San Deigo

Last weekend Jess and I shot down to San Diego for the end of her Spring Break. We headed down Thursday night and came back Saturday night.

We arrived about 9:30 pm on Thursday, and plopped down in our hotel room to watch luxurious cable TV for a few hours before we turned in; 2.5 hours of Animal Planet is more precise.

The next morning we dined on the complimentary breakfast at the hotel, which was way better than the "light pastries and fruit" we all imagine when we think of continental breakfast. They boasted fruit and pastries of course, but also muffins, sausage, cereal, and French toast dippers!

After that we went to San Diego's famous "Gaslamp District," or at least almost went there. We ended up parking in a parking garage that belonged to a Westfield shopping center, and so we sauntered around the mall, which was an open-air design, so it was really cool. We hung around there until lunch, and then came back to the hotel to relax, stopping for a long walk on the beach on the way.

We went back to the Gaslamp for dinner at a great restaurant called the Dakota Grill. We had three different kinds of meat (chicken, prime rib, and pork) and mashed potatoes and green beans (I think they were green beans, I'm not sure now because I was enjoying the other, much better tasting food to think too much about the vegetables, other than to have some to make Jess happy).

We walked around the Gaslamp some more after dinner, and we stumbled upon a classic car showroom where I took my picture with a pristine DeLorean. I love those cars, but mostly because of Back To The Future.

Our day ended with more cable TV, and as you may have guessed, more Animal Planet.

The next day we went to Coronado Island. The hotel there is AWESOME. It was built in the late 1800s, and it's all made of wood. Very classy, and very expensive.

We hung at the beach by the hotel for a long time, just enjoying the fantastic weather and the amazing hotel in the background. Then we rented some bikes and rode around most of the edge of the island before we came home.

So we got away for a few days, and it was really nice.

Someday I will return, not as a tourist, but as a guest of that fabulous Hotel Del Coronado.









These are some shots from our bike ride around Coronado island. On the right is the view back on to the "mainland" and on the left is Jess waving to some friendly old couple sitting on a balcony just out of the shot.






This is a shot from inside the lobby of the Hotel Del Coronado. According to the historical information of the hotel, in its early days, while the men would be out fishing and doing other "manly" things, the women would get bored and come sit in the lobby balcony to watch the new people check in. Must have been REALLY exciting to be a woman in the early 1900s.



This is a choir that was singing in the outdoor mall. I think they said they were from...Idaho? I can't remember for sure, but they were a good choir as high school choirs go. I don't know why this text is underlined, but I don't know how to make it go away.



Here is the Dakota Grill in the Gaslamp district. If you're ever down in San Diego and want to have a real nice dinner, this is the place. Highly recommend it!