"I thought San Diego must be Heaven on earth...It seemed to me the best spot for building a city I ever saw." - Alonzo Horton, builder of New Town, site of current downtown San Diego, 1877







We are in San Diego for a few days, my husband attending several classes relative to his position as a Safety Director for an electrical contracting business here in southern Cal. I love these little getaways and often go with him on his out of town trips, be they classes or seminars necessary to keep him updated on safety and OSHA regulations, or conducting safety meetings, orientations, etc, with the Company's various line construction crews throughout the state, delivering materials, tools and FP (fireproof) clothing as needed. I value and cherish the hours we spend in conversation on the long drives from one city or location to another, the time we have in the off hours to explore and sightsee all the new places, walking hand in hand through the streets, parks, museums or stroll long stretches of beach, either in comfortable silence or ruminating on the past, present or future.

I appreciated having this opportunity to re-visit San Diego, not just because it is one of Californias most beautiful cities and my favorite of all Californias cities I have visited in the past eight years we've lived in southern Cal, but because it meant spending time with friends who live here as well, having some time to catch up on our lives.


Our first evening in city we settled into a comfy booth at Currant Brasserie, just half a block from our hotel (The Bristol) smack downtown in the Gas Lamp District of the city, with our good friends Linda and Terry who reside in Laguna Beach, a nearby coastal town. It had been a few months since I'd seen Linda and we quickly set about catching up on what we've missed. Currant offers french american cuisine and dinner itself was a delight, beautifully presented flank steak salads for the men, a big bowl of french onion soup with mixed greens on the side for Linda, and a large platter of herbed fries complimenting a cooked-to-perfection, Bison burger pour moi. All too soon the evening drew to a close and we parted ways to meet up another day.


On sunday my most excellent friend, Susie, drove in from Carlsbad (another seaside community just northwest of "Dago") to pick me up at the hotel and wisk me off to the Embarcadero. Susie suggested meeting up at 10 am and amazingly she pulled up in front of the hotel entrance on First Avenue at EXACTLY 10 am! How she managed this feat in a city bustling with traffic is beyond me, must come with being a San Diegan all these years. We spent several hours walking and talking along the waterfront, enjoying coffee and hot Beignets (see the picture of these yummy treats in the picture above) before making our way up to India Street to visit Little Italy. It turned out a huge Farmers Market was in progress and the various and assorted booths and tents selling all manner of goods and foods, seemed to stretch out for miles! Seeing all the fresh, colorful, and bountiful garden produce reminded me again of my husband's and my committment to eat "whole" and healthy. As Susie and I strolled the streets we enjoyed a wonderful, cold, drink concoction of lemonade, pureed cucumber and ginger, finely chopped fresh mint leaves, topped off with seltzer. A large pick covered with cucumber and strawberry slices inserted in the mix added to its healthful appeal. I must remember to make this at home, it was SO refreshing!


Susie dropped me off back at the hotel early afternoon, but we met up again, with our fellas in tow, for dinner that evening at a BJ's Restaurent in La Jolla. We have a BJ's in Bakersfield, so are familiar with the down home, just reliably-good, comfort food offered on its large and varied menu. But this visit was more about the good company and conversation than the food, both which turned out to be most excellent. It was lovely to catch up on our friends' lives, and all too soon, after finished up with cupcake desserts from Sprinkles, just down the street, the evening came to a close.

This has turned out to be a real "foodie" weekend for us...not often do we take the time to endulge on these trips, but besides a long leisurely sunday breakfast, sitting streetside in the misty cool of the San Diego morning, we also met up again with Terry and Linda for lunch yesterday afternoon at Island Prime in Point Loma, a lovely california cuisine restaurent, where we sat outside, directly over the water (again, see picture above...for some reason I simply could not get the download to be positioned in this post where I wanted it to be!) with the most amazing view of the city before us, across the bay. Dining on fresh salads and seafood, laughing and just having fun, and watching all manner and size of boat and ship cruise the waters before us, made for a most excellent adventure shared with good friends.

"Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive." ~Anäis Nin