Bennett and his dad flew home so one could go to school and the other work. His mom went to the LA Zoo as part of her conference, so we “grands” were on our own.
We start this post with a flashback. Decades ago when Jerry worked for Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company, our family took a camping trip in our tent trailer through California ending in San Diego. We arrived dusty and dirty from hiking in Yosemite, etc and camping without our own necessary facilities. Jerry had made reservations at a hotel in San Diego. What we didn’t know was what kind of hotel. It was The Del, formally known as the Del Coronado on Coraoado Island, a VERY nice hotel. He got a great rate because the Fund was affiliated with American Express, the agency he dealt with and he got an employee discount.
The hotel was truly grand and, fortunately, we had the children practice their best restaurant and hotel manners before we left. All was wonderful except for the evening, after a long day at the zoo, when we went to the Prince of Wales Grille. The “e” matters, this was not a diner type restaurant but even grander than the chandeliered Crown Room from the night before. The children’s manners were fine but they fell sound asleep on the bench seats without eating any dinner and had to be dragged out to our room.
Our return to The Del was via an 11K volksmarch. The start was in an old repurposed bank building, now a tourist information office.
We learned that there are three different kinds of residents on the island, the wealthy, the working people and the military. The Naval Air Station is on the north end of the island. Our walk took us through all of these areas and along the beaches.
We enjoyed delicious tacos in a little sidewalk café. It was $2 taco Tuesday and we got more than our moneys worth.
We stopped along the way to look at some gorgeous homes with magnificent ocean and bay views.
It wasn’t the multi-million dollar price tag that deterred us from offering a bid; it was the constant bombardment of military aircraft flying overhead. Just too much noise for the dollar.
The next day we spent wandering with Cheryl through Liberty Public Market.
It is the former Naval Training Center now nicely repurposed for commercial and artistic use. After a delicious lunch topped off with ice cream and a cookie, we wandered some of the shops. Artists share space with small museums and quality gift shops and contribute to the scene with decorated benches.
We took time to see a documentary “Four Thousand Paperclips and One Skype Call” about Somali refugees who escaped to Israel and were then returned to Africa. It was excellent.
We ended our day at Old Town San Diego, a mostly Mexican shopping area. Then we all hugged good-bye to set off on our own adventures.
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