Welcome to the Hotel California

Howdy everyone.

Sorry no post last night. It has certainly been a packed weekend and we had a lot of fun.

Yesterday we changed up our beach scene a little bit and went to Del Mar for the day. Susan told me I would like it, and she was right. It was beautiful, and was definitely a more unique place than OB or PB. We drove toward the beach from the top of a hill, and going down it, the beach just off to the left of the highway looked spectacular. The sun was shining, the sand looked bright, and the water had an incredible green hue to it. We parked on a windy downhill street, and took some beaten path under the bridge down to the beach. We cut through shrubs, up rocks, and by the end of it I felt like I had just illegally crossed the border into Mexico.

The cool part about driving through the area, which included the Torrey Pines golf course and is pretty classy, was how many bicyclers were in the area. It was a beautiful Saturday morning, and the bike lanes were filled with groups of men and women riding up and down these intense hills. No where on Long Island or in the tri-state area have I ever seen so many bikers together, besides maybe for a major ride or competition. I also see runners all up and down the beach when we go. I'm not sure if it's just that I'm paying attention to it more out here, or if it is really just more prevalent here on the West Coast. I tend to think the latter.

Well anyway, back to Del Mar Beach. We ended up at what apparently was the surfer end of the beach. The waves were pretty close together, the breeze was strong, and the current in the ocean was intense, so it was pretty rough in the ocean. Susan and I took a long walk down the beach, taking in all the sights around. It was a real pretty walk, as we wandered down the beach, with 20 foot cliffs on one side and the ocean on the other. On the way back to the blanket and Linz, we got to walk on the upper path and look out over everything. The whole trek took about two hours and we took some nice photos along the way you can check out.

Last night I convinced the girls to go with me to a Padres game after quitting the beach for the day. We left late to go downtown, and wouldn't ya know it, there was actually traffic getting to the game. Everyone told me how easy it was to get tickets, how they never sell out, blah blah blah. Well apparently this time none of that applied. Of course, it was a Saturday night against the Cardinals, so we actually had to pay some money for seats. I felt bad for the girls, but they let me have my fun. I can't complain too much though. For $34, we were on the lower level. We were down in the right field corner right next to the foul pole, but we were still on the lower level. A hell of a lot cheaper than that would be at a game in the Bronx. Unfortunately, Chris Carpenter was on the mound for the Cards and was dealing. The Padres only had 3 hits for the night I think, and they lost 7-0.

After the game we tried to find a place to go out downtown, but finding parking was IMPOSSIBLE. I honestly could not find a thing in the area of downtown we wanted to go out in. Thirty minutes in, I said "to hell with it," and we gave up. We ended up at Gordon Beirsch for a couple drinks before calling it a night.

Today was another packed day.

To start things off, we went down to Don Tommy's, a Mexican place the girls swear by. The food was cooked fresh and was pretty delicious. The tortillas were homemade, soft, and a delicious addition that made the tacos and burritos even better. Then we headed for Balboa Park and had no idea what to expect. The park is huge and beautiful. Within the park are about 8 museums, 10 gardens, and beautiful buildings to house everything. The famous San Diego Zoo is also within the confines of Balboa Park (another stop on our list this week).

The Memphis Crew spent the afternoon walking around the park, checking out gardens, taking pictures, and having fun. We saw cactus, rose, and tropical gardens, and a bunch of other stuff I've left out. Susan and I had a bit of an unfortunate run in with a cactus, but we won't go into it...And yes, we're fine. Linz said all afternoon she wanted face paint and luckily we happen to come across one. Susan and her decided to get some "tattoos". It was another sunny day and a nice break from being on the beach every day. By the end we were exhausted, and threw down a blanket on the grass and rested our legs for a bit.

Linz and I decided tonight would be a good night to fulfill our sushi craving in San Diego, so we set off for a place that knew how to roll raw fish in rice well (not the easiest thing to search for in a city which is a major port and restaurants everywhere). We ended up over the bridge in Coronado for some dinner, and ice cream at Moo Time. In between we headed over to one of the most famous hotels in California, if not America:

The Hotel Del Coronado.

It was built in about 1888 I believe and is an old fashion, wooden, aged, and beautiful hotel. We walked all over the place. Down by the beach, in the lobby, through the stores in the basement, we checked the whole place out. My grandparents suggested I be sure and visit the hotel, and I'm definitely glad we did. It is a pretty spectacular place. The accommodations and rooms they offer are just unbelievable. If only I had enough money to stay there and enjoy that place. A boy can dream, right?

The night was capped off with some ice cream from Moo Time and then a trip home after a very full day.

I put up some new photos from the past couple days, mostly because certain people threatened me *cough* Derek *cough* to "add some more excitement" to the photo album. Hope these work for you, D Rock. I'll have some captions up tomorrow, so if you want, hold off on looking and there will be more context soon.

Hope ya'll enjoy them!

Quick Hits
*****
Congratulation to Greg for hitting more cars than hit him. He won his demolition derby this week and is advancing on to the finals! The car apparently only needs a few fixes and it would still be drivable. Nice going.

D Rock passed the first part of his CPA exam. Congratz, bro. It almost makes spending the whole summer "studying" and not taking a road trip to California with me worth it...Almost. Only two more parts to go.

How about them Yankees? Another good series against the Sawks. Guess those first eight didn't really matter, eh? I expected more from A.J., but I guess C.C. did enough. Lets keep on rolling and take this into the playoffs. They are playing great ball right now.

Lastly, another good episode of Entourage this week. I love the stuff about buying guns and knives. Drama is ridiculous.