Playing in the rain...

We were thrilled when our friend, Natalie (with son, Duncan, and sister, Chantal) were able to make it out to San Diego for a visit.

Although we wanted to welcome them with some warmer and sunnier weather than what they were currently experiencing in Toronto, their first full day was met with unseasonal rain, San Diego's first rainfall in 4 months!

Undeterred, they were troopers and continued with a full day of indoor and outdoor activities.  With an early start of 3am, they had already made an hour long trek to Target and visited the Model Railroad Museum before Beth met them in the late morning!

Lucky for us, the outdoor Spreckels Organ Concert in Balboa Park was scheduled to play "rain or shine", an unusual clause negotiated as part of the funding donation for the concerts.  As such, Natalie and Beth made their way over to the concert as Duncan and Chantal headed back to the Model Railroad museum for a second visit.  The concert was understandably sparsely attended, with many guests actually invited to sit up on the stage in appreciation of their dedication to attending even in the wet weather.  Nonetheless, we opted instead to stand under a nearby covered walkway to listen.  Drier and with an easier escape route if necessary, this definitely seemed the best option!

We stayed for about half the concert, impressed by the organ's diverse sounds.  It was almost overpowering during its more dramatic moments but subtle and understated during its quieter times.  In between pieces, the organist spoke at length about the intricacies of the organ, noting that each organ is unique with different sounds and even a different number of keys, making each experience a completely unique one.

Despite the rain, we took the opportunity to walk around some of the enormous park, taking in the botanical gardens, the large fountain and peaking at the Japanese Friendship Garden before heading into the Museum of Photographic Arts to take a look.

The Museum itself was fairly small but it boasted exquisite old photos from around the world.  It is hard to imagine photographers in the 1850s travelling to Egypt and setting up their cameras to take photographs of the vast desert.  What a challenging, lengthy and involved process that must have been.

We met up with Chantal and Duncan and headed to the park for a short visit.  Duncan loved his new Target "sand pails" and a friendly-looking plastic panda sculpture and was totally unphased by the grey weather.  He also loved the bus ride home, pointing out the traffic signals and stoplights and making sure that everyone had their tickets.

After an afternoon of conference calls and football, Geoff met us and we headed to Little Italy for some dinner.  The weather had dried and so we took the opportunity to sit outside.

Being a Sunday, the area was much quieter than the Friday night buzz we had enjoyed a couple of days prior but was still much better than the pure quiet we had experienced earlier in the week.  We had expected that January in San Diego is not the busiest time for tourists or eating out but were taken by surprise at just how quiet the historic downtown and surrounding areas can be during the week here.  You can honestly have a table in any restaurant and get tickets to any event.  Earlier in the week, for example, Beth and Geoff had gone to see a recent release and until the movie started were the only two people in the 400 person theater!

At the end of the first day, although Natalie, Chantal and Duncan had been very good sports about the awful weather, we walked home that night hoping that we had seen the last of the rain!

Coronado

Having heard great things about Coronado Island (which actually isn't just an island but rather a combination of an island and tombolo!), we headed over on the weekend to check it out.

The easiest and fastest way to get there is to take a ferry, which goes from the main harbor in the Gas Lamp District and takes about 15 minutes.  The ferry costs $4.50 but locals can use it for free at certain times to commute to work during the week.

We had arrived mid-morning, expecting to spend a couple of hours wandering in and out of the shops on the Island’s main drag, Orange Street, before walking over to the other side of the island to have lunch at the famous Hotel Del Coronado.  It turns out, however, that the main shopping street was much smaller than we had anticipated, having only about two boutique shops and a few more practical shops.  As such, we strolled through the residential areas of Coronado to see the different houses and areas before heading to the Hotel.

Coronado is a charming area, with cottage inspired houses and a small neighbourhood feel.  The island is compact and safe and seems very well-suited for families with young children.  The island feels so secure, in fact, that many people just use open-air golf carts to get around town and often just leave their bags on the golf cart seats.  

The Hotel Del Coronado was built in 1888 by John Spreckels as a way to attract people to the area.  When it first opened, the hotel was the largest in the world.  Currently, it is the second largest wooden structure in the US, just smaller than the Tillook Air Museum in Oregon.  It is listed as a National Historic Landmark and appeared in films such as Some Like It Hot.  It was also supposedly the inspiration for the Emerald City in the Wizard of Oz, although other places have also claimed that honour.  

The Hotel dwarfs the surrounding shops and areas and was swarming with people coming to use the public beach and have a seaside lunch.  In fact, the Hotel is one of the stops of the "Hop On, Hop Off" bus and flooded the resort with so many tourists that  we worried whether the actual hotel guests could enjoy any relaxation here.  Perhaps they had a separate "guests only" area in the hotel?

Nonetheless, we joined in the barrage of local tourists and enjoyed lunch outside near the beachfront.  The hotel's lunch was mediocre but was made much more enjoyable by the aggressive and pesky seagulls who would dash in to steal food from the unsuspecting diners.  

Although busy, the Hotel had a majestic feel and we could imagine how remarkable and cutting-edge it must have been when it was first built.  It was not surprising to learn that many Presidents as well as sports and movie celebrities used to be frequent guests. 

After lunch, we walked the remainder of the island back to the boat dock, taking in the attractive and well-maintained houses and the lush green parks. Although we can’t really understand how people could pay $1 million for a small two bedroom teardown house here, we can certainly understand the appeal of this charming and quiet little suburb town.  

San Diego - "America's Finest City"

I

Petco Park Stadium in the Gas Lamp District

San Diego’s airport is in the heart of the city so even though we arrived fairly late in the evening, we were able to retrieve our luggage, stop and pick up the apartment keys and still arrive at our rental apartment within half an hour of landing.  Because we arrived so quickly we were even able to do a quick grocery shop and unpack our luggage before heading to bed, allowing us to wake up the next morning feeling almost fully settled.  San Diego was off to a great start!

After a couple of intense work days and deadlines, we took our first opportunity to do some sightseeing by heading out on a tour to see La Jolla Beach and the Torrey Pines.

As we drove to our first stop - Mt. Soledad - our tour guide, Victor, told us proudly about the City of San Diego.  The city seemed to come into its own when it hosted the World Expo in 1915.  This Expo paved the way for many of the city’s key monuments and developments, which can still be experienced today.  The city was also hugely influenced by World War II when it became the country’s primary maker of small aircrafts.  This industry attracted hundreds of thousands of people from nearby regions who came seeking employment.  As a result, San Diego is now the 8^th largest city in the US.  In addition, it still maintains one of the largest military operations, with a huge military base right in the heart of the city and 300,000 veterans who have taken up residence in the area.  

Mt. Soledad is one of the highest peaks in San Diego and hosts the Mt Soledad National Veterans Memorial.   The memorial is dedicated to all war veterans and hosts the names, pictures and bios of any war veteran who pays to buy a small part of the commemorative wall.  The memorial’s enormous standing cross has been a complex issue for the city, with some residents believing that the cross blurs the line between state and religion.  The controversy has been on-going for many years but it looks like a solution is imminent.  

After a quick stop at the Torrey Pines’ golf course, home to hundreds of native Torrey Pine trees and also the childhood golf course of Tiger Woods, we headed onto La Jolla beach.   

La Jolla is perhaps the ritziest area in San Diego, where house prices stand at about 50x the national average.  Mitt Romney is one of the many famous people to have a house there. The addresses are exclusive and even the shops are select, with virtually no fast food restaurants and very few chains.  As an example, they have six car dealerships in the area but no mainstream brands, instead boasting dealerships such as Maserati and Ferrari.

The area's proximity to gorgeous La Jolla beach may be one of the reasons it is so popular.  Many of the houses are either on the hill overlooking the long and pristine beach or are close enough to walk out to go for a swim.  The water is said to be perfect for surfing and is apparently so warm that many animals migrate to a nearby cove to live there to live for the winter.

The surrounding beach rocks and areas are filled with sea lions and seals soaking in the sun.  The sea lions and seals have chosen different areas to spend their time, with the sea lions choosing the rockier and higher areas, likely because their back fins can help them climb more easily.  The seals prefered the more sandy area down on the beach.   Surprisingly, the seals have actually caused a different challenge for the city as they have taken over a dedicated children’s beach area as their prime "birthing" spot.  To resolve the challenge, the city has decided to split the beach's use – the children get to use it during the summer and the seals can use it during the winter when they are birthing.  We are not sure how this deal was signed and sealed but apparently both groups are living by the agreement for the time being!

The most famous dining spot along La Jolla’s main drag is George’s Restaurant and so we stopped in there for a quick lunch.  The food was actually surprisingly good considering its touristy vibe and the view is certainly one of the best in the city.

As we made our way back home along the ocean road, it became apparent just how important marine research plays in San Diego’s economy and culture.  It can be felt everywhere in the city.  Many credit Ellen Scripps with spearheading this effort in the early 1900s.   Ellen Scripps was a philanthropist and a visionary for the city, establishing many of the city's key institutions and initiatives such as the Research Institute,  the Aquarium, numerous hospitals and the San Diego Zoo.    

What also became incredibly clear during our tour was the important role that women played in the development of San Diego.  Two women spearheaded the charge – Scripps and Spreckels – launching hundreds of lasting initiatives around the city. Other players have contributed too.  The aircraft carrier plant, for example, was the first plant in the country to hire women employees and  several other companies have embraced the power of women in their operations.  A functional city that is innovative and forward-thinking - could this be why San Diego has the nickname, "America's Finest City"??

One last drop in...

To start off the new year, we headed back to Delray for one more quick visit with Beth's parents, Fred and El, before heading on to our next destination.

Although it was only a few days, we crammed in a lot of work and conference calls as well as some personal activities such as a daily family excursion to the gym, tennis lessons, a visit to the Swatch store, dinners at both good and not quite as good restaurants (two thumbs up for the Farmer's Table!)  and a fair bit (Ed: this is a relative term - most of the male population would term this "barely acceptable") of passionate American Football watching.

Beth was even able to sneak in a visit with her friend, Nikki, who was also in Delray visiting family.  As if no time had passed, we gabbed away for hours as we played with her smiling son, Lex, and then swatted off pesky flies while eating lunch at a nearby Japanese restaurant.  How could I have forgotten to take a photo to commemorate our visit??

For our last afternoon in Delray, we headed over to Clematis Street in West Palm Beach to walk around and have lunch.  We had stumbled onto this street when driving Steph and Saj back to the airport and had fallen hard for it.  Vibrant and attractive, it was a place we wanted to spend more time.  In retrospect, perhaps it is more of a nighttime spot!  Although we took a gorgeous drive along the ocean's edge to get there, the street itself was a little less remarkable this time.  During the day, without the sparkling little white lights and the buzz of the bar scene, the spot seemed somewhat rundown and overwhelmed with people scoping out your car suspiciously and asking for money.

Nonetheless, after having spent a fair bit of time figuring out the system to pay for our parking online, we opted to make the best of it and wandered down the bustling street to find a quaint French restaurant that had several veggie options and a nice outdoor patio.

Our views of Clematis Street definitely improved when we had a chance encounter with former Canadian Prime Minister, Jean Chretien, who just happened to be walking by our restaurant.  After El spotted him, Fred started waving as if he and the Prime Minister were good friends.  This likely pressured Mr. Chrétien to come over and say hello.  We had a brief and friendly encounter and were left with a very positive impression of both him and this cool street!

On our drive back we found that the legendary Omphoy hotel that we had been searching for on our drive down had been taken over by Kimpton and was now called the Tideline.

After a short but great trip back to Delray, we packed up our bags and headed for the airport.  Next stop:  San Diego!

Conga-ing into the new year...

Although we had a dinner evening booked for New Year's Eve, the intense rain throughout the day forced us to reevaluate our plan.  The half hour walk to and from Havana Nights for some dinner and duelling pianos would not be enjoyable and, due to the weather and notable date, the eight cabs in Vero beach were naturally already booked.

As such, we booked a table at the Costa D'Este restaurant for its festive five course meal.  Naturally, the vegetarian option was not completely inspired but we were happy with our more bland option when we saw Steph and Saj presented with a quail course that left the animal so in tact it looked like they too might consider turning vegetarian.

Nonetheless, we had a wonderful evening of fun conversation, mostly good food and awesome tunes.  As we shut down the dinner area and moved to the "dancing" area a few minutes before midnight, we were greeted by the sounds of Gloria Estefan's greatest hits.  We forgot just how many she had! Interestingly, the dance floor was full of passionate dancers during her songs but quickly emptied after the regular top forty hits were put into the rotation.

Unphased by the nasty-tasting champagne we were served, we danced the night away. Geoff showed such enthusiasm and passion for each song that came next in the rotation that the DJ must have felt like the best DJ in the world!  What a great way to kick off the new year!

Heading north...

We were thrilled that our friends, Steph and Saj, were able to make it down to Florida for a few days to visit over the holidays.

The New Year's Eve timing made booking a hotel in Miami a tad tricky so we opted instead to head north to Vero Beach.  The town itself is small and a touch sleepy but we hoped that this would actually appeal to Steph and Saj who were likely a little sleep-deprived after recently becoming parents of twin girls.

Vero Beach's main street was short but boasted lots of upscale and attractive seaside shops.  The real attraction of the area , however, was our hotel, the Costa D'Este.  This chic waterfront boutique hotel was built by Gloria and Emilio Estefan and offered a clean, modern look and a wide variety of perks including frozen grapes at the pool and free sunglasses cleaning, neither of which we either saw or experienced during our stay!

Although the weather was fairly rainy and grey during our visit, we were lucky to be able to get in two hours of tennis each morning before the skies opened and rain poured down.  The public tennis courts where we played were quiet and in good condition and the club manager who helped us daily was charming and friendly, even though he charged us a completely different court rate each time we visited.

During the downpours, we spent our time enjoying long meals and coffees, dreaming up new entrepreneurial ventures including a promising baked potato food truck, and going to the spa.

The restaurants in Vero Beach were quaint but a little light on vegetarian options.  One restaurant - which surprisingly never had any menus available - actually told us their chefs were too busy to be able to make anything vegetarian!  Luckily, Geoff knew well the art of getting someone to take seriously the need to offer at least one vegetarian meal on a menu.  He watched and learned, however, as Steph artfully negotiated with the waiter to remove the extra costs that had been added to our bill for the kitchen's work in creating those options!?

After our meetups with Steph and Saj in Paris and then Vero Beach - two of the least friendly vegetarian  locales - perhaps next time our meetup should be in India, a true vegetarian haven!

West to the Cape...

We are lucky that our parents all spend the winters in Florida and live only a few hours drive from each other.

As such, we picked up a rental car and headed to Alligator Alley to cross over from the Atlantic Coast to Cape Coral near the Gulf of Mexico.

We would have made it door to door in under three hours save for a short detour to Sports Authority to fix Geoff's tennis racket that had broken during an intense game of doubles tennis with a rowdy group of 70-year old New Yorkers.  Anxious to have the racket fixed in time to play on Christmas Day, we headed into Fort Myers, through some more modest parts of town.  The areas were so off the beaten track we were excited when we finally saw a Dunkin Donuts, which presaged some semblance of civilization.

Arriving safely at our final destination, we settled in for a great few days with Geoff's parents, Carol and Dan, and their growing pup, Jackson, who at just over one year weighs 130 pounds!

Dan and Carol have done a superb job of updating their house, very successfully undertaking many handyman projects that most of us would be nervous to do.  The house was looking so much better than it did just one year ago!  Having undertaken the big changes, they asked us to help with the smaller more decorative updates to help accent the space with some new furniture and decor.  As such, for the next several days, we hunted for mirrors, lights, cushions, and other features to finish off the space.

In between the shopping, we found lots of time to play tennis and pickle ball, create new games for Jackson to play (much to the lanai netting's chagrin), and even go to the farmer's market.

On our final day, we headed into Fort Myers to visit the Edison and Ford Winter Estates.  Good friends, Edison and Ford spent time together here over the winters.  Edison was eager for the remote and quiet backdrop and Ford bought a place to be closer to his mentor, Edison.  The houses have been kept in stellar condition, allowing people from all over the region to see where the lived and learn more about the botanic and varied research Edison undertook.  Our decision to take a tour unfortunately gave us insights more into today's football stats than Ford and Edison but thankfully we had arrived early enough to do some reading at the museum before the tour had begun.

We hope that Carol, Dan and Jackson enjoy the warm weather for the rest of the season and we cannot wait to see how their house has continued to evolve when we next visit!

Banyan tree planted by Edison - now  covering more than 1 acre!