Road Trip: Del Mar and Torrey Pines, CA
Our Tesla Day Trip to see “Beyond King Tut: The Immersive Experience” in Del Mar California.
My wife booked a 12-noon reservation for the exhibit, so we decided to make a day trip that included a late lunch in Del Mar and a visit to nearby Torrey Pines Natural Preserve. Del Mar, CA, is about 50 miles south of our home in south Orange County and, although it is a relatively short drive, traffic on I-5 between Orange County and San Diego is very unpredictable and often congested, so we left early enough to avoid any traffic issues.
The “Beyond King Tut” exhibit was held at the Wyland Center at Del Mar Fairground. This was the second time we had attended something at the fairgrounds, which has a confusing set of entrances and GPS instructions can’t always be trusted. The King Tut exhibit takes advantage of the huge building that makes up the Wyland Center. The exhibit consists of a series of partitioned rooms guiding you through the life and death of King Tut with exhibits, illustrations, and narration.
It takes about 40 minutes to go through the entire exhibit which leads you to the final room where there is an enormous cinematic light show that includes the walls and the floor. You’re surrounded by paintings and projected videos and animations on the walls and floors. The videos are all about King Tut and the gods the ancient Egyptians worshipped, and how they buried their pharaohs with all sorts of amazing artifacts, thinking it would help them in the afterlife. It’s an awesome way to learn about the ancient history of Egypt.
Del Mar Village
After seeing the King Tut exhibit, we drove down to Camino Del Mar where at the mouth of the San Dieguito River we came upon North Beach. This beach was obviously a very popular dog friendly beach because there were about 20 dogs running on the sand and having a great time swimming in the surf.
From the beach area we went into Del Mar Village, which is home to a variety of art galleries, boutique shops, and restaurants. When parking on the main street in the village we were surprised and pleased to find several curbside “Electric Vehicles Only” parking spots! Kudos to the City of Del Mar!!
We walked through the village, stopping in several shops, and checked out the restaurants before finally settling on one called Tamarindo Del Mar on Camino Del Mar.
Torrey Pines Natural Preserve
Torrey Pines natural preserve is described by California State Parks as a “wilderness island in an urban sea”. Leaving Del Mar, we headed south to Torrey Pines Road where the entrance to the preserve was right at Torrey Pines State Beach. Our annual senior pass came in handy again and our admission for parking and the Preserve was free.
Torrey Pines preserve is located on bluffs that consist of layered sandstone cliffs, which rise up to 300 feet above the Pacific Ocean. The bluff structure is an important part of the natural preserve’s ecosystem, providing habitat for a variety of plant and animal species. The unique combination of coastal sage scrub, chaparral, and maritime succulent scrub plant communities found on the bluffs support a diverse array of wildlife, including several rare and endangered species. Early Spanish explorers named the grove of trees in the area Punto de Los Arboles, or “Point of Trees.” The trees served as a landmark for sailors navigating off the coast. In 1850—the year of California’s statehood—botanist Charles C. Parry identified this pine as a unique species and named it after his friend John Torrey, a leading botanist of that time. The Natural Preserve and Santa Rosa Island are the only places in the world where you can find the rarest pine tree species in the United States, the Torrey Pine (Pinus torreyana). The combination of the rare and endangered Torrey Pine trees, unique coastal geology, biodiversity, and recreational opportunities make Torrey Pines a truly special and unique place.
We visited the interpretive center, museum, and gift shop, which is in a historical building that was called Torrey Pines Lodge. It was once a restaurant with stumpy tables, chintz curtains, lampshades made of Torrey Pine needles, and a jukebox. After visiting the interpretive center, we walked through the Torrey Pines that are found on the crest of ridges that make up the central area of the Preserve. One of the interpretive signs reads, “The twisted and gnarled trees along the bluffs often lean inland, growing close to the ground, as a result of the ocean winds and pruning by salt crystals in the air.”
The Del Mar Fairgrounds, Del Mar Village, and the Torrey Pines Preserve are all within a few miles of each other, and made for a wonderful visit to Del Mar. Our walk through the Pines was just what we needed after our lunch, and we were ready for our ride home.
EV Trivia for our Road Trip: Round Trip= 118 miles, Energy Use= 32 kWh, Efficiency= 3.7 mi/kWh. Our day trip didn’t require any charging along the way, but there is a Supercharger with 24 ports at 4639 Carmel Mountain Road, about 5 miles southeast of Del Mar.
Please Contact Us and let us know if there is a destination that you think we should visit and we’ll try to make plans.
