When you live in America’s Finest City, sometimes you need to spend some time re-seeing your place with fresh eyes. Today, since we were meeting a friend for lunch downtown, we decided to make a day of it and headed off to Cabrillo National Monument. Located way up a hill, off the tip of Point Loma, this jewel offers breathtaking views on a clear day. And today we got just that.

After much needed rain earlier this week, this morning came in bright and clear…with the promise of sunshine and hints of spring. After parking, we headed to use the restrooms…and caught a glimpse of a large military ship passing out of the harbor. North Island Military Base is right across the bay on Coronado. Docents pointed out features of the ship as it passed by on its way out to sea.

We headed off to a favorite hiking trail that wanders along the bay. Native plants are just beginning to bud, lizards basked in the pools of sun along the trail, and we could hear the “orts” of the sea lions in the distance.

It wasn’t long before sailboats seemed to come out of nowhere, dancing along the surface of cerulean blue water. Military jets roared overhead as they rose into the sky and red shouldered hawks seemed to float effortlessly in midair.

The second half of the hike is all uphill, adding breathiness to our conversation as our hearts pounded in rhythm with our feet. We added an extra loop around the historic Point Loma Lighthouse and headed out to the overlook on the ocean side of the area.

This place is perfect for watching for gray whales as they migrate–although we have passed the end of the migration season. Looking down you can see the kelp beds and tide pools below, a reminder of another hike for another day.

What a perfect beginning to a very full day! After leaving Cabrillo we managed to get stuck in a protest parade (supportive of the cause–didn’t love the traffic jam), had a lovely lunch with an out-of-town friend that I haven’t seen for a while, pulled over on the freeway onramp while an ambulance sped by slowing traffic to a crawl (again), made our way to IKEA (because–why not if you’re within 10 miles or so) and then headed off to drop homemade sticky buns to my mom and sister before heading home in the dark.

The day was long and so satisfying. A perfect way to spend the day in America’s Finest City!