Sunny San Diego

"I'm leavin' on a jet plane, don't know when I'll be back again....oh, babe, I hate to go."

(This was taken while we were headed into Dallas, but I wish I had thought to take out the camera earlier as we went right by our house).

It was torture, let me tell you.

Two days in sunny southern California.

Without kids.

Any of them.

Poor Doug was sent to San Diego on business last week, and seeing as I'm his wife, I was forced to go too. He was tied up with judges and reporters anxiously awaiting snazzy soundbytes on Thursday morning

so I set off own exciting adventure. First stop? A local grocery store. (What can I say? I'm a nerd.) Actually, I've always heard how expensive everything in California is so I was anxious to compare prices. The result? No difference at all. Regular prices and sale prices were pretty much the same as local retailers.

Our hotel was within spittin' distance of Panera Bread, so I settled in with a good book, coffee, and a bear claw and killed some time before the local shops opened at 10. It was fabulous to sit and relax and enjoy the quiet.

Just outside Panera was a open space that hosts a weekly farmers market. Everything was beautiful.

I came away with a pint of freshly picked strawberries which we devoured.

We dined in Little Italy and then walked to the harbor.

We met up with my cousin Eric and his daughter Anabella for a fabulous lunch on the water. Ana tested our pathetic Spanish, amazed us with her math skills, and was certainly a completely different dining companion to the males we left at home.

We savored the grounds of Balboa Park and one of its many art museums.

We wandered through the ticky-tacky of Old Town, picking up candy for the kids and delicious fish tacos for us (I can't wait to try these at home; they were so good).

Though brief, it was a wonderful getaway for us a much-needed time to reconnect.
(A big thanks to William & Kay who manned the fort in our absence; I'm sure you need a couple of days to recoup.)