San Diego Part 1: North Park Living

Our recent visit with Shannon was short, but awesome. We left for California on Wednesday afternoon and only stayed until Sunday. During that time, we squeezed in as much exploring as we could stand, visiting many of Shannon’s favorite haunts, meeting some of her friends, eating at her favorite places, and discovering new restaurants, too.

It felt like we moved around a lot, but the furthest point to which we traveled from Shannon’s neighborhood was about 15 miles.

But, wait, I’m getting ahead of myself.

I thought those of you who are geographically challenged would like a map to show exactly where San Diego is located within the huge state of California.

It’s pretty far south. In fact, it’s the southernmost, well-known major city in California. Tijuana, Mexico is less than 20 miles from Shannon’s house.

We did NOT go to Mexico. We did eat some Mexican food, though. Surprised? That’s our favorite ethnic fare.

Thursday morning, the first things on our itinerary were eating breakfast and being introduced to Shannon’s neighborhood.

We wisely combined the two by walking through the neighborhood to Lucky’s Restaurant for breakfast.

I posted this next picture yesterday, but am posting it again because it is what I saw when we left Shannon’s cottage…

Yes, the sky really was that blue!

Her cottage is within the neighborhood of North Park in San Diego.

I thought y’all might like to see a map. I had no idea where her house was located. I mean, I have her address, I’d just never looked it up on a map. It may not look like it on that map, but North Park is within San Diego. The city comprises a number of very diverse regions and neighborhoods.

I love that there is a neighborhood sign.

I actually have quite a few pics to share. If I comment about every one, this post will take me forever. I’ll just add a caption if I think it’s important.

 

 

 

Shannon had never eaten at Lucky’s before, but had heard (from friends or Yelp!) that it was good. It’s basically a tiny diner, operated by one man, that only serves breakfast and is only open until noon.

Yep, one guy — Lucky, I presume — greets, cooks, cleans, buses, serves, runs cash register, etc. It was clean and the food was cheap and good. Service was a little slow, but we could see the man working. So we knew he wasn’t just hanging around smoking, chatting, and/or texting all of his friends. We didn’t mind the wait because, for a change, we were in NO HURRY.

Ah, vacation…

North Park, like most of San Diego, is a colorful place.

When I took that last picture, I said to myself, “I wish the parking lot was empty.” Then, later, when I saw the shot, I realized the cars and mural were color-coordinated. So all was cool.

 

 

 

The cat made me smile. Hubby and Shannon both thought it was stupid.

Good thing they weren’t taking the pictures or you would have missed out on that masterpiece.

 That is actually Shannon’s dry cleaner. We stopped on the way back to her house to grab her freshly-laundered clothes.

Hubby helped her carry the stuff back. Not because she asked, but because he’s gentlemanly like that.

Yep, he’s a keeper.

 

Large flower outside of a neighboring cottage. I only noticed it after I stepped on one enormous (like a foot long) flower petal.

Oh, and I also JUST noticed (as in while writing this post) that there appear to be bananas or something similar growing above that flower. Shannon, run out and check that later, ‘kay?

The next shot was taken later in the day. See the moon?

After we dropped Shannon’s clothes at the house, we went to the beach. I have lots more pics from Day 1, but little time in which to post them.

So those images will just have to wait.

Before I sign off…

Shannon left a comment (she’s one of most frequent commenters) on my last post saying, “Obviously I like San Diego and I love my neighborhood, but I’m interested to hear why you think SD is the perfect place for me. No sarcasm here at all, really wondering.”

Well, I’ll tell you. Dad contributed, by the way.

– Reason 1: ‘Cause you’re a hipster and we’re not. (We tried in vain to get Shannon to teach us some hipster-speak, but she wouldn’t. I think she was afraid we’d use it inappropriately, or maybe even appropriately, and embarrass her.)

– Reason 2: San Diego in general and your neighborhood in particular are just about as eclectic as you.

– Reason 3: It finally taught you how to drive like an East Coaster. (Fast. And maybe a little crazy. Definitely impatient.)

– Reason 4: Lots of good food and many different dining options. (Everyone who knows her knows she likes eating different stuff.)

– Reason 5: Small-town feel in a big city. (She promised to find us a Warrenton, SoCal version.)

– Reason 6: Multiple yoga studios within walking distance of your house. And bars. Restaurants, too. Plus other funky little stores.

– Reason 7: You seem happy there. (Of course, that’s the most important reason of all!)

More pics to come tomorrow, folks. So stay tuned!