My parents and I had a couple more days to enjoy San Diego before heading back to Utah to pack and move across the country. Monday we started with an overcast morning as we drove to Balboa Park for a run. Both of us did loops of the main area of the park (near the zoo) and I tacked on a couple additional miles by running back to the hotel a couple miles away. After refueling and the always popular free breakfast buffet at the Residence Inn, we ventured back to Balboa Park to take a closer look at the museums and botanical gardens.
By late morning the sky was clear for the first time since we’ve been in town and the sun would hang around for the remainder of the trip. We wandered through the area where the majority of the museums are housed (the site of the exhibition celebrating the opening of the Panama Canal), but didn’t visit any museums in particular…a couple of the major ones were closed with it being a Monday. We did wander through the Botanical Building and Lily Ponds and just enjoyed the architecture and the weather before finishing up the morning in the Rose Garden.
Stunning Architecture and Wildlife in Balboa Park
From Balboa Park, we moved southwest and crossed the big bridge to Coronado Island, which was busy as usual. After parking near the Hotel de Coronado (celebrating 125 years) we backtracked up Orange Avenue, the main commercial district before settling on a small Italian café for what we had planned to be a light lunch. The amount of bread served (with the appetizers and the sandwiches) was immense though so we left with full stomachs. The food was good and sitting on the sidewalk offered ample opportunity for people watching.
To walk off lunch, we wandered the grounds of the famous Hotel de Coronado for a while before crossing back to San Diego proper and stopping at the hotel for a break. During the down time, Susan gave me a Skype tour of our new partially moved into rental house, where Derby and I will be joining her on Sunday.
With evening approaching, it was back out on the town and into downtown. We took the Light Rail from Old Town down to the Gaslamp Quarter to pick a place to stop for appetizers and drinks before heading to PETCO Park for a Padres game...who happened to be playing the Reds! Our “pre-gaming” took place at a small gastropub called Neighborhood which was a small quirky place with the ambience of a trendy corner bar. The beer and wine selection was excellent and we split the goat cheese balls (served with tomato soup dipping sauce as a sort of play on grilled cheese and tomato soup) and a big bowl of fries while sitting on the fake turf covering the outdoor seating area.
From Neighborhood, we were only a couple blocks from the stadium and arrived just as the game was starting. We had left field seats and took our time making our way to them so we could tour the stadium some. The park was very modern and impressive and included a Ballast Point Beer Garden as well as a center field general admission area that was basically a park including a beach area and a small whiffle ball field with stadium workers soft tossing to kids who wanted to play. The park was a clever way to get more families of small children into the stadium at a good price and seemed to be effective. The attendance was good for a Monday night for a team that is last in their division.
As for the game, sloppy pitching at the start dragged the first couple innings along but no runs were scored. The Reds grabbed a 1-0 lead and the middle innings flew by in a pitcher’s duel. We visited the aforementioned beer garden and shared a decadent plate of pork belly nachos (intense), then left the stadium heading into the top of the 8th with the Reds seemingly on cruise control. Of course they ended up losing on a walk off home run that we missed.
Tuesday we slept in, grabbed breakfast and then drove toward Escondido and the North County Inland region. Our first stop was the Elfin Forest Nature Preserve for a quick 3 mile hike. As is usual, we came unprepared with no water but pushed through the hike as we always do. The reward at the midway point was views of a large reservoir hidden at the top of the surrounding hills. The hike was a nice walk with some vista views, but was not the most spectacular scenery.
With the hiking complete we were ready to relax and enjoy a snack. We drove south a few miles to the Orfila Winery where we did a leisurely tasting while enjoying cheeses and crackers in the shade on the deck overlooking the vineyards. The weather was perfect for a wine and cheese picnic so we soaked it in.
Before heading back to the hotel area, we briefly stopped at the actual Stone Brewery to do a quick walkthrough of the bistro there. My parents have dined at this site before, but we wanted a fresh look to compare it with the Liberty Station location…we all agreed the original location has a little more character. Unfortunately we weren’t hungry and had already enough wine so didn’t stop for a snack or drink before returning to the hotel to relax.
With a very early morning coming up on Wednesday (6am flight), we decided to order pizza in from Lefty’s Chicago Pizzeria in Hillcrest. We spent the last evening of vacation packing before an early bedtime. With the vacation over, it was back to Utah for a few busy days before moving out of the Beehive State.
Ready for the big drive to Ohio
