San Diego looks like a really nice city (… as American cities go: Seattle and Boston come to mind).

We took a tour on a “trolley” which was a great city orientation. No stops, but we went through many places worthy of a longer visit.

Over the Coronado bridge …

… with a view back over the city (if you are quick) …

… through the wealthy Coronado neighbourhood …

… and past the huge old red roofed del Coronado Hotel (seen here in the distance, later in the day from the departing ship)

Then through the Balboa Gardens, complete with 16 museums, most in magnificent buildings, and a view down over the city.

Then little Italy (like Lygon Street) … and the “old town”, the original centre of historic San Diego. Very Mexican looking here: lots of old orange buildings with classic terra cotta rooves … looked like fun.

Then we walked …

First to the Midway … a decommisioneed air craft carrier, now museum, parked right in town … current and proud old military men everywhere …

Quite interesting actually … Jan inspected the old helicopter fleet on deck …

… and the views from the flight deck were pretty good …

We also saw one of the 3 operational Nimitz carriers currently in port, leaving port on a mission …

… we then walked through “downtown” … lots of bankers and lawyers here … big wide streets, not much traffic.

Then to the old Gaslamp Precinct. Lots of pretty buildings. This area must really hum on a warm Friday night!

In the afternoon we were escorted out by the Coast Guard …

… conspicuously armed, chasing the odd wayward pleasure craft out of our way … (no shots fired today!)

… “in front” of San Diego is a huge miltary presence. This photo, taken from the ship as we left, sums it up.