D and I just returned from what will probably be our last “weekend get away” before the baby arrives. Saturday morning we woke up nice and early to get an early start, only to be stalled by construction on the 405 freeway (the four left lanes were closed!) I guess we should’ve checked the traffic report beforehand. We stopped at the Original Pancake House in Laguna Hills to fuel up for the day. Despite our unexpected delay, we made it to San Diego a little past 9 a.m., so we were back on schedule.
Our first activity was taking a two hour narrated cruise of San Diego Harbor. The first hour was enjoyable because it wasn’t too crowded. We had to pick up more people for the second hour, and there were waaaay too many Asian tourists taking pictures. We were able to get some nice views of downtown San Diego, however. D and I got a good chuckle when the narrator mentioned that the Beach Boys had recently played in San Diego, and that they “could satisfy anyone’s musical needs”.
The Midway
San Diego Skyline
Afterward, we headed to the trendy Hillcrest neighborhood and picked up a picnic lunch at Bread and Cie. We then drove to Balboa Park, spread out a mat on the grass and enjoyed our turkey and roast beef sandwiches, bread chips, a slab of lemon cake and a Sprite. The sandwiches did not have enough meat for D’s taste, but the bread was good (always important!) and the cake tasted surprisingly healthy, like it had whole grains, or something. The weather was perfect–a little sunny and breezy, and we had a hard time getting up to go on with the rest of our day.
Finally, we strolled over to the Robert H. Fleet Science Center. We checked out the educational exhibits and caught an IMAX movie in their dome theater called Into the Deep. God’s creation is truly amazing!
Balboa Park Fountain
After checking into our hotel, D got sucked into watching the second quarter of the Cal game. Since we were already recording it at home, he let us leave for dinner at half-time. We decided to check out Old Town and we went to Old Town Mexican Cafe, even though it was listed as “overrated” in our Frommer’s book. Since there was a 45 minute wait, we were able to check out Old Town. Part of it reminded D of Old Sac, but there were a lot of people out and about so it seemed more lively. We enjoyed our dinner (beef fajitas and rotisserie chicken) and the handmade tortillas were very good. All of the food came out piping hot, just like D likes it.
Hand-Made Tortillas
Old Town Mexican Cafe–Not Overrated
With full stomachs, we returned to the hotel room, where D proceeded to watch more college football.
This morning we returned to Hillcrest to eat at Hash House A Go Go. The hostess was going to put us at a small corner table, but when she noticed my stomach, she asked if I would fit! Then she told the busboy, who was giving us water that she thought we should move to “Table 12”, which ended up being a table for four! I guess she was just being nice, but I had to laugh. That was the first time a stranger has acknowledged my protruding stomach. The restaurant was industrial-chic, and the portions were ginormous! D had a scramble with bacon, avocado, and cheese, and I had a blackberry granola pancake. Too bad we couldn’t take the leftovers, since we weren’t going straight home.
Scramble Big Enough for 2
A Lot of Pancakage
We were able to walk off some of our breakfast when we stopped at Mission Bay. There were a lot of people running even though it was pretty warm. Then we made a stop at the Carlsbad outlets, where D found some deals (I sadly, did not). Finally, we stopped at Gelson’s in Irvine to redeem some coupons D had received at his work. When we got home, guess what D did? Watched more college football, of course! Overall, I really enjoyed my time with D this weekend. Lately I’ve become more aware of other couples with kids and have seen how all of their attention seems devoted to the kids, rather than to each other. I hope that we will be able to achieve a healthy balance.