San Diego Trip, Sunday, Day 3

The Sheraton hotel is very nice. The staff is very friendly, courteous and helpful. The only problem we had was that the entry/exit gates of the north parking lot (closest to our room) didn’t work all that well. On Sunday, we slept in, again. We checked-out around 9:30am or so and headed to Downtown for breakfast. We decided to try out this one place called Café 222 (pronounced two-twenty-two). After spending ½ an hour to find parking in Downtown, we finally ended up at the café. While we waited for a table, we checked out a nearby Farmers Market. Once we were seated at the restaurant, we enjoyed good and fast service with a great breakfast. I recommend this place. After breakfast, we walked down to the Downtown open air mall. We spent a little time there, then decided to head up to La Jolla (backup link). We didn’t have enough time to go snorkeling, nor did we have a hotel room to go back to for a shower afterwards, so we went there to scope out snorkeling locations for future reference. Once back in San Diego, we looked at some model homes for a new project. My g/f and I were both a bit surprised to find out that the builder was trying to sell million dollar homes. The floor layouts sucked, and the places just weren’t that big. How does anyone afford million dollar homes in San Diego? That kind of price is nuts for Silicon Valley (even though there are many million dollar homes here). Anyways, we ate a late lunch at In and Out. Then we returned the rental car and were off to the airport. Once back in San Jose, I got back to my place around 10pm and again fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. By the way, we got the car rental hella cheap on Orbitz.com. We got the flight and hotel room at a great price on Expedia.com. Travelocity, Expedia.com and Priceline.com all pretty much had the same offers listed. The only reason we chose Expedia is because I had an account with them.

San Diego, Saturday, Day 2

The Sheraton on Harbor Island Drive is in a very central location. Downtown San Diego, Sea World, Mission Bay, and the bridge to Coronado Island (backup link) are all less than 15 minutes away to drive. We never really had to rush to be anywhere. After sleeping in a little bit on Saturday, my g/f and I headed over to a nearby Denny’s. It was the best food we ate on the trip so far. Scary. The deli we patronized in Old Town on Friday was simply OK. It was priced too high for being just OK. Friday night, the food at the restaurant at Bahia Hotel was all over cooked. Fortunately, our culinary experience improved later. Sea World When we approached Sea World, it turned out to be a lot smaller than we imagined. When we entered the park grounds, we found that trying to get to the parking lot is like meandering down a class 1 river for 2 miles. It seemed like forever before we ended up at designated parking area. We arrived just before the first Shamu show started, so we headed right over to the stadium, which is near the gate. The Shamu show was the highest quality that I’ve ever seen for an animal show. The three older Killer Whales gave spirited performances. The stunts were plentiful and thrilling. Even “Baby Shamu” performed well. As a bonus, the Splash Zone is huge (the first 16 rows of the audience do get wet). My g/f and I both enjoyed this show a lot. I think she used up a whole roll of film just on the Killer Whales! :) The Dolphin show was also very engaging. Although the stunts aren’t the most impressive I’ve seen for a Dolphin show, the Sea World show was very seasoned. Sea World also has many walk through exhibits. You’ll see Manatees, Beluga Whales, a Polar Bear, many types of fish, Penguins, etc. Sea World displays each of the animals in simulated natural environments. This is prolly great for the animals. I know it is great for the guests because there is nothing quite like walking into the chilly Penguin habitat on a hot muggy day, such as that Saturday. If you come on a hot day, bring your swim trunks/bathing suit, sit in the Splash Zones and get on the wet rides. Sea World is a high quality, clean and well organized theme park that packs a big punch for its small size. Evening For the evening, we had a wonderful dining experience at the Indigo Grill (backup link) in the Little Italy (backup link) part of Downtown San Diego. For the first time, we had a great meal in San Diego. I recommend this establishment. After dinner, we wondered around the Gaslamp Quarter. There are a lot of restaurants, bars, pubs and clubs. Many of the shops are open very late. The Gaslamp Quarter is a large area; so expect to do a lot of walking if you want to see it all. At the end of the night, back in the hotel room, I think we fell asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillow.

San Diego Day 1

With such an early flight (7:15), I was worried about waking up early enough to make it. Well, my g/f and I did make it...pretty much had perfect timing. Once in San Diego, we got our rental car early, and got our room hella early, 10am. Normally check in is at 3pm. After buying some essentials, we heading down to Old Town for lunch and some exploring. We ate at the one place near old town. Lunch cost use $19 for two sandwiches and a couple of drinks. That would've been ok if the food hadn't sucked.
We then headed down to Coronado Beach. The ocean water is fairly warm. I swam in California waters for the first time in 20 years. It did take me a little while to get used to the water. We had a lot of fun there. We did have a plan to take an evening cruise on a Paddlewheel boat, but dinner took longer than expected, so we missed our chance for Friday. Maybe we will try again this afternoon, after Seaworld.
Back in the 90's, sometimes I visited San Diego a few times a year. It's nice to get back here. This is my g/f's first time. This will be our first time at Seaworld.
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San Diego Getaway

September 10, 2004 to September 12, 2004

With Alice Leung, visiting San Diego, CA, including SeaWorld and Gaslamp Quarter.  Original post/backup link.

Political Parties out of balance

The trouble with U.S. politics right now is that the parties are off balance. They are faltering.
The Republican Party was weakened in the early 1990s. This left a power vacuum that the Religious Conservatives (who are normally fundamentalists) and pseudo-Libertarians (gun nuts) filled in the mid-1990s. These groups don’t care about traditional positions of the Republican Party. They have used it to accomplish their own ends. Many of the actions taken by the Republican Party in recent years are in direct conflict with the party’s traditions. (Side note, anyone fundamentalist who believes that second coming of Christ is going to replace the U.S. government shouldn’t be in politics in the first place, since they may misinterpret the bible and decide now is a good time for Armageddon; not to mention other basic problems that I may get into at some other time. I mention this because of the harsh religious tone of the Republican Party right now.)
The Democratic Party was the status quo for much of the 20th Century. They seem lost now that the dynamics of the Republican Party has changed. They are now weakened, similar to the Republican Party of the early 1990’s. Except in the Democrat case, there doesn’t seem to be groups ready to fill their power void. I don’t know if this is a good thing or not. One the one hand, their traditional positions are being held on to. On the other hand, without some sort of fresh blood take over, they will flounder for many years to come.
I hope the Democratic Party can get organized soon. I hope that the Republic Party moves away from realm of religious ideologies. I’m a centralist (not a moderate). I am happiest when the two parties are in balance. When there is a balance, the government is less likely to tell me or any citizen how to live our lives.

Labor Day Weekend

Sunday’s BBQ went well. My friends Miriam and her 4 year-old daughter, Dave and his girlfriend, my roommate, and my g/f all showed. I’m glad we all had a good and relaxing time. As a bonus, the park was less crowded than I had estimated. And of course, we ended up with too much food.
Side note, my big toe was still bothering me on Monday, so I didn’t get to go sailing on the Spitfire. Instead I spent Monday afternoon playing Civilization III.