San Diego, California

San Diego, California is a beautiful city to visit.  The temperatures are usually in the high 60’s to high 70’s but there are extremes in both directions.   San Diego has a long history that dates back to the Kumeyaay Indians.  The first European was Juan Rodriquez Cabrillo from Portugal in 1542.   Cabrillo was sailing under the Spanish flag and claimed the bay for Spain.   In 1602 Sebastian Vizcaino explored additional areas around the bay, and called the region Saint Didacus or San Diego.   Spain retained its control over the area until the 1800’s.

The United States Navy became significant to the area in the early 1900’s.   Because of its access to the ocean and the shelter of the bay it had a large navel base and various training centers.    San Diego has one of the largest navel fleets in the world.  Navel recruitment and basic training areas were in use up to the mid 1980’s.   The marines and coast guard also have a large presence.

San Diego has a large cultural center called Balboa Park,   In the Park are the Art and Natural History Museums, the Museum of Man and the Museum of Photographic Art.  In one of the museums is a comprehensive HO train layout.  The city has many other museums as well as the symphony and an opera company.  The Cabrillo National Monument is located at the top of Point Loma.

There are many tourists attraction including the San Diego Zoo, the Wild Animal Park and Sea World.   You can go deep sea fishing or go on a harbor cruise.  Many cruise ships depart from San Diego on a regular basis.  Sports are also a big attraction with baseball, football and basketball.