SeaWorld

I had forgotten that we had also brought our small video camera (an el cheapo 3.1 megapixel one) that could also do still images. The quality's nowhere near as good as my CyberShot's, but it works and is better than nothing.

After this morning's shenanigans, we didn't get away to SeaWorld until much later than planned, but we got there about 1:00.

We wandered around for a bit, including a visit to the underwater viewing platform for the killer whales, which were as curious about the spectators as we were of them.

We really came for the Believe show, but the next one wasn't for another 90 minutes, so we kept going and visited some of the nearby attractions (California Tide Pool, World of the Sea Aquarium, Aquarium de la Mer). Nearly every attraction or exhibit seems to have a gift shop attached, and we seem to have a low resistance to souvenirs -- we've added five more soft toys to the collection (Shamu, a manatee, an eagle, a polar bear, and a dolphin).

By now, it was nearly time for the show, so we made our way to the stadium. Even at 2:30 on a non-holiday Friday, the arena was packed, but we got our seats in around row 20 (outside the "soak zone").

The show was spectacular. It was only 30 minutes long, but from the first moment a killer whale leaps out of the water, everyone's rapt. And anyone sitting in rows 1 to 16 gets wet. No ifs, buts, or maybes: the trainers and the whales make sure you get wet if you're in the soak zone.

After the show, everything else seemed a bit of an anticlimax. We went through the Turtle enclosure, Flamingo Cove, Freshwater Aquarium, Shark Encounter, the Manatee Rescue, Penguin Encounter, and Wild Arctic, and all of them would been good on their own, if I still wasn't thinking about the whales...

We finished at 4:30, and met Carina and Denny at the gates. We went into San Diego proper, and had dinner at Anthony's Fish Grotto, which had a great view of the harbour (including the aircraft carrier in the background). Alex joined us, along with Hayley (his partner) and Eden (their two-month-old daughter. And yes, Juliette got clucky.

Once again, another evening of great food and better company. Alex got some pics of us all together (since the backup camera doesn't have a flash), before Carina and Denny took us off to Wal-mart to look for suitcases to replace our failing one.

Tomorrow, it's back to LA. The Lux Bus is picking us up at 10:45, and taking us to the Carousel Inn & Suites in Anaheim... just across the road from Disneyland.