San Diego, CA

If you haven’t heard San Diego has an IMAX theater that now plays feature films. We’ve always had an IMAX theater in Balboa Park that plays documentaries not feature full length films. I have never been to the Edwards in Mira Mesa but after hearing that I was able to watch Beowulf in IMAX 3D I had to watch it. So it takes me thirty minutes to get there as I live in the South Bay and I already know that Mira Mesa Boulevard is a busy place. Not only is it a busy place but it was Black Friday so it was even more packed. As soon as you exit I-15 you’re greeted with traffic upon traffic. It doesn’t help that the theater and a dozen other stores are right near the exit. In that little section there is Edwards Cinema, Barnes & Noble, Home Depot, Albertson’s, Panera and many more stores. It adds to the traffic and it’s definitely some place you don’t want to be unless you need to be there. But I had to watch Beowulf in IMAX 3D so we went extra early to make sure we got tickets for the show. To kill time, I ventured over to a very nice and very big Barnes & Noble. There I read some books and remembered that this is a place that many authors go to do book signings, for instance Nicole Richie was there to sign her book. After we ate at Panera to kill more time until the movie started. Once they started letting people into the theater we lined up and got good seats. The staff was very corteous and on their game being that they had to usher many people in and sold every seat in the house. The IMAX experience, especially in 3D, is very loud and interesting. Now that San Diego has their own IMAX and we won’t ever have to travel to Irvine to catch IMAX, you should go there and give it a try.

San Diego’s famous Wild Animal Park in North County is having their annual Festival of Lights which starts on December 7 and ends on December 30. If you’ve never been it’s a great time to see the animals at night. There are plenty of winter wonderland things to do which isn’t the norm for Southern California. The majority of the park has holiday lights hung up just like the rhino in the picture. There is a Journey into Africa tour that you can take a night and experience being up close to many exotic animals. When I went I was an arms reach away from a cheetah with no protection. This cheetah they have is very interesting in that when it was born there was a dog there and since that dog was present the cheetah recognized the dog as the dominant animal in the relationship and therefore copies and abides by the dog. Since the dog is obedient to humans, the cheetah is also. Other than animals, you can experience a balloon ride and be able to see the park in it’s entirety which is vast stretches of land so the animals are able to roam free in their natural habitat. There are also stations set up for various holiday activities such as making hats and gingerbread men. This is a really festive way to spend your night and it won’t be forgotten. We definitely need to appreciate what a wonder the Wild Animal Park is and be thankful it wasn’t directly affected by the fires.