Day 3: The Birch Aquarium and How I Almost Probably Most-Likely Could Have Died by Death

The Birch is different from other aquariums because it's used more for research purposes than entertainment value. It sits on a cliff in La Jolla and is part of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego. It's gorgeous and has tons of kid friendly critical thinking activity. Very much a science-based place extending even past the science of marine biology. We saw 2 day old baby seahorses. They were the tiniest things I have ever seen! Outside they set up an area where children could test out different areas of physics (and watch the surfing class from the cliff). 

Surfing classes. It was fun to watch.

Now, this death thing...

So, B and I decided that we have been dying to kayak on the ocean forever. We found a great place that does hiking, biking, and kayaking. The kayak tours send you in groups with a guide and you get to explore the caves of La Jolla. Cool right? Yeahhhh, for a hot minute. We had a great guide and everything was cool until we actually had to, you know, kayak through these massive waves. Brian paired up with Caden and Ethan was with me. Yeah, the waves in SoCal were huge and if I had been paying any attention to 90210, I would have remembered that Dylan loved to surf these waters and almost got killed doing so (if you'll remember he stayed with the Walshes which Jim did NOT like- also, I might watch this show too much). Um, yeah. So we were doing well and the rule is, just keep cutting the waves like a knife. Easier said than done. Somehow E and I made a full u-turn due to the strength of the waves and ended up flipping over. A) it hurts. The sting of the waves pushing you down- hurts. I got a mouth full of saltwater. B) it hurts some more. I tried swimming back to the shore, but the undertow just kept grabbing me and pulling me under thus filling my nose with saltwater. The guides on the beach got to E, who was swimming along like it was nothing, and then I finally swam and made it back onto the shore. After that, I was okay with never doing that again. Srsly. Brian and C were great because they went out in fairly calm tide. I was ready to try it again and asked E if he was. He declined. I was more than okay with that answer. B said they didn't even get to make it into the caves because the waves were getting bigger and stronger and the tide was coming in. Also, the lifeguard on the beach was telling the other guides that they could no longer do snorkeling tours and needed to pack up the kayaks that day because of the rough waters. Maybe I will try it again later, but I'll practice in calmer waters. For now, I am done with that. 

Little Italy:  I can't even tell you how awesome this little section of San Diego truly is. A ton of eateries mostly (not all) specializing in Italian food. Authentic. We ate at Landini's. ZOMG. They have this primavera pasta that I still think about. The cook came out, young kid with a thick Italian accent, and told us that Caden must try his marinara sauce. He said Guy Fieri came in and ate meatball after meatball that he would dip in a huge bowl of the sauce. He was insistent. We tried it. We died and went to food heaven. Best. Sauce. EVER. Ever in the history of ever. It was greatness. 

Mr. Caden Blake took this picture of Brian, Ethan, and me.