Monday Afternoon Boat Tour

First of all, I've made mention of pedicabs. This is a pedicab. Pedicab drivers are desperate to carry people to their next destination a few blocks away. A few of the drivers have even called out, "Anywhere you want to go, $2!" Really? I doubt it...
Monday was a relaxing day. John worked in the morning. After walking him to the convention center, I returned to the hotel and vegged. When he got out of work, we signed up for a one-hour boat tour of the harbor with San Diego Harbor Excursions. We bought our tickets at a discounted rate at the TI. The tour offered a great view of the city -This gull (I think a non-breeding laughing gull) followed us a good way on our tour. I couldn't help just staring at it for a while.

Other people noticed it, too. The woman below is holding up a cracker. The gull generated a lot of attention as it started flying lower and lower towards the cracker. It ended up nabbing it right out of the woman's fingers and flying off. The gull was awarded with cheers and a round of applause from just about everyone on the top deck of the boat. I was surprised that it didn't come back for more.
I came prepared with binoculars, which means we didn't have to rent any from the tour gift shop! (More than once on this trip, I've wished I had a Birds of California book.) Here's John taking advantage of our "free" binoculars -
This is a really cool tour boat. It starts out as a tour bus, but then it splashes into the water and becomes a boat. I love it. (But it's a lot more expensive than - over double the price of - regular tour boats.)Here are some sea lions -


Here are some humans -Our tour narrator trained in the Marines here so he knew all about the ships and air crafts in the area. Sadly, I don't remember anything he said about them! But here are some pictures -
Here's a better view of the Star of India ship -
After our tour, John and I headed to a nearby grassy area to just hang out and enjoy the warmth of the day. Still early in the afternoon, we headed back to the hotel where we napped and napped and napped some more. Dinner was at the hotel restaurant, Brian's 24. We had a coupon card for a 10 percent discount, which was a good thing because the food was not as good as its price would lead one to believe...