Tacoma
Et incurventur ante non
- Location
- far enough away
So the big, super-awesome trip to Bermuda to enjoy all that the Fairmont Hotel had to offer did not happen. We were flying standby and as luck would have it, all the flights available to get us there were FULL. Not the usual "going to be close" but absolutely full, with like 30 people on standby. Ridiculous.
I should mention that I was pretty happy about that, because, while Bermudan highlife sounds faaaaaantastic, I hate flying over water, and islands, so I was not into that trip very much. That, and staying at a $500/night hotel kind of freaked me out, so I was all smiles.
Bermuda was out, but we needed to go somewhere. Our choices on 12hr notice were: Seattle (my first choice, never been), Long Beach, Vegas, or San Diego. I got outvoted on Seattle, Long Beach is close to LA, and Vegas is a known quantity, so San Diego it was.
San Diego is nice! It's smallish, but big enough. Everything is close to the ocean on the freeways, and the traffic isn't too bad... In And Out Burgers are freakin' tasty as heck, though the fries SUCK ASS, do not get them. "Little Italy" is fake, as in, it's a marketing ploy, but the restaurants were actually pretty decent. Balboa Park is GREAT-- museums galore, nice architecture, free public trams to ferry you around, etc.
The best part though, is the beach. I was stoked to finally get to the actual West Coast and dip a toe. We went to Silver Strand, and the waves were mellow (to my dismay, I want big waves damnit and right NOW), the beach was warm, and all was well. Mission Beach was pretty sweet, kind of a touristy/surfer vibe there, and the kids dug the amusement park. Unfortunately, they were both too small to ride the roller coaster, so that kind of sucked. I have decided that I am going to have to start surfing, since we're only a 1.5hr flight away.
Anyway, I liked San Diego just fine. Nothing like what I was thinking... the architecture was more... Hispanic, and the abundance of palm trees was odd. In fact, all the vegetation seems to be more... vertical, or something, like it grows up more than out, or something. The fig trees are great... and the city is very different than the eastern-style cities I'm used to in the intermountain west. It seems that San Diego lacks the industrial-core model, and seems instead to have grown first, then had industry come in. First impressions, anyway.
Go visit, hang out on the beach.
I should mention that I was pretty happy about that, because, while Bermudan highlife sounds faaaaaantastic, I hate flying over water, and islands, so I was not into that trip very much. That, and staying at a $500/night hotel kind of freaked me out, so I was all smiles.
Bermuda was out, but we needed to go somewhere. Our choices on 12hr notice were: Seattle (my first choice, never been), Long Beach, Vegas, or San Diego. I got outvoted on Seattle, Long Beach is close to LA, and Vegas is a known quantity, so San Diego it was.
San Diego is nice! It's smallish, but big enough. Everything is close to the ocean on the freeways, and the traffic isn't too bad... In And Out Burgers are freakin' tasty as heck, though the fries SUCK ASS, do not get them. "Little Italy" is fake, as in, it's a marketing ploy, but the restaurants were actually pretty decent. Balboa Park is GREAT-- museums galore, nice architecture, free public trams to ferry you around, etc.
The best part though, is the beach. I was stoked to finally get to the actual West Coast and dip a toe. We went to Silver Strand, and the waves were mellow (to my dismay, I want big waves damnit and right NOW), the beach was warm, and all was well. Mission Beach was pretty sweet, kind of a touristy/surfer vibe there, and the kids dug the amusement park. Unfortunately, they were both too small to ride the roller coaster, so that kind of sucked. I have decided that I am going to have to start surfing, since we're only a 1.5hr flight away.
Anyway, I liked San Diego just fine. Nothing like what I was thinking... the architecture was more... Hispanic, and the abundance of palm trees was odd. In fact, all the vegetation seems to be more... vertical, or something, like it grows up more than out, or something. The fig trees are great... and the city is very different than the eastern-style cities I'm used to in the intermountain west. It seems that San Diego lacks the industrial-core model, and seems instead to have grown first, then had industry come in. First impressions, anyway.
Go visit, hang out on the beach.
