Yeah, I'm still posting about my long-ago vacation : ) But where to begin?
Arriving in San Diego was so exciting! Getting from the airport to the condo involved driving right past downtown and across the San Diego Bay on the breathtaking Coronado Bridge, so the sightseeing began immediately. We also caught glimpses of the beautiful beach and the historic Hotel Del Coronado, which was next door to the condo. And speaking of the condo, check out the view!
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| View from the condo |
We were greeted by this view as soon as we walked in the door, but we didn't stay to enjoy it long that first evening - we were hungry for the Mexican restaurant down the block! It did not disappoint either. Why oh why can't decent Mexican food make it to the Midwest???
After dinner we took our first walk down to the beach, just in time for sunset. Beautiful!
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| Sunset at the beach |
The next morning, for our first "official" activity of the trip, we went to a service at All People's Church. Many of the leaders from our college ministry in Texas moved to San Diego to start this church in 2007. Since we spent 2 Sundays in San Diego, we were able to attend twice. It was a great experience both times. It was awesome to see how the church has taken off in the last 5 years! The services were energetic and refreshing. It was also fun seeing several familiar faces that we hadn't seen in a while.
After church we enjoyed a California favorite - In-N-Out Burger! Not worth all the insanity when they opened a few locations in Texas last year but still a must for any California trip.
We spent the afternoon doing what we would do many more afternoons of the trip - reading, napping, and just being together in the shade at the pool right on the beach. It was so relaxing and never got old! A few times, we got to watch kids taking surfing lessons and I don't know what was more entertaining - the kids or their parents who were trying to get the whole thing on video! We also frequently saw Navy jets fly overhead to and from the nearby base, and one day we watched a helicopter perform a practice exercise over the ocean right in front of us. And we watched a Caterpillar wheel loader collect all the washed up seaweed and bury it in a huge hole in the sand. When we got chilly we simply moved out of the shade of the umbrella; when we got hot we took a dip in the pool. Once we went down to the beach and built a sandcastle (and I got extremely sunburned, unfortunately). We
attempted to get in the ocean a couple times, but it was cold! I also read 2 books. First I found the "romantic comedy mystery"
Our Husband on the Amazon recommended list. I thought it was entertaining enough for a vacation but not great. Then I pulled out an old favorite,
Rocket Boys, which is the autobiography of NASA engineer Homer Hickam and the inspiration for the movie
October Sky. Such an interesting and inspiring book! I enjoyed it just as much this time as I did years ago when I first read it. Ah, life at the beach!
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| View from our poolside lounge chairs |
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| We are true artists, aren't we? |
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So the weather can't be perfect all the time;
75 and cloudy was a little too cold for me in my swimsuit! |
We ended that busy first day with dinner at the condo and Night 1 of what turned out to be a weeklong movie marathon (we watched Harry Potter 7 and 8, Inception, and the most recent X-Men).
Ah yes, and just one last thing we enjoyed just about every day: SLEEP! I think I averaged 10 hours a night and that doesn't even include naps. We kept saying "it's ok if we go to bed really early; our bodies are still on Central Time!" but of course we had no trouble sleeping late, even on California time : ) Now that's what I call a vacation!!
