Walking San Diego's Wild Side

Food is an essential part of my nine-year-old daughter's day. When Melanie blurts, "I'm hungry," that's my cue to find sustenance immediately or face her tear-filled wrath. Yielding to her hunger pangs at SeaWorld San Diego, I had a plate of chicken fingers in front of her in almost record time. But then, as San Diego's famous son, Dr. Seuss, might say, something wonderful and truly amazing happened. Melanie was not stuffing her face. In fact, her eyes were the size of doughnuts as she stared in awe at an orca whale doing a backflip, not more than ten feet from where we were sitting.

On a recent trip to San Diego, "Dine with Shamu" was just one of the many new attractions (or distractions, as was the case with Melanie) of the city's famous marine and mammal life that mesmerized our family. More tricks, or as SeaWorld likes to call them, "behaviors," were waiting at the multimedia Shamu show called "Believe." Over at the country's finest zoo, the latest member of the panda family, Zhen Zhen ("Precious"), was born last August. While she's too young for primetime, her brother Su Lin was wowing the crowds high atop the bamboo tree. Thirty miles north, the often overlooked Wild Animal Park recently introduced hot-air balloon rides, giving guests a bird's-eye view of the lions, giraffes, elephants, rhinos, and other animals in the 1,800-acre wildlife preserve.

Even the city's legendary Hotel del Coronado, open since 1888, has made some changes over the past year. Last May, they opened the new Beach Village, a selection of 78 two-and three-bedroom suites that are perfect for a beachside family escape. Bring your cereal and milk because an upscale kitchen is part of the design—then eat your breakfast outside, overlooking the finest stretch of coastline San Diego has to offer. -- Steve Jermanok

Photo: Polar bear, San Diego Zoo (courtesy, San Diego Zoo)

For more San Diego travel-planning ideas and advice, read Away.com's San Diego Family Travel Guide.