Santa Barbara to San Diego

This was our most disappointing day so far although it was always likely to be. A pretty long drive including through LA. It was a very grey day and prior to LA we only really stopped to admire the fortitude of the surfers along the coast.

 Our only real stop on the journey was at Santa Monica, and that was a navigational mistake. We were intending to stop at Venice Beach but in taking a closer look at Santa Monica pier we got too close and were captured by the car parking system! With no way out we succumbed to paying 12 dollars and found a place to park. With his trusty gizmos Thibault found the 10th best restaurant in Santa Monica. Mexican, good but a bit on the heavy side.

The Pier was every bit as tacky as one could expect. The beach looked nice enough but it was a grey day and we weren't impressed. Worse still was to come. So pleased were we at escaping the car park onto the road that we missed the right turn. From then on the traffic was horrendous. Thibault did ever so well amongst the weaving cars on up to 6 lane highways. Would have shredded my nerves.

But eventually we got to our hotel in downtown San Diego. Just to complete Thibault's day he made a dash for a karate club but arrived too late with nowhere to park. So he possibly wasn't in the best of moods when we hit the Gaslight Quarter for dinner. But luckily there was a turn for the better. The sushi restaurant we went to was terrific. Thibault claimed it was best he ever had. Truly scrumptious!