Point Loma, Cabrillo Monument, Shelter Island (San Diego)

We were fortunate to have my sister and brother-in-law go with us to San Diego. My b-i-l did the driving. Since they had been to San Diego many times, we could sit back and relax without worry of being lost. We got in a bit of a traffic jam when driving to our lodging because Comic Con was still taking place.

 

We stayed at Humphfreys on Shelter Island, where my relatives had stayed before. It has a lot of pretty foliage and is next to a marina.

Our room at the top of the stairs

 

We ate breakfast at the restaurant hotel with a window table overlooking the marina.

Public park that runs along shore was a nice place to relax and within walking distance of the hotel.

Not far from Shelter Island is a peninsula; the very tip is Point Loma. This is also where Cabrillo National Monument stands.

 

Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo was the first European to set foot on the west coast of what is now the United States. On September 28, 1542 his flotilla of 3 ships arrived in what is now San Diego harbor. He went ashore on a strand of beach. His group spent 6 days waiting for a storm to pass, before proceeding further up the coast of current-day California. The monument overlooks where Cabrillo came ashore and his ships anchored.

There are great views of the San Diego area. Wish it hadn’t been so hazy in the morning. It seems to me that afternoon breezes give you a better chance of clearer views. I noticed that at the restaurant where we dined on a different night on Shelter Island, also.

San Diego is still an active naval center. You view from Cabrillo Monument ships in the harbor regularly.

There is a small museum and gift shop at Cabrillo Monument.

 

On the same peninsula is the Old Point Loma lighthouse.

My husband walked up the hill to the lighthouse while I visited the gift shop. We had already been told the lighthouse was locked.

 

This lighthouse opened in 1855. The oil-lit lens could be seen 20-30 miles out. However, the lighthouse was closed after 36 years because of a flaw. Though the visibility could be good, often the lighthouse was shrouded in fog and the light did not penetrate the fog adequately. A newer lighthouse was built down the hill.

Also on the peninsula is Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery . What a beautiful final resting place. One area overlooks San Diego harbor; another overlooks the Pacific Ocean.