San Diego

I was in San Diego for a work trip that was extended through the weekend.  Below are a series of photos from my time there.  There was an attempt to take advantage of the dark sky area of Anza-Borrego State Park however unfortunately the weather wasn't optimal.  I managed to take some photos of the general area that includes Andromeda, which was exciting.  Hopefully I'll have a better opportunity in the future.

 

Family dynamics of sea lions in La Jolla

 

 

While driving through some side neighborhoods I saw this fence which was
absolutely overflowing with bougainvillea

Church of the Immaculate Conception, Old Town San Diego, 1858

Birria tacos!

In Presidio Park there's a small building that Google Maps has labeled "Witches Tower"

When I went up to look there was a young man sitting in one corner, writing in a journal, with a medium sized knife casually on the ground next to him.  He suggested that visitors were traditionally supposed to walk the star pattern on the tower.  I asked if it had anything to do with witches and he gave a quizzical look.  He said that if watchmen followed the path, they'd be more difficult targets for attack due to the unpredictable appearance.  Makes sense.

The area of interest for stargazing.  What was amazing to me was that even well after midnight the air temperature was still 90 degrees.  Between the residual heat from daytime and near total silence other than some insects and distant thunder, it was a surreal environment.

Andromeda galaxy in the upper left.  

Intermittent cloud cover made it difficult to capture more than a handful of clear images.

I did my best with post-processing.

Hotel del Coronado (1888) at night.  Super haunted.