Week 3 - San Diego

Sunday we went to 9:00 Mass at Saint Brigid's and then went to meet up with Chris and Jason. Jason's Dad and Stepmom Linda had invited us to join them for Sunday brunch at a lovely restaurant called the Brigantine. We had a delicious brunch and the bottomless champagne and mimosas weren't bad either.  From there we went to El Cajon to Jason's Dad's house. It is a beautiful home in the hills and we had a really nice afternoon and visit.  The weather has been unusually warm - more like their summer weather than winter or spring weather.  The high temperature in El Cajon was 92. What a difference from back home. We then dropped Christine back home as she had a soccer game at 5:00. 

Monday was a laid back day at the condo.  We went down to the beach and spent a lazy day reading. At 5:00 we took off and went to watch Christine play soccer. Her team won 13 - 5.  After watching her game we had an enjoyable Japanese dinner at Henitoz (Thanks Grandpa/Grandma/Dad/Mom Spitzer)- we all ordered different things and shared - Shu Mai and Gyoza (pork dumplings), salmon sashimi, miso soup,  sesame ramen, yakitori pork with grated radish ponzu.  For dessert we shared black sesame pudding, coconut pudding with mango, and coconut sherbet.

Chris playing soccer

Her team beat these opponents

Salmon Sashimi at Henitoz

 Sesame Ramen

Shu Mai

Dessert - Yum!

Tuesday we took 3 buses to get to Coronado. We saw the Hotel del Coronado, walked the main street and Silver Strand.  Then we went down to the Ferry Landing.  There we ate BBQ at Little Piggys, (It reminded us of Dinosaurs BBQ) did some window shopping in the stores and then took the ferry/water taxi across to the Convention Center. San Diego really does have a beautiful harbor area. We didn't make it back in time to watch Chris' championship game but they won 6 - 4.  So her teams were the champs in both of the leagues in which she plays although she says that she is getting slower since she is over 30 :).

View of San Diego Harbor from the Coronado Bridge

Hotel del Coronado

Hotel del Coronado

Sand Castle art

What do you think Brayden and Cooper?  Can we do that?



Enjoying Coronado Beach

View of Downtown San Diego from the Ferry Landing

Pork BBQ and corn fritters

Beef Brisket

Ferry Landing

Downtown San Diego

Water Taxi

Coronado Bridge

Wednesday we drove into the mountains and headed to Julian an old mining town.  It is a quaint town although some of the shops were closed since it's still off-season and not the weekend but it was nice anyway.  The area is hillier and greener that San Diego - we were about 5000 feet above sea level.  We had a piece of apple pie at Apple Alley and did some wine tasting at Orfila Winery on our way home.  Stopped at Bare Back for burgers on the way home -  had only eaten the pie for lunch and was starved - the burger tasted wonderful.

Drive on the way to Julian

Julian

Apple Alley

Caramel Pecan Apple Pie and Boysenberry Apple Crumb Pie - Delish!

Julian

It's Spring

lilacs in California

Everything is blooming.

Thursday it was a little cloudy when we woke up so Ron decided to finally work on his taxes - so we are ready when we get home to go to our accountant. Since we aren't early risers we got up and the NCAA Basketball games were already on - I am really having trouble getting used to all sports being on so early. I left Ron to his work and did a little shopping on Garnet Street. We stayed in to watch the games and had pizza for dinner.  

Friday we again ate breakfast watching basketball - unfortunately Duke lost. Had to get rid of all that pent up emotion so we headed out for a hike. We took 3 buses to get there - one of our stops was at San Diego State University and the students were still celebrating the Aztecs win - scalpers even tried to sell us tickets to an upcoming NCAA game in San Diego. After getting off the bus we walked 1.5 miles and arrived at Mission Trails. There we went to the Visitors Center and took a 4 mile hike through cougar and rattlesnake country but ran into neither.  It was a nice day but the walk back up the hill to the bus stop wasn't so much fun.  On the way back we got off in the heart of PB (Pacific Beach) and went to the Catamaran Hotel and the Atoll Restaurant.  We had a great seafood dinner and then walked the rest of the way home.  So we probably did at least another 8 miles walking today.

Student Union At San Diego State University - Go Aztecs!

Neighborhood near Mission Trails

Mission Trails - largest park in San Diego

Views from Mission Trails

San Diego River

View in Mission Trails

Grinding Stone - used by the Kumeyaay indians

Park Wildlife

View from Atoll Restaurant

Seafood Pot Pie

Saturday we decided to change it up a little and go for a bike ride down the boardwalk.  We rode about 7 miles and came back to the condo to meet up with Chris and Jason.  The four of us walked back down to beach and had a late lunch at the Green Flash  - oysters rockefeller, ceviche, fish tacos, etc. - and then some ice cream on the way back.  Watched some more basketball - too bad Syracuse - and called it a day.

View along the boardwalk during our bike ride

Jason and Chris under Crystal Pier

Lunch at the Green Flash - with Green Flash cocktails

Just one more week left but we have crossed most of the things off of our list so we'll update you on our last week before we hit the road for the Grand Canyon and home. We'll leave you with some of the beautiful views of spring we've enjoyed in San Diego.

Views of Spring in San Diego