Category: Shannon

This is the last of the San Diego series. I think. I may have one or two other pics to share, because they are special. But then again, maybe not.

Did I mention that Hubby caught a horrible cold on the airplane? We know it was from the airplane because there was a guy sitting behind him coughing the entire way to San Diego. Anyway, the poor man (Hubby) coughed, hard, and sneezed for an entire week. I felt so sorry for him. I thought I had escaped the bug. Then, Sunday night, it hit me.

Ugh.

I feel like crapola. So you aren’t getting much out of me today besides a few pictures. (You can see the rest on Flickr. Link at bottom of post.)

We started our day at Santos Coffee House in North Park. This is Shannon’s hang-out spot, so it was nice to see. And we got to meet some more friends of hers.

I forgot to mention that we’d met her friend, Katrina, on Friday night. A super-sweet girl who was kind enough to trade cars with Shannon while we were visiting so she could haul us around (her Smart car only seats two). I should have taken a picture of her. But didn’t.

Speaking of pictures, I don’t know why I didn’t take pictures at Santos. It is a super-cute little place. People are very friendly. Oh, and the food is good, too. I didn’t drink any coffee while there, but that’s what Shannon used at home all week, and it was quite tasty.

Katrina is a pretty young woman with a great personality, but a horrible Arnold Schwarzenegger impersonation. She’d come over to Shannon’s one evening so we’d have four people to play Cranium.

Our only destination for our last full day was Ocean Beach, aka OB. In case you weren’t counting, that’s the fifth beach we visited. All within 15 miles of Shannon’s house.

It was a colorful place. Shannon says it’s known locally as the Hippie beach, and for good reason. There were lots of hippie-and surfer-types mingling about.

 

I have to agree with Shan, it was my least-favorite beach. It was just crowded and felt dirty. They had really cool tide pools, though. A very long fishing pier, too, which we did NOT walk out on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a good visit. Hubby and I are both anxious to go back.

All of the pics from the day are on Flickr if you are interested.

Thanks again, Shan, for being a great host and tour guide!

After we left Cabrillo, still only on day two of our adventure, we stopped in Old Town.

As you can see from my map, we still hadn’t traveled far at all from Shannon’s cute little cottage.

She’d told us repeatedly that we’d be going to Old Town. There was a cigar store there she wanted us to see.

Now, I never asked, “What is Old Town?” I mean, I assumed it was just the historic district of San Diego like Old Town Warrenton.

Well, it was historic. But it was more than just a historic district.

Old Town, San Diego, known as the “birthplace of California” is home of the weirdest state park ever!

Really.

Most state parks I’ve seen, I’d guess 99.9% of them, are wooded areas where people camp and fish and hike. You know, do outdoorsy stuff. OTSD “recreates life in the Mexican and early American periods of 1821 to 1872.”

It was like being in the Mexico exhibit at Disney’s EPCOT Center. Interesting, but a little unreal-feeling and weird. It had tourist trap written all over it. But, as I said, it was interesting. Of course, we were tourists at that point…

Shannon had also promised to take us to a taco shop. She told us beforehand that we wouldn’t be eating in Old Town because they have the worst food ever. I didn’t question that statement, but it all made sense once we saw the place. Sort of like Phillips’ Restaurant at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. Seafood, yes. But not good. All of the tourists think they’re getting local fare, but they really aren’t. They are getting an over-priced, lesser-quality imitation.

Maybe if these buildings were just empty replicas–like museum exhibits–instead of operating, themed souvenir shops, it would have seemed less hokey. Although, fewer people would probably visit, too.

I have to admit, there’s something attractive about weird, over-the-top tackiness. It gives you something interesting to look at. And chuckle about. And photograph!

We didn’t go into many of the establishments because it was pretty crowded, so I shouldn’t comment too much about the weirdness. Because, in fact, Shannon’s cigar shop was actually quite cool. Maybe the other shops were just as interesting.

I should have taken pictures inside the tobacco shop, but didn’t. It was small, dark, cramped, and a little crowded. But it was more like a general store than just a tobacconist. They had a really cool collection of intricately carved antique pipes on display, too. I actually bought something there. No, it wasn’t a cigar. They even had a walk-in humidore where cigar aficionados could hang out and smoke. Hubby hates cigar smoke, so we didn’t even walk into that room.

Instead, we continued to stroll around, checking out the odd collection of shops.

Like the Old Town House of Jerky & Root Beer.

What a weird business. All they sold was… ready?… jerky and root beer.

Many, MANY, varieties of jerky and root beer, yes. But what a very odd and limited business model.

We were all getting pretty hungry by that point. We hadn’t eaten since brunch at Coronado. So we left there and went to the Lucha Libre Gourmet Taco Shop. The place was really busy and small. So we had to wait in a rather slow-moving line. Lucha Libre has gotten quite a bit of press since opening in 2008. And for good reason. The food is fresh, homemade, and flavorful.

The decor is fun and funky, too. You know how I like color!

Hubby HATES waiting in line. Hates it. I’m not a fan either, but I have far more patience than he does.

He was a trooper, though, and didn’t complain. But Shannon and I could tell he wasn’t happy.

I couldn’t help but admire the decor. Bright pink walls jam-packed with images of masked Mexican wrestlers.

And you know what? The food was REALLY good. (Of course I forgot to take a picture of the food!)

We shouldn’t have been surprised. Shannon knows better than to make her father stand in line for mediocre food.

See? He was even smiling after we’d finished stuffing ourselves.

Meanwhile, back at the house, the sun was still shining and the sky was still bluer-than-blue.

Shannon swears San Diego has clouds, aside from that pesky marine layer, but we sure weren’t seeing any.

Day two in San Diego was just as busy as Day one. Our first destination was Coronado Island. We got there relatively early so we could enjoy brunch. And enjoy it we did.

We popped into the Rhinoceros Cafe & Grille on Orange Avenue, which is Coronado’s main drag.

It may look sort of like a bowl of vomit, but it was delicious. It’s an egg concoction with tortillas, onions, peppers, cheese, and potatoes. It’s the only time I remembered to take a picture of my meal.

After brunch we strolled toward the beach, but we walked past this very grand hotel (circa late-1800s ) to get there.

No idea what the story is behind that strange little vehicle.

I also don’t know why the sand sparkles. I mean, I know it contains tiny particles of the mineral mica, but I don’t know why the mica is there. It’s weird. Cool, but unusual.

That shot of the hotel only captures a portion of the enormous complex. It’s referred to by locals as the Hotel Del.

The hotel was huge, but then so was the beach.

Shannon told us we’d be surprised by the differences in the sand on the various beaches. And she was right. I’d never walked in golden sand before.

Contrary to what these pics show, San Diego isn’t always clear and sunny. It is, after all, a beach town. And it is subject to Wet Coast weather whims, one of which is known as a marine layer.

Shannon posted this pic on a previous trip to Coronado. I’m just glad the weather was nice for us.

Before leaving the island, Shannon took us to this cute little park where we got a great view of the city.

From there, it was off to Cabrillo National Monument.

Jeez, I am starting to feel like a tour guide.

I guess I should tell you the significance of the place. That’s where, “in 1542, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo stepped into history as the first European to set foot on what is now the West Coast of the United States.” That’s verbatim from the NPS Cabrillo web site. There’s a lighthouse. And since it sits high atop a hill, there’s a great view.

Annelies, I am still using our national park pass, purchased for our last vacation, which is good through the end of August!

I guess I should also say that Cabrillo is pronounced like “kuh-brie-yo.”

Something funny happened while we were visiting Cabrillo. Well, it’s funny now. Might not be so amusing after I see my cell phone bill. The tide pools, which we HAD to check out, are on the southwestern edge of the peninsula. On our way there from the visitor center, I got a text message from my carrier saying, “Welcome to Mexico. Yadda, yadda, yadda.”

Oh, and, “Pay $5.00 for roaming, please. Plus some awful amount per minute.” I just ignored it ’cause I knew I wouldn’t be calling anyone. That’s right about when our son decided to start texting me.

 

View Larger Map

We were kind of close to Mexico. And at that point, there was nothing but water between us and that southern nation. But we were still on American soil. They need to turn the wattage on their cell phone towers down. I’m just sayin’.

Here are a few more shots from Cabrillo…

 

I love Shannon, but hate standing beside her in pictures. She’s all cute and petite. And I’m just big. I’m not that big, but next to her I look like a giant. Or would that be a giantess?

Anyway, for that picture, I squatted a bit and she stood on tiptoe so we could even things out. That worked for the height issue. I’ll have to figure out some other trick to address the width thing before our next visit.

As for the Creepy Man shot… had any women been walking past, from that position beside the path, he could have looked right up their skirts. Which is why I dubbed the image “Creepy Man.”

I’ll have to do a Wordle for this page to see if “Creepy Man” shows up.

Having that third person along means lots more pictures of me.

Sorry.

Just before we left the area, three pelicans did a fly-by. They are smaller than the pelicans at La Jolla. But I don’t know much about pelicans, so I don’t know why.

So much for sounding like an informative tour guide!

Wanna see more pics (and these same ones over again)? Check out Flickr. There are two different sets.. One for Coronado and the other for Cabrillo.

In my next post, you’ll learn how we ended Day Two. Hopefully you’ll be able to stand the anticipation and contain your excitement until then.

After we left La Jolla, we headed south to see Shannon’s favorite beach.

One of the coolest things about this visit, for me, was getting to see her hangouts and meet some of her friends. Now I’ll have visual images of this stuff when talking to her.

Like when she says, “I went to the beach.”

“Which one?” I’ll ask.

“PB,” she’ll most likely reply. No one in San Diego (aka SD) uses “beach” on a regular basis. They shorten it to “B.” So PB = Pacific Beach.

Anyway… PB is her favorite beach, and for good reason. It’s less crowded than others. Where she enters is actually north of the main part of PB at the end of Tourmaline Road.

That’s where the surfers congregate. There’s a bathroom mere feet from the sand, which is always handy. It’s quiet. There’s a parking lot right there, too.

I took this shot as we were walking south on the beach. You can see there are lots more people down that way.

 

It was actually sort of chilly on the beach. So we didn’t linger long.

I couldn’t resist a few surfer shots, VERY California, right?

That board is so big, another little boy had to help this guy carry it down to the water.

How cool would it be to learn to surf at that age? Something I always wished I would have done.

I can only imagine how much a house like that costs!

After our brief stop at PB, we headed back into the city. We drove through MB (Mission Beach) along the way.

Our next stop was the Gaslamp Quarter. It’s a historic part of town, which is now full of bars, shops, and restaurants. The SD convention center is nearby, too.

 

As with everything else in SD to that point, the Gaslamp Quarter was quite colorful.

It’s also an interesting mix of old and new.

We stopped for drinks and nibbles at an unremarkable place called The Hoppy Pig, people-watched a bit, then moseyed on our way.

You see the name of the bar in that picture?

It presented a very unique opportunity for me.

How many girls do you know who can say they had their picture taken in SD beside a big Dick?

None, I bet.

There are a few more pics from the Gaslamp Quarter at Flickr.

But here’s my favorite…

That’s a real dog. When I saw this lady heading down the sidewalk toward us in all her colorful splendor, nuzzling that cute little puppy, I just HAD to have a picture. She was quite happy to pose for me, too.

We drove back to North Park and hung out at Shannon’s house for a bit. I wasn’t feeling well, so I stayed at the house while the others went out for dinner.

And that ends days one.

It’s easy to see why someone would visit there and then never leave, eh?

Hubby and I are already looking forward to our next visit.