San Diego: Sea World

So many things have happened since we took our little detour to San Diego but I knew I still wanted to show pictures from the last 2 days of our trip. We spent one of the days at a place that I visited a few times growing up... Sea World! This is actually a place that is near and dear to me because of my mom's love for the ocean. My family grew up learning about the oceans, what lives in it, and what comes out it. I was excited to take Jason and spend the day there together.





Here we are outside the main entrance. We went during the middle of the week and really it wasn't busy at all. It's warmer in San Diego than back in Costa Mesa, but it worked out because we went on several rides that got us completely SOAKED, so we dried off easily.




Here we are standing within view of the Sky Tower. It is basically a round elevator that rotates as you travel up and down the pole to get a 360 view of the park.



This is a view of the elevator coming down to pick us up. You'd think that we would get dizzy spinning around in the sky but I found it quite relaxing and wouldn't mind taking a little nap there.

Here is a view of the tanks where they keep the Orca whales before the shows.

Some more of the tanks around the park from the tower.

Of course you can't visit Sea World without seeing the biggest star of it... literally the biggest! It's Shamu! It was fun to go and see the show since the last time I went I was small enough I probably sat on my dad's lap to see it better.

We sat up higher outside of the splash zone- and this picture shows why you don't sit in the splash zone!

Here is a picture of us in front of the Shamu pool. It is a bit funny because we took it with our iPad.

Probably one of my favorite things to do at Sea World is to go and visit the dolphins. I remember when my sister, Karen, and I went to go and feed the dolphins when we went. I reached out my short arms and was able to feel dorsal fin of the dolphin and down the back a bit. I never forgot that moment and since then I have been in love with dolphins. Jason and I wanted to feed them again but it's nothing compared to being in the water with the dolphins and swimming with them.

Another vivid memory I have of Sea World is going and playing in the hands-on area where they let you touch some of the sea creatures. Now all they have is this big, shallow pool where you can play with the sea stars. I'm always amazed at how strong their suction is to the floors and walls because you can't just pick them up easily. It was nice to go there in the middle of the day and cool off because the water was freezing! Our arms were numbs by the time we were done.

Here is a giant replica of a sea star so you can see the suction cups they use to move around in the ocean... and apparently this one is attacking me.

As much as we love Shamu's show I think the dolphin one has always been better. We did enjoy this one, but it is a bit different than the old one they used to do. I still enjoyed watching the dolphins do their flips just look adorable.

We enjoyed our time there seeing all of the magnificent sea creatures and seeing the shows. We also enjoyed riding the rollercoaster rides there, which seem to be there with one purpose: to get you wet! There was one where you rode it directly under a waterfall. How do you dodge that? We had a blast running around the place and would love to visit Sea World again!