It all began with a fly fishing excursion. Thursday, Ben and I rented a 14′ skiff complete with a small outboard motor with which to ply the waters of San Diego bay. The output of the morning ended up being fun and a sunburn, but no fish. Quote of the day: the fishing was great, but the catching needs a little work!. In the afternoon, we met up with Daryle and Todd, who had come in on the midday flight. after Barbara finished with work, Ben, Jane, Daryle, Todd, Barbara and I all went out for dinner at Salazar’s. The remainder of the party (Jeff, Miles, Mark, Randy and Ryan) got in a little late on a connection from Denver, and by that time, I was all that was left of the welcoming committee. After dropping the guys off at their hotel, everyone settled in for a good night’s sleep. Breakfast in the morning took place at my favorite spot, Jimmy Carter’s.
The trip South to Ensenada was punctuated by several drink stops along the way. I think Jeff had been waiting all year to get back to Poco Cielo, but when we arrived, the gate was locked and no one was home. We grudgingly settled on the place next door, which was charging three times the price for margaritas. They turned out to be three times the size, so I guess that would count as a wash. The patio overlooking the Pacific was just as sunny and warm, but something just seemed to be lacking. We managed to force down some margaritas nevertheless.
By the time we parked the van at the hotel in Ensenada, I had a lot of catching up to do in the drunkard department. That problem was soon rectified with several trips to Hussong’s scattered among an impromptu soak in the hot tub at the hotel. Fish tacos were consumed with wild abandon and fun was had by one and all.
Race day dawned clear and sunny – a welcome departure from the usual ‘June gloom’ of this time of year. Even though race participation was down due to high gas prices and fears of mal hombres in the desert, it was still a very cool event. Everyone picked up the required t-shirts, more fish tacos, and then we all went for a harbor boat tour, before finally turning northward again.
We stopped off at Poco Cielo again on the drive back to make sure the place hadn’t opened up, but the doors were still locked tight. After contemplating the idea of scaling the wall and enjoying the patio dining anyway, we finally agreed to try another of the local establishments at nearby K-58. We were not disappointed, as the food and drinks turned out to be good and modestly priced. I still think Jeff was slightly discouraged at not having the opportunity to return to our favorite stop from last year, but as they say, you can’t go back.
The border patrol agent couldn’t seem to find the humor in Todd attempting to use his Costco membership card as identification to cross back to the United States. In the end, he allowed us to pass without too much trouble (we did have a van full of open containers after all), and we made it back to our respective rooms by about 10:30 Saturday night.
On Sunday, after a wonderful buffet brunch at Marie Callendar’s (Barbara and I were flying blind here, as we hadn’t yet been, but it turned out really well), we drove to the top of Mount Helix in San Diego and took in the 360 degree view of the surrounding area. In the afternoon, most of us took the tour of the aircraft carrier USS Midway. I had already been in 2004 when the ‘museum’ first opened to the public in SD bay, but a lot had been added, and everyone had a really good time. Afterward, we met up with the ones who hadn’t opted for the tour, and enjoyed dinner at Mona Lisa’s Italian restaurant in Little Italy. We had been aiming for Filippi’s, but the line was already snaking out the door. Mona Lisa’s is about 98% as good as Filippi’s, and about 20% as busy. We wrapped the evening by sharing pints at Princess Pub in front of the fireplace, sharing stories from the long weekend.
Monday was sort of a cool down day spent relaxing around SD and shuttling folks to the airport for flights back eastward. Barbara, her parents and I did a little shopping at one of the new ‘concept’ malls and had dinner at one of my favorite lunchtime haunts – Noodle House in National City.
On Tuesday, Ben and Jane’s last full day in CA, we decided to take a drive to LA to visit Bob Marriott’s fly fishing shop. We combined that with a tour of the Paramount studio. I kept thinking I was seeing celebrities walk by, but I couldn’t recognize any of them, so I can’t be sure. Probably just good looking grips and best boys.
For our final meal together, the four of us enjoyed the excellent Indian buffet at Ker – Little India on Black Mountain Road.
I really had a hard time going back to work on Wednesday. I seriously need to start taking vacation time that sucks more, so it’s not so objectionable to return to my job.
