San Diego Interlude

The mission at the Presidio, San Diego

The first formal night was fun.  We started with appetizers and wine in Bill & Ruth Craven’s cabin and then headed for the show.  There were many people in attendance that ignored the “formal” night dress code, with everything from jeans to t-shirts and shorts.  The show was entitled “Stars of Stage & Screen” and was a high energy dance and vocal production by the Westerdam singers and dancers.  After the show we went to the Vista dining room for dinner and then the Ocean Bar for an Irish Coffee.  By now the seas and wind had moderated so it was a peaceful night.

In the morning, our last sea day before San Diego, the weather started out sunny but then we ran into dense fog.  We listened to the fog horn until early evening when visibility improved to 3-5 miles as the ship headed down the Santa Barbara Channel past the Channel Islands.  The marine layer producing the poor visibility persisted overnight, but lifted as we docked at the “B” Street Pier in downtown San Diego.  We were joined by the Statendam and the Sapphire Princess. 

Miriam and I left the ship about 0900 to meet our friends, Mary, Kyle and Kathleen for a tour and lunch in La Jolla.  After stopping at the Presidio and the Mount Soledad war memorial we headed into La Jolla.  The fog still was present in La Jolla, so we did not get the views we expected, but we had a great lunch at “Georges” in La Jolla Cove.  The sun finally broke through as we headed back to the ship, where we re-boarded a little after 1500, so we could attend the mandatory lifeboat drill at 1615.  The Westerdam left at 1650 under sunny skies and headed west towards Hawaii.