The Traveling Londons

San Diego

Sorry for the posting lapse.  Internet connection here is not very good and I don't get it at all on my computer.

On Monday we left the Happiest Place on Earth (TM) and headed South for the beautiful city of San Diego.  We stopped for lunch in La Jolla and walked around the beachfront for a bit.  That evening we headed out from our hotel to explore the area.  We're staying in Seaport Village which is within walking distance from just about everything.  We headed off in the general direction of Petco Park to see if we could easily walk there for the games and discovered that we can.  We ate dinner near the Park at a great steak restaurant.

On Tuesday we first drove out to Coronado, walked around the Del Coronado Hotel and the beachfront, and then had lunch on the beach.  After that we drove to Balboa Park, walked around for a bit, and then went to the zoo for a bit.  We had a lot of fun but it has been very hot and humid here lately so that's slowed us down a bit.  In fact, yesterday set the record for the hottest day in San Diego history.  It's not like we're that unused to extreme heat but around here there is not a lot of air conditioning (since it's generally not needed) so we didn't get a lot of relief from the heat.

Tuesday night was game one of the A's-Padres series.  We went early to the stadium and had a drink at an outdoor bar right outside the park.  The bar was filled with mostly baseball fans and a good half of them were A's fans!  The park is just beautiful.  Brand new and nicely blended into the downtown landscape (some original buildings were integrated into the design of the stadium).  After we entered the park we took a little walk around and then camped out behind the visitors dugout on the first base line.  Oops!  Here the visitors are on the third base line!  We quickly moved over and were rewarded with a photo op with two of our favorite players--Eric Chavez and Nick Swisher.  Unfortunately I had forgotten my good camera and all we had were the camera phones.  We were trying to take  a picture with Nick Swisher but my camera phone refused to cooperate so we slunk off without a picture after taking up way too much of Nick Swisher's time (he was nice about it though).  We decided to try to go back and were able to get  back up there and finally get the picture.  Whew!  We went to our seats in the third deck right behind home plate and found us sitting next to a bunch of A's fans.  One of them turned to us and said "Hey!  You're the cell phone people!"  How embarrasing, but also pretty funny!  There were a ton of A's fans at the game and there were more than a fair share of "Let's Go Oakland" chants.  Pretty cool!  I heard one Padres fan walk in and say "Man, there are a lot of A's fans here!"  Unfortunately the A's lost but there's always another day...

On Wednesday we walked around the waterfront and took a bay cruise.  Afterwards we ate lunch over the water in Seaport Village.  Later we walked all over downtown.  This is  a great, walkable town and we're really enjoying it.  (Although at every corner the pedi-cabs assult us, trying to get us to ride rather than walk even though it's not necessary!).  In the early afternoon we found ourselves in the vicinity of Petco Park again, just walking around.  I looked up at someone walking next to us and it was Huston Street!  We had been joking about running into one of the A's walking around and there it happened!  He was deep into a phone conversation so we didn't bother him but we did follow him a bit (though I have to repeat that we are not professional stalkers).  We were hoping that he would end his conversation so we could say "hi" but he did not and he eventually wandered into the stadium.  Soon after we saw Bobby Crosby crossing the street to get to the stadium.  He was, conveniently, also on the phone which I'm sure is on purpose to stop people from approaching them.  I was at first upset that we weren't wearing any A's gear but then realized that if we were there was NO way that Huston would have casually walked next to us like he did.

Before tonight's game we had a quick drink in a bar the overlooks the ballpark.  That was very cool!  Here are pics of the ballpark from the bar and the bar from the ballpark:

Tomorrow we leave for home and expect to arrive home on Friday.  I'm anxious to see our backyard as they were supposed to put the finishing touches on it this week!

Oh, I didn't mention the A's-Padres game tonight?  Like I said, tomorrow's another game....

Disneyland, Day Two

We made the most of our Park Hopper passes today and bopped back and forth between Disneyland and California Adventure (but spent the bulk of the day at Disneyland).  Today was very, very crowded (which was what we initially expected when we were crazy enough to decide to go to Disneyland on a summer weekend).  Even given that, we were still able to go on many, many rides with pretty minimal wait times (only once using the FastPass option) even though the crowds were just insane.   

Just before lunchtime we found ourselves over in the Frontierland/Adventureland/New Orleans Square area with the intent to have lunch and see the show at the Golden Horseshoe Review.  We were there at the precisely wrong time for the show but happened to notice a very long line snaking around the lagoon.  Being the curious (nosy) types that we are we asked what the fuss was all about (because if there was a long line it must be something really good!)  We were told that it was for the Pirates of the Carribbean ride.  Yes!  The very ride that was not supposed to be open until tomorrow (and the very ride for which we briefly considered extending our park passes for one more day in order to ride) was open for a "preview".  The line was forever long, snaking out of the normal Pirates of the Caribbean area and around the lagoon but it moved so quickly that we waited no more than 20-30 minutes.  I think they ran extra boats and were packing every boat in to capacity to get things moving along.  We asked for and received a front row  seat so we got to have the best seat in the house and didn't have to share it.   The ride was very, very  good.  They cleaned it up quite a bit and interjected "Captain Jack Sparrow" at key intervals that were funny without being eye-rolling (at least to me an admittedly huge "Pirates of the Carribbean" movie fan.)

Tomorrow we'll sleep off our Disneyland hangover and head off to San Diego.

But before I go, the question of the day:  Do we tell our children we actually went to
Disneyland while they were at summer camp? Or do I delete these blog entries before they return?

Disneyland!

We left Santa Barbara relatively early this morning and arrived at the Disneyland Hotel before noon. We weren't able to check into our room yet but we did get our Disneyland tickets so off we went!

We knew prior to arriving that Disneyland would be closing early tonight for a private event but what we did not know was that the event was the world premiere of the Pirates of the Caribbean sequel! They had the red carpet circling the center square and ending at the ride itself. They had a huge movie screen set up in the lagoon/on Tom Sawyer's island and bleacher seating in New Orleans Square facing the screen for the lucky invitees. This did mean that it was hard to get around in that area and that that side of the park closed very early (since the event itself was closed to the public). However, we found out after we got there that while you couldn't enter the park after 5:00p you could stay and gather around the red carpet area if you could find space. When we got to the park just after noon most of the prime space was already taken! Wow, these were dedicated fans willing to weather the heat to catch a glimpse of Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Kiera Knightly, etc.! We took a quick look at all the spectacle with all the news and paparazzi but headed out to enjoy the park since we only had a limited time to do so. Unfortunately, the biggest consequence of all the hoopla was that the Pirates of the Caribbean ride (which has been undergoing renovations) was making its debut tonight for the party invitees and thus would not be open to the public until Monday. Boo!! Around 4:30p we ended up near the red carpet again and hung out for a few minutes (albeit not that closely since all the prime spots were taken but still closely enough to see what was happening). We briefly debated whether it would be worth it to stay but wisely decided that it would likely be a good two hours before the stars made an appearance and was it worth it to stand and swelter to glimpse Orlando Bloom's ear or Kiera Knightly's chin for a few seconds (even as nice an ear and chin as they may be?) We decided we'd watch it on the news tonight instead and pretend we were there.

Thus, we headed back to the hotel to check in and then ventured off to Downtown Disney and California Adventure, both new experiences for each of us. We basically just did an exploratory tour of both areas and will go back tomorrow to see more. The crowds haven't been as bad as I feared given that we're here on a summer weekend. The weather has also been OK. It's pretty (but not obsessively) hot and uncharacteristically humid but because of the thin cloud layer we aren't suffering from the direct scorching sun. A few degrees cooler and/or a drop in humidity tomorrow would be perfect!

Update: Our room service guy just told us that Johnny Depp (but not Orlando Bloom??!) is staying at the hotel tonight but noone is allowed to know where exactly he is staying. Well, the room directly across from us is called the "Presidential Suite" so we may be engaging in some stalking later...

Another Update: Apparently there is not only a "Presidential Suite" on our floor but also the "Pirates of the Carribbean Suite" (!!) as well! That must be it! Jay is wandering the hall with the ice bucket as his prop right now! Wait! There is fireworks going off right now which means that the premiere must be ending now and that he can't be expected back for a little bit yet. Jay will have to go out again later for more ice...

Santa Barbara

We had a very nice and relaxing day.  We spent the morning and early afternoon exploring State Street.  While there were still a few familiar landmarks, so much of State Street has changed that I felt like I was exloring a new city!

After lunch we drove out to UCSB.  After we took our chances at parking on campus without a permit we ventured off towards the UCen  We arrived literally minutes after it closed  so we were unable to enter either the UCen or the bookstore which I was was really looking forward to visiting.  They closed at 3pm today; I guess because they are between terms.  Instead, we took a walk around campus and there were so many new buildings that I actually lost my way around at one point!  Among all the new construction was the dorm I used to live in.  There were construction barricades all around it and we weren't able to get close to it at all.

Tomorrow we embark upon the portion of our trip entitled "My parents did what while I was at summer camp??!"  We are spending the next two days at Disneyland and California Adventure.  When we leave there we are traveling to San Diego and are going to attend all three A's-Padres games at Petco Park.  Ssshhh...don't tell our kids!

Return to Santa Barbara

We awoke  today to a partial ocean view.  Victory!  Jay got up early to watch the U.S. lose in the World Cup.  He didn't do this intentionally.  We received a wake-up call at 6:30am (which we did not, of course, request).  Soon after he decided that since he was up anyway he'd watch the game.  The U.S. lost 2-1 and I slept blissfully on.

We checked out of the hotel and drove down to Solvang, arriving about 11:00am or so.  Solvang is a great, intersting town.  It's a (somewhat) kitschy Dutch sister-city that is touristy without being overly Disneyland- or Las Vegas-esque.  Probably since much of it is authentic (lacking in authenticity primarly  in that it is not actually Denmark).  We walked around town for a bit and had lunch there.  It was very hot so we didn't overstay but did enjoy our time there nevertheless.  One final thing:  I remember as a kid finding a Russian nesting doll in Solvang one year and looking year after year for another one each time I want back.  I never found one.  I have to interject to say that I had no idea at the time that this was a "Russian" nesting doll.  At the time I thought this was something unique to either Solvang and/or Denmark thus I kept looking for one year after year there.  Today I actually found a Russian nesting doll in one of the shops!  I didn't buy it but it made me feel good to find one there after all these years!

After Solvang we made the over-the-mountain trip to Santa Barbara.  I was hoping that this was the route that took us through the flower farms but it was not.  It was still a nice drive though.  In the early afternoon we checked into the Fess Parker resort and then took a walk down the beach and onto Stearn's Wharf where we hung out and watched the fishermen (-people) for a bit.  I've known of this resort for ages (since the Red Lion era at least) so it's neat to  finally be staying here after all this time.  It's a very nice resort with impressive grounds.  We have a great room and a fantastic big balcony overlooking East Beach (which I'm sure will have a fantastic, unheard of West Coast sunrise over the ocean tomorrow morning if I can manage to get myself out of bed at that hour).  That said, the bathroom here is decidedly a three-star bathroom in a four-star hotel (meaning no great bathtub for me!)  Finally, for as much as we are paying here, it seems that we are being nickel and dimed for extras (bicycle rental, water bottles) when we are paying quite the pretty penny for the room itself.  Still, it's beautiful here and we're happy so how can we complain?

Tomorrow our plan is to explore State Street and the campus.  Two old haunts.  I can't wait!!

Down The Coast

We spent yesterday mostly in the town of Carmel walking around downtown, eating lunch, and watching the ocean.  It was quite warm in the valley but very cold downtown due to the heavy marine layer.  So cold that Jay actually bought a sweatshirt (and if you know Jay, you know that it must have been cold if he actually had to buy a sweatshirt!).  I can't tell you how excited I was to find a Lush store in Carmel!  I discovered this store in Whistler two years ago and immediately fell in love.  I just love my bath products and this store is the best!  Since we were staying at a place with a fantastic bath tub, I was in heaven!

Our great people-watching moment of the day consisted of watching a family's picnic spot on the beach being ravaged by seagulls and crows.  OK, I suppose we were technically bird-watching and not peolple-watching but it was just as fun.  The family left their spot on the beach for a walk and the birds descended almost immediately.  It was fascinating watching them ferret out the food.  They knew just what to do. Find the bags that smell good.  Drag them for a bit.  Wait for something to fall out and then...pounce!  And call your friends over!  This was a good half-hour's entertainment for us (read: easily amused).  Lest you think we fell into the same category as the Seinfeld gang who watched a mugging and laughed (the analogy Jay made) we were up on a bluff and there was not much we could have done to help anyway.  That said, we acutally stayed there longer than we might have in anticipation of the reaction of the family when they returned (at this point their trash and utensils and tupperware were scattered all over.  The birds were frantically trying to beak their way into the tupperware!).  To my disappointment, the family was very matter of fact when the returned and simply retreived everything.  I was really hoping for some ranting and raving and chasing of birds!

Today we checked out of the Bernadus Lodge and began our trip down the coast.  I really have to give big props to the Bernadus Lodge.  The room and grounds were excellent but what was really impressive and above and beyond what we've seen in the past was the service.  We received personalized attention from the moment we drove up.  We were welcomed with a glass of wine before we even got to our room.  Once in the room all the refreshments were "free" (read: included) inluding two bottles of wine (they're owned by a vineyard), chips and salsa, Coke and Diet Coke, lots of water, coffee, tea, etc.  But if the specific selections weren't to your preference you could simply swap out what was there for what you wanted (like if you preferred Coke over Pepsi, for example).  When we called for our car upon checkout, the valet retuned our car with two cold water bottles in the cup holders.  Nice!  Tips were also included.

After leaving Carmel Valley, we headed down Highway 1 and arrived at Nepenthe in Big Sur just after 11:00 (if you've never been, you should go sometime).  Nepenthe wasn't quite open yet so we chose to eat at the Cafe Kevah (just below Nepenthe) which was serving brunch.  The view wasn't spectacular because of the heavy marine layer but the food was excellent.  I had perhaps the best scrambled eggs I've ever had (and that's saying a lot since both my mom and I make excellent scrambled eggs!)  They added parmigiano reggiano which was SO GOOD and I'll have to try sometime.

After noon sometime we stopped at an Elephant Seal habitat.   At this time of year the young males are molting and there were dozens and dozens of them laying (lying?) side by side on the beach.  The viewing point is very close to the beach so we had some amazing views of these big beasts.  Most of them were just sleeping but a few were bellowing to each other and that was fun to see.  I took some pictures but stupidly forgot my cable at home so cannot upload the pictures just yet.  You'll just have to imagine for the time being.

We arrived in San Simeon literally minutes before the 1:50 main tour of Hearst Castle was to begin so we hopped quickly on the bus.  The tour was a lot of fun and our guide was very good.  I remember some things from when I took the tour, oh, probably 25 years ago.  As you would expect from a kid, I especially remember the two pools...the big outdoor pool with the Roman columns and sculptures and the indoor pool with all the gold.  Unfortunately today the outdoor pool was under renovation due to leaks from either the recent extreme cold weather or the earthquake a couple of years ago so we couldn't see it at its full glory.   What was very interesting was hearing the Hearst family history knowing what I know now regarding Phoebe Hearst's (W.R. Hearst's mother) involvement/leadership in establishing the city of Pleasanton (which I know about quite well now having gone on the Pleasanton history field trip with all three kids now!)

After Hearst Castle we drove down the coast to find a hotel for the night.  We tried to stop at Moonstone Beach which was very, very nice and we found a great ocean view room.  The problem was (again) the heavy marine layer so the ocean view room had a view of nothing but fog from just feet away from the ocean.  We decided to continue on in hopes of sun further on down the coast.  We eventually accepted that the sun existed only inland on this day so we stopped at Shell Beach (which was also very nice but also very fog-socked-in).  We got a great rate at a hotel since we were a "walk in" and we took further advantage of the free taco bar at the hotel's bar for our dinner.  The food was free but it was one of the best tacos I've ever had.  Very spicy, very tasty, yum!  Furthermore, we had a fantastic table overlooking the ocean.  Unfortunately we couldn't actually see the ocean (marine layer again) so we had to imagine it and imagine how wonderful that table would have been if we could have seen more than white mist.

Tomorrow we're off to Santa Barbara by way of Solvang and the Santa Barbara area wine country.  I grew up going to Solvang yearly for a time there (at least that's my memory) so I'm looking forward to that as well as revisiting my college memories in Santa Barbara.  I haven't been back to Santa Barbara in over 12 years and I went to college there some 15 years ago so get ready for many "But it used to be like this..." recollections...

Carmel Valley

After a frantic morning of getting all the kids camp gear together we had our traditional Taco Bell lunch and dropped them off at the bus in Lafayette. They were all very excited to go. Even Daniel who hasn't been before was bouncing off the walls!

Jay and I stopped at home to pack up a few last things and exchange the van for the Acura and left for Carmel. We got to our hotel in Carmel Valley a little before 4pm. This is a very nice and posh place (too good for the likes of us ;)

Carmel Valley is very nice. We've only stayed in town before so it's nice to stay someplace a bit different. We ate dinner at the restaurant here last night and sat outside overlooking the croquet and bocce ball courts. Our evening's entertainment was watching a man and woman playing bocce ball and trying to decide whether they were father-daughter or boyfriend-girlfriend. It was really not obvious. Would a father and daughter stay at a place like this? Well, they do resemble each other a bit. Now they're sharing a cigarette. But they aren't touching each other at all. Back and forth we went. Literally right as we were leaving she grabbed his butt and we almost laughed out loud we had our answer!