If you place a strawberry in the middle of bagel, is it a strawberry bagel?
San Diego, California: We had one one planned activity today - a morning boat tour, from Seal Tours - sure to please the kiddos. We had breakfast (again, as we have every morning) at the hotel (included in our room rate) buffet and then walked to the loading point in Seaport Village to board our Seal Boat.
After boarding and receiving "safety" instructions, our tour headed out from Seaport Village, around the waterfront to a boat ramp, where the "bus" becomes a "boat" and we took a little spin around San Diego bay.
The bus became a boat and we splashed into the sea
Not 100% sure why it is called a seal tour when we only saw sea lions
Beautiful creatures
Leo became confident on our tour boat and stood to watch the sea lions.
Remember when we showed Leo sea lions in Newport, Oregon last summer?
Our tour passed by a Sea Hunter ship. This boat is an unmanned submarine hunter that can travel 12,000 miles on one tank of fuel. It searches out unwanted submersed state enemies and drug smugglers.
Bubbe, stop taking our photo!
Downtown San Diego
After our water tour, Lisa took Leo and Lucy to the nearby Children's Museum, while Bubba worked out and Bubbe blogged. Later we all had a rest, then took the street car/tram/trolley/light rail (still not sure what it was) from Seaport Village to Little Italy, where we enjoyed a very nice meal at Bencotto.
By the time we finished dinner, the kids were getting restless. It was way past their bedtime, so we promised them room service dessert again... however, all bets were off when we found Jean-Philippe Maury's new iDesserts in Little Italy on our walk back to the trolley.
Jean-Philippe, of Las Vegas chocolate fountain fame, has opened a meringue-crust-based dessert bar in San Diego. FROM HIS WEBSITE: To build your dessert, you will need to select your crust, gelato and cream. Then, you will have the option to add a layer of a flavored cake, a sauce, some fruits and/or a crunch. If you wish to have the full iDessert experience, have your order served with the Vegas Bowl to savor your masterpiece. (Vegas Bowl means your dessert will arrive "steaming" via a bed of dry ice.)
Every order is made on an iPad!
Five-year-old Leo knew what to do. He knew how to start the ordering process, knew how to type-in his name, and figured-out how to order his dessert (every choice was shown via photos). The only thing Leo did not have was a credit card to swipe to pay for his treat.
The pick-up counter, (above). There is no ordering counter.
All orders are placed via iPads placed around the restaurant. (Jetsons?)
iDessert - customers in the background, ordering via iPads
iDessert
Lucy somehow ordered one simple scoop of chocolate ice cream. Lisa ordered this (above).
The sphere mimicking a lollipop is actually a sauce-filled bulb that can be squirted-out onto the dessert.
Leo ordered this (hisownself):
Our Biggest Adventure awaits tomorrow.
Until my next update, I remain, your "I didn't order a thing" correspondent.