Just a quick note before I summarize this past weekend - upon return from this small trip, Tripit tells me I have now flown over 100,000 miles in 2010. In addition, I have calculated that I have spent 65% of nights away from home in 2010 through July. It has been a mobile year for sure.
OK.. on to the fun stuff. After being out of town for 4 straight weeks (OK, I was home for 2 nights in between my trips to Australia and Canada), I decided to exercise my right to a day off and took Friday off in order to spend a nice 3-day weekend (August 5-8) in my awesome girlfriend's home town of San Diego. As you can imagine, it's not my first time here. Heck, I practically lived there in the latter part of 2007 between the Beith's home and Jenn's apartment (as a FRIEND!!!!).
Anyways, with so many friends out there, Jenn had managed to book me solid for the weekend. So much for needed rest.
I arrived Thursday night and Jenn prepared me a first home-cooked dinner (by her). I enjoyed a delicious breaded chicken with garlic infused mushrooms, homemade garlic bread, wild rice and caesar salad. Jenn, I'm impressed! By arriving so late, there wasn't much else to do on Thursday, so it was a short night.
Friday came around and Jenn had to work. I tried to sleep in, but Jenn wouldn't let me sleep while she worked (she works at home). So I veg'd a little while she did her thing. Eventually, it was time to start the festivities. Tonight was a bet payoff I owed Scott Beith. He and I have a long standing bet regarding the SF Giants (my team) and LA Dodgers (his team). If our respective team wins the NL West, it's pay up by way of nice dinner. Freeloaders (read: wife/girlfriends welcome). Well, the Dodgers won last year, so I was due to pay up. Prior to meeting up with the Beiths, Jenn, our friend Jake, and I decided to try and new wine-bar 10 steps away from Jenn's apartment, Voyou. We enjoyed a couple of glasses while I talked some French with the owner.
At 6pm it was on to San Diego's world famous premier nightlife destination: Gaslamp. We met the Beiths at their hotel (Andaz; part of Hyatt family) and enjoyed another payoff (Jenn and Scott made a bet during this year's Yankees/Dodgers series and Jenn won. Scotts paid out was a nice bottle of wine and had to wear a Yankees jersey during dinner). So we enjoyed the bottle of wine in their room, a drink at the rooftop bar, and then walked to the dinner restaurant.
We ate at Suite and Tender. Can I just say, FANTASTIC. I think everyone ate something they loved. We all enjoyed the various appetizers we ordered to split; the mussels were excellent. Scott and I split a 36oz porterhouse while Monica and Jenn had differing Surf and Turf type meals. Overall, it was a great choice for dinner. The unisex bathrooms were also something different.
After filling our bellies, it was time to rip it up. We walked back to the hotel to take advantage of their complimentary Cadillac Escalade service. We had them drop us off at Altitude (rooftop bar of the Marriott). Altitude is one of Jenn's favorite bars in San Diego. It is a great place to hang out with lots of trendy people and a great view of the city; especially the ballpark. After a couple of drinks at Altitude we walked over to Wine Steals. The wine-bar side of Wine Steals was closed, but the regular bar was sorta open. They seemed to be closing down, but we still were able to get a drink. Once done with our drink, we called the Escalade to come pick us up and return us to the hotel.
With our VIP passes, we went to the rooftop bar at the hotel and finished the night off with beverages in a nice roped off area. Jenn didn't seem to be able to hang with the big dogs, but we'll forgive her for that. Afterall, it was darn late.
After a few drinks, it was time to shut it down. Oh my, how were we going to feel tomorrow??????
Saturday morning came too quick. I don't think I even slept. Poor Monica and Scott had to check out pretty early so they were at Jenn's apartment by noon. Monica did NOT look good. We all relaxed there for a while before the Beiths had to return to their kids (good luck with that; feeling the way they did). Jenn and I ran some errands and we were back at home preparing for round 2. Tonight was date night with Scott and Melissa (Missa) Nezos. No bets to settle here; just good food and drinks.
Soon after Scott and Missa showed up we taxi'd it to Cucina Urbana. Oh what a gem this place is. Tough to explain; I think gastropub is the description now. For relatively inexpensive, we ate like kings/queens. I had a veal piccata that I would get over and over again. As with the night before, everyone had a great meal along with awesome appetizers. YUMMY. By the way, the carmel macchiato flavored gelato is AMAZING; can you say CRACK?
From Cucina Urbana we taxi's back to.. surprise surprise... Gaslamp. Our first destination was LOUNGEsix on top of Solamar Terrace (I do love these rooftop bars). Unfortunately, most of the bar was corded off for a high school reunion. So we just had a couple of drinks while we waited for our friend Kristen to show up.
Once Kristen made her entrance, we walked a few blocks to the Indigo Hotel. Our friend Tuyen had pimped the only room that had a patio attached to their open-air bar (OK, so his sister pimped it, but Tuyen was calling in all the visitors).
Here the drinks flowed quick and strong. Among the pleasures were vodka/tonics, vodka/sodas, jaeger shots, buttery nipple shots and beers. Yeah, hello pain tomorrow. At some point we called it quits and it was time to crash back at Jenn's.
Sunday was an ALARM wake-up..... huh? Dragging (check). Jenn drove me up to Carlsbad for a brunch with her friend Karin, Karin's daughter Zoe, Karin's mom and Todd (a friend from college). We tried to enjoy a solid breakfast at Don's Country Kitchen, but I have to admit that it "ain't what it used to be." I used to enjoy some hangover cures here many years ago, but new owners have come in and I could not enjoy the food. Too bad; I was actually sad.
Pressed for time until my flight, Jenn and I jammed back to San Diego and walked around the Hillcrest Cityfest (small festival in Hillcrest). Wow, the food smelled good. There were lots of proud people out having a grand old time and it was great weather to boot. I grabbed an amazing Tri-Tip sandwich from a vendor for an early dinner. So good.
Soon however, it was time to drop me off at the airport for a return home. With the time difference and delay, I got home around 11pm; ready for P90X in the morning.
All in all, I think we tried to conquer San Diego's Gaslamp district, but I think it won. The weekend tired me out. I did however eat very well.. for the most part (read: Don's sucked!).
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