San Diego Zoo Safari Park

Since we bought the San Diego Zoo pass, the next day we went to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park the next day. Overall, this zoo has a more "upscale" feel and it seems like it is better maintained.

The new tiger exhibit was neat.
It was also fun to do the tram ride, which comes with admission.
Overall, it was a fun quick getaway. I can't believe it took me a month to blog about it all!

Rancho Bernardo

During our quick trip to San Diego, we were able to stay the Courtyard by Marriott in Rancho Bernardo using D's reward points. This was the first time we were able to redeem points, so it was quite exciting!

There is a quaint park with a pond behind the property.
There is also an adjacent Chinese restaurant called "Pearl" that we were considering for dinner, but it was booked by a wedding party that night.

Instead, we ended up at a Vietnamese restaurant called Pho Ca Do.
The food was quite delicious, and reasonably priced. We would be regulars if it was closer to our house. They were pretty busy that Friday night, and I can see why.

Daddy's Hot Dogs

D was eager to add to the San Diego section of his restaurant list. One gap was was "hot dogs", so we went to Daddy's Hot Dogs in the Hillcrest neighborhood.

It is literally a storefront, with no seating. We used a Groupon and ordered 3 El Cubano hot dogs and 1 "O" hot dog for $12.

The owner is a friendly character. Each hot dog was made with care. We ended up doing dashboard dining in our car. I am happy to report that Daddy's Hotdogs earned a coveted place on D's restaurant list!

San Diego Zoo Part II

After taking the gondola, there were still more animals to be seen!

The giant tortoises are always fascinating!
The kids really enjoyed the animal show. We had front row seats. Good thing there was no "splash zone".

After New Year's Day, we drove down to San Diego for a quick overnight trip. Our first stop was the "World-Famous" San Diego Zoo. We bought our memberships online beforehand, which I believe saved us around $10. The last time we had gone, k was just a tyke, and n was not born. We thought another trip was due. With our passes, I expect many more trips in the upcoming year.
This red panda was my favorite of the day--so incredibly cute!

We headed to the panda exhibit first, since it is the one exhibit that can have a long wait time.


k's favorite was the polar bear exhibit.

The zoo was still decorated for Christmas, but we did not really experience any of the performances, since they were all at night. Maybe next year.
We also took the gondola, which is free with membership. The zoo is so large, this is actual a useful mode of transportation, with great views!