit to view his achievement. The original owner was George Kautz,
and the John Philip Sousa family (think of those marching bands) lived in the house for 7
years in the 1920s. When the property was converted into a B&B, the new annex was
designed to incorporate Gill’s vision. In addition to the architectural wonders, the
gardens were designed by famous San Diego horticulturist Kate Sessions.
The Inn contains the
original 10 rooms, plus 6 rooms in the annex. The decor of each room is distinctive, and
most are named for influential people in the La Jolla area. Our room, however, is named
for its vista (the best in the Inn): Pacific View. 
All of the guestrooms
offer fresh fruit, fresh flowers, a decanter of sherry, and bathrobes. Some, such as our
Pacific View, provide mini-fridges, phone connections, hair dryer, fireplace and other
amenities. Pacific View is located on the 2nd floor of the main building, and a
charming sitting room/library is available with TV/VCR, reading material, and deck.
An extended Continental Breakfast (fresh fruit, granola, muffins and an egg dish) is
served in the dining room and patio each morning. Afternoon wine and cheese socials are
also offered to guests. 
The Inn is located in an
historic area of La Jolla... an upscale oceanside area that is part of the greater San
Diego area. La Jolla is a Spanish term for "the jewel" (which the community certainly
is) and is also a derivative of the 
Native
American word "La Hoya", which means "the caves" (there are several
sea caves in the area). The celebrated Scripps Institution of Oceanography is nearby; the
Museum of Contemporary Art is just across the street from the B&B; and there’s a
brief walk to Cove Beach or to Prospect St. (a trendy main avenue of galleries, shops and
restaurants which is sometimes referred to as the Rodeo Drive of San Diego). A wonderful
trail follows the ocean from the Cove, and a happy colony of seals makes its home among
the rocks (or on the beach in the evenings for peaceful snoozes). There’s also
golfing (Torrey Pines), surfing, snorkeling and diving; and the major attractions of San
Diego are just a short drive away.
Three of our favorite
dining experiences have been at George’s at The Cove (outside on the Ocean Terrace);
The Cottage (on the patio); and Picosos (wonderful Mexican dishes)...all of which are
within walking distance of the Inn. All were recommended by the Inn’s staff, which
was very helpful with planning our explorations.
Metro San Diego is only a
short drive from La Jolla, and we happily returned to two of our favorite area
attractions: The San Diego Zoo and Sea World. I’ll begin with the Zoo since I always
wanted to be Joan Embrey while I was
growing
up and watching her introduce her animals to Johnny Carson! Our Zoo tips are: arrive
early, take the guided bus tour to begin with so you can scope out "the lay of the
land", and be prepared to walk...it’s a very large Zoo!! The Giant Panda exhibit
was added since our last visit (6 years ago), so we went there first and were so
enthralled by those extraordinary animals that we returned several times during the day.
These are 2 of the only 3 pandas on exhibit in the U.S. (the other one is in Washington
D.C.), and they’re on loan from China for breeding and research purposes. The big
guy, Shi-Shi, was only viewable in the morning, but his "intended" female,
Bai-Yun, was on exhibit during the entire viewing period (10:30am – 3:30pm). What an
unforgettable experience she was!! Apparently pandas are rather solitary and, thus, fight
when they meet (no wonder their population is dwindling!!!); in fact, Ms. Panda scented
her territory during one of our viewings....guess that told him!!!
Another favorite stop was the koala area; how adorable...I wanted
to grab one of those furry darlings and keep it forever (and the baby koala was just about
the cutest thing I’ve ever seen)! Other choice spots were the lions (relaxing
in a most cat-like way); tigers (a playful guy was dragging big logs around his home --
rearranging the furniture); and bears (in deep meditation): lions, and tigers, and
bears...oh my!! Then there were the ever-vigilant meercats ...so alert they are! Of
course, we can’t leave out the precious baby giraffe and rhino. There are way too
many animals to mention; you have to experience this incredible Zoo to believe
it!!!
Today was devoted to Sea
World. I wanted to revisit the park most of all to see J.J. She’s an orphaned Gray
Whale who was found beached and abandoned on the California coast this past winter;
rescued by Sea World when she was about 4 days old, and lovingly nursed and coddled into
good health. 
I’ve followed her story
ever since those first articles regarding her rescue and have faithfully logged into the
"JJ-Cam" on Sea World’s website since it came up (live digital-pics of J.J.
doing her whale thing). She’s now a robust 8-month old (26 feet long 
and 11,000 pounds) and will be reintroduced to
the Pacific when the Grays are migrating back north next March or April (as the keeper
explained to us, she won’t become a member of a "pod", but she’ll see
where all of the other whales are heading and will follow along as if she’s on a
"freeway"). How very special it was to finally see her up-close and watch her
enjoying lunch (150 pounds of krill and a couple of extra buckets that would be placed on
the bottom of her pool to familiarize her with bottom feeding). As her reintroduction
draws nearer, she will be introduced to more and more of the survival techniques
she’ll need for life in the Ocean. When the time comes, I hope you’ll journey
safely J.J.!!!
Of course, Sea World also
presents Shamu the Orca (killer whale). The last time we were there, 6 years ago, Baby
Shamu had just been born and was happily swimming around the back pool, following her
mother’s every move. Now Baby Shamu has taken her place in the show...making it
another "personal" experience for us. We must offer this caution: the "soak
zone" seats in the stadium mean exactly that. Even though the audience is
warned several times 
(and the big screen
shows film of previous drenchings), the first time Shamu did a high jump and bellyflop
– sending waves of water over the side of the tank into the audience – people
ran from the area, totally waterlogged, and shrieking. When the whale-crew tires of this
activity, they swish their mighty tail flukes back and forth to create another high surf
advisory. The wet-seaters never seem to learn, and Shamu and gang seemed to love it! As
will be explained in the next section regarding the private guided tours, Shamu and his
buddies totally enjoy this activity (as well as others) and will happily perform it
without the cues and fishy rewards they receive during their regular shows....they seem to
delight in the laughter, screams, applause and commotion!! In other areas of the park we
were captivated by the sea otters and the Commerson’s dolphins...the smallest members
of the dolphin family (at 5’ long and 120 pounds) who are colored a striking black
and white. We had the treat of seeing a 6-day old baby who was faithfully imitating
mom’s actions...aaaawwwww!!
We took one of Sea
World's private guided tours, which are available at a very reasonable additional charge
to the admission price. Since only 25 people are allowed on each tour, it’s a good
idea to make reservations just as soon as you enter the park. The 90-minute tours conduct
participants through the behind-the-scenes areas that are offlimits to the general public,
and they provide a great deal of information on animal care, behavior and training....I definitely
recommend taking one of the tours. We visited back-stage training sessions, the animal
holding, nursery and medical facilities, educational areas, and had reserved seats for the
Shamu show...as well as a private visit with
Shamu and his companions. This is where we learned that the "stunts" they
perform during their shows are actually natural behaviors that are reinforced by their
handlers....only positive reinforcement is used; imagine what might happen if discipline
were used with an immense "killer whale", whom you then join in the water!! It
was obvious that the magnificent Orcas thoroughly enjoyed several of their
"behaviors". They repeatedly leaped for the hanging target, "beached"
themselves, and swam along the side of their tank to view (and be viewed by) their
fans...all of this was during their unsupervised "playtime". We nervously asked
if audience-drowning would happen during our visit; our guide said there was no
telling....if Shamu and company were in the mood, we’d get wet!!! I guess they
decided to be benevolent; other than a few small splashes, they didn’t soak us!!!!
the Dolphin Show. I was in the interactive area
trying to "pet a dolphin" while John got seats for us in the show arena. When I
joined him, he asked how my attempted petting turned out. I replied that the dolphins
didn’t seem very interested in interacting at that moment, and he said "Guess
what....the asked me to be part of the show and I get to pet a dolphin"!!! Sure
enough, he was whisked away and re-appeared wearing an overall wet-suit, wading out into
the pool with one of the trainers to meet beautiful "Sandy". He not only stroked
her sleek body, he gave her visual cues for behaviors and fed her some of her
well-deserved fishy treats! What an unforgettable experience for him...and I took over the
cameras for once and shot lots of photos. By the way, we did return to the interactive
area after John’s performance, and I was finally able to pet one of the sweethearts
(albeit on a less personal basis)!
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