After we dropped Shannon’s clothes at the house, we went to the beach. There are several beaches by the way. The first one she elected to show us was La Jolla Cove. That’s pronounced like “la HOY uh” and NOT “la holla.”
La Jolla
La Jolla, which happens to be the furthest beach, is only 15 miles from Shannon’s house.
Her favorite beach, which is Pacific Beach, is only about 12 miles away. Mission Beach is 10.5 miles. Ocean Beach, her least favorite, is only 10 miles away. The beach on Coronado Island is just eight miles away.
Sick, right?
Mike at La Jolla
There’s the Hubby. Wondering what he’s looking at? Well, I’ll tell you. I thought it was a tide pool. But he said it was just seaweed and stuff.
We LOVE tide pools.
I could try and explain a tide pool, but I don’t feel like getting all scientific. So I’ll just provide this link and then tell you that they are essentially pools of water visible at low tide that are filled with critters.
Sea Anemones, Crabs, and Snails in Tide PoolShannon and Hubby Looking at Tide Pool
It’s fun looking at the various critters. We could have stayed for hours, but we were parked in a two-hour spot and still had lots to see.
There’s not much of a beach, relative to East Coast beaches anyway. But what is there is awesome. The town of La Jolla (link leads to someone else’s photo) is perched atop a rocky cove that has tide pools AND seals, sea lions, pelicans, cormorants, a wide variety of seagulls, and people.
La Jolla is a beach town, but it’s an upscale beach town.
La Jolla Brain Cloud
Hubby and Shannon
Clean (and cold!) Water
Most folks don’t swim without wetsuits. Not for long periods (more than a few minutes). Water temperatures range between 66 and 72°F at peak, which is around the first week of September.
Shannon has never been in the water past her ankles since moving to San Diego.
Seagull
Sea Lion (you can tell because it has visible ear flaps)
Cool Rocks
Pelican
Pelicans (a couple) and Cormorants
Another Seagull
Following are my favorite shots from La Jolla…
Man's Best Friends
Bathing Beauty (she looked up at just the right second!)
Half-full Wine Glass
Me
Shannon took that last picture. Hubby said to her, “I’m so glad you’re here.” That’s because he’s usually the one taking pictures of me, often standing beside odd stuff.
There are more pics. But rather than post them all here, I uploaded them to Flickr. If you’d like to see them, you’ll have to visit my Flickr site.
Is one of my favorites your favorite, too? Or would you choose one of the others? The weather was great for picture taking!
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.
State of California
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.
Shannon's Neighborhood is North Park
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.
Shannon's Neighborhood
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.
The biggest aloe plant I've ever seen. (3.5' tall x 5' wide)
Lucky's Breakfast Restaurant
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.
Spotted In a Store Window
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!
Yep, another repeat. But I really like this picture.
We’re back from our visit with Shannon.
North Park Reflections
Mike and I had great fun hanging out with Shannon and exploring her world.
San Diego is gorgeous. The weather is perfect. It’s easy to see why many folks who visit never return home.
View of Street from Shannon's House
That palm tree view is what greeted us every morning. That’s the sidewalk from Shannon’s cottage leading toward Kansas Street.
The blue sky is typical, once the early morning marine layer burns off. I don’t think it was ever gray after about 9:00 AM. Oh, and the temps never once climbed out of the 70s. Saturday evening I had to wear a jacket to walk to the neighborhood yogurt shop. Really.
Me, Mike, and Shannon at Ocean Beach
Even if it is far away from us, San Diego is the perfect place for Shannon. Our visit was far too short. I’ll have more pics to share soon.
I had to claw my way out of the no-blog-post rut to wish her a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
She’s back in San Diego. 🙁
Sending virtual hugs your way, Shan. I hope you have a fabulous day!
As for my girlfriend getaway… it was awesome. It’s so much fun hanging out with the girls. Especially when you’ve known them for so long.
Carol, Kathy, and Tracey
They were more than happy to pose for pictures as they’ve had quite enough of our famous bathing suit photo.
Girlfriends at Work
We can be goofy, but we can also be serious. Very serious. We were hard at work in that shot.
Know what we were doing?
Raw Gingerbread Men
Making gingers, as Tracey calls them. They’re gingerbread men to most folks. But Granny Trace calls them gingers. And it was her party. So that’s what we called them, too!
Carol's Gingers (cooked)
Those are Carol’s gingers, hot out of the oven. If you look closely, you might spot a thing or two that make a couple of these guys uniquely Carol’s.
Fuzzy Ginger
I call that big ginger lady of Carol’s, “Fuzzy Ginger.” Not because she’s fuzzy, but because she looks like Mr. Bill (of Saturday Night Live fame). The only reason I even remember Mr. Bill is ’cause my blog friend Rachael, aka Fuzzy Galore, has a Mr. Bill doll strapped to one of her motorcycles.
Fuzzy, if that was my ginger lady, I’d pack her in a box and ship her right to you!
The gingers looked a bit gray right out of the oven. But once sprayed with a protective coating of polyurethane, they browned-up nicely.
Maybe one day, before we take our tree down, I’ll remember to get some pics of my new gingers on our tree.
I have lots of pics from the weekend to share, but very little time. So I will leave you with two of my favorites.
That’s the cute little chicken coop at Tracey’s house, which really is called Turtle Tree Farms. Tracey loves her chickens. And she LOVES being a farming mama.
That’s one of Tracey’s roosters. His name is Big Joe. Tracey says he’s a rapist. Jess, I told her about those chastity belt thingies you made for your hens. She could sure use a few.
More pics to come one day. Sorry folks, but duty calls.
Alice the foster puppy was here. She is a sweet little thing, but a LOT of work. It really was like having a baby around.
Me and Alice
In addition to having baby Alice here, Hubby and I have tried to ramp-up the house sprucing-up activities. Painting, getting rid of excess stuff, painting, planting flowers, painting… get the picture?
Then there was Shannon leaving…
We’ve known for months that she’d be leaving for California today. To live, not to visit. She’s been living with us since August 2010 when she returned from her round-the-world trip.
Neither of us wanted her to leave. Of course, we didn’t tell her that. She’s been wanting to move to the West coast for some time. So this is a new beginning for her. But it’s a very sad ending for us. It’s been lots of fun having Shannon around. Hubby and I are going to miss her something awful. I foresee lots of flights to California for us.
Shannon's Last Night: Hubby, Me, Amy, and Shannon
This morning, Shannon and Amy, with Hubby’s help, crammed their luggage and a few belongings into Shannon’s tiny little Smart car and away they went. They took Alice with them. Why Alice?
Alice is going to her forever home in St. Louis, Missouri. When I first heard of a potential adopter there, the thought did cross my mind that getting a puppy that far would be a challenge. But this adopter is perfect for Alice. It’s definitely the right fit. But how to get a puppy 800+ miles?
That’s when the lightbulb went off…
Shannon and Amy planned their route months ago. And guess what was always planned to be the first stop? St. Louis, Missouri. It’s almost as if Alice ending up here was completely meant to be.
Alice Transport
So Alice got loaded into the Smart car, too.
And off they went.
Yes, I’ll miss the puppy. But I can’t even begin to put into words how much we’ll miss Shannon.
Until this past weekend, not counting the couple of times I drove through, I’d never visited New York City. Either had Amy. Since Shannon will be moving to the West Coast very soon, we all agreed that a girls’ weekend would be a fabulous idea. So off to Manhattan we went.
I shot over 400 pictures. I’ll share a few here.
Flatiron Building
This very cool building was only a few blocks from the loft apartment we rented in Chelsea.
Got a Big Head?
It wasn’t far at all from the park with the giant head. Which I only posted here because I had to tell you what I heard some kid say… “Mom! Mom! I think I might know where the rest of the body is!” (I did not stick around to hear his answer.)
Delicate Mix of Old and New
One of the things I found most intriguing is how very old, historic buildings (usually short) are sandwiched in among the newer, sleeker, and much larger high-rises. I’m pretty sure that old building in the center of the frame is the New York Public Library.
St. Patrick's Cathedral
This is a great example of old sandwiched in with new. The Cathedral of St. Patrickis the largest Gothic cathedral in the US. The spires rise 330 feet from the street. But, because the city has grown around it, it looks quite small. I love stained glass, so if you’d like to see the many shots I captured inside St. Pat’s, be sure to look at one of the slide shows.
Tall Building
We saw lots and lots of tall buildings. This one was at Rockefeller Center. I should probably know the name of it, but I don’t.
Times Square by Day
We visited Times Square midday because that’s close to where we met Ralph and Robin for lunch. Shannon insisted we return at night when it was all lit up. I like colorful spectacles, so that sounded like a plan to me.
Animated M&Ms
For some reason, I really liked the giant, animated M&Ms in Times Square.
Grand Central Station
Inside St. Patrick's Cathedral
Flags and Buildings
City Street
The Most Colorful Family Ever
This family just made me smile. The Mom’s crazy-colorful boots caught my eye first. Then the husband’s sweater. The daughter in all the lime green added another dimension. And then came the son (running toward us in the middle of the frame). Not even the Dad’s backpack is a solid color. How cool is that?
