A Little Shopping and Some Birding

San Diego Metro KOA

Chula Vista, CA

January 6, 2022

 Tuesday, I realized I had forgotten to pack my beach hat and walking the beach is definitely on the list of favorite things to do.  To fix the problem, Joe and I headed out to Seaport Village to a great little hat shop.  

I know it is a great little hat shop because there is a hat I bought there still sitting on the shelf in our closet in Tucson.  

Oh well, a girl can't have too many hats ! Seaport Village is less than 10 miles from the KOA and a nice place to spend a couple of hours. There are lots of other small speciality shops, but the best part is the walk along the bay.

One of the oldest and most iconic historical neighborhoods in San Diego is Little Italy.  

It all began as a "humble" fishing community populated by Italian immigrants back in the 1920s and has grown into a chic, pedestrian-friendly neighborhood.  Boutiques, music venues, bars and restaurants line the street today.  And on Wednesdays and Saturdays, the big attraction is the Little Italy Mercato...year round...rain or shine. The Saturday Market fills six city blocks (Date Street is closed to traffic).  Produce, flowers, meats, eggs, oils and breads are among the many items sold by local vendors.  We chose to go Wednesday which is about a third the size of Saturday's event.  

Date Street is closed for both days.

 

Our bag was mostly empty except for a loaf of rosemary sourdough bread and sun-dried garlic spread.  There were lots of vendors with root plant produce...beets, turnips, carrots, etc. 

And as always, the  bundles of flowers locally grown were beautiful.

I'm not a big city girl, but I love to visit the city and walking the streets in Little Italy is totally a fun time.  It has skyscrapers, outside bars and restaurants, store windows full of color and charm, and history.   

Fancy umbrellas on a balcony...don't forget to look up!

Trees are planted along the sidewalks approximately 10 walking strides apart.

Today was birding day.  We chose Bayside Birding and Walking Trail which connects to the Bayshore Biking Trail and together make for a decent walk.  We chose to begin our walk in Imperial Beach which is less the 10 miles from the KOA. 

  

During the past century, 70% of the Bay's salt marsh was either dredged or filed for development.  Restoration in San Diego Bay began in 2011. Tidal flows were restored bringing back lost habitat for a wide variety of fish, birds, other animals and plants. 

There wasn't any info on what these were.  What is your guess?

Most of what is the Bayshore Bikeway was originally known as The Coronado Beltway Railroad. 

It was constructed in 1888 to bring passengers and supplies to the Coronado Beach Company Development.  

The Beltway supplied materials for the construction of Fort Emory (1942). 

Until next time, bottoms up ! 

HAPPY TRAILS !

Little Italy

San Diego Metro KOA
Chula Vista, CA
January 17, 2015

According to Wikipedia, Little Italy is a neighborhood in Downtown San Diego that was originally a predominately Italian fishing neighborhood. From the 19th century thru the 1970s, people from Italy led the enterprise in building boats to found the American tuna fishing fleet and canning industry based in San Diego, the "tuna capital" of the Western US. Large canneries built as early as 1911 closed in the 80s due to rising costs and foreign competition. Today Little Italy is still one of the most active downtown neighborhoods filled with Italian restaurants and retail shops, art galleries and residential units. Our reason for visiting this festive area is the weekly farmers market, better known as the Mercato.

The Mercato is 3 city blocks long filled with tent vendors (more than 150 according to their website, but I didn't count) on both sides of the street sponsored by the Little Italy Association. Its open every Saturday from 8:00 - 2:00. Each block has its own variety of produce, food, clothing, jewelry, and art...all locally grown and made. One thing we learned two years ago ...don't eat before you go. Samples are plentiful! Breads with spreads, cookies, croissants, wraps...just to name a few! The aroma of coffee, fresh strawberries and baked goods, samples along the way, musical artists, the rainbow of colors and textures of all kinds are feasts for the senses. We do take cash as some vendors don't accept cards. But even if you don't buy anything, its a great way to spend the morning!

Our Saturday ended on a happy note too. Friends Lynn and Dave and their son Richard came over for a visit...a campfire and yummy munchies at our gracious next door neighbors Ronnie and Carol's. No, we didn't break out in Kumbaya, but we did laugh a lot. It was so great to see them and catch up! And we hope to get together again before they leave at the end of the month. 

Left to right...Carol, Cooper, Ronnie, Joe, Dave, Richard, and Lynn and Allie

I have been walking with the pups and taking pictures around the KOA. Hope to get a post showing off this wonderful campground full of beautiful flowers, twisty tall trees and wonderful green grass!

Until next time, take care and...

happy trails!