After our full day Saturday (and late night), we slept in a little on Sunday. We had tossed around the idea of going to mass - since it is Lent after all - but that didn't happen.
One of the few things we actually had planned for this trip before we left was Sunday Brunch at The Beach House in Cardiff. It was something Matt and Stefan used to do almost every Sunday. And after going, I saw why. It was an awesome location right on the beach, and the food - well, MY food - was delicious.
Matt and I drove ourselves, Stefan brought one of his roommates, and Maxi and another friend met us there, too. We had to wait for a table big enough for all of us, but we really wanted to sit outside on the deck overlooking the ocean. It was another gorgeous day, of course. I think it must always be like that in San Diego...
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| Leaving Stefan's for Sunday brunch |
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| The Beach House |
We sat in the sun a little too long and even though I had sunblock on my face, my arms and neck got pretty red. The service was awful - it took well over an hour for our food - and I don't think anyone else even liked theirs. Mine, however, was REALLY good, so I can't complain.
After breakfast, I just had to get down to the ocean and get my toes in the sand. Matt obliged. :)
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| First try! He's good... |
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| My jeans got a little wet...and then I dropped one of my shoes. :( |
Matt's friend, Noel , came along for part of the walk (he took the pictures) and assured me that you could catch sand crabs if you grabbed them just as the water was going back in to the ocean. I had no idea...
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| So happy on the beach! |
We didn't spend too long at the beach, but I loved every second of it! I think I could get used to it... :) We stopped at a little juice bar and enjoyed a sweet berry and coconut concoction before heading home.
Once we got back to the house, Stefan was painting, so we decided to get our canvases out, too, and see what we could come up with... I had originally said I was just going to watch, but of course that didn't last long.
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| Finished products. |
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| These were the "inspriation" for the ones we did |
Once we were done with the paintings, it was late afternoon, and I was determined to see the sun set over the ocean in San Diego. We were too late getting in Friday night and missed it Saturday night, too. This was our only chance. So Stefan told Matt about some secret beach and set us out with a blanket. Unfortunately, it had clouded up by that time. And on top of that, the "secret beach" was closed. We thought we would just go anyways and sneak on to it, but not when there is a padlock! So much for the sun set... :(
After that, the boys hit the hot tub for some relaxing/catching up time...and I hit the futon for a nap! I think I slept for well over an hour before Matt finally woke me up...
The plan for dinner Sunday was for one of Stefan's roommates to cook that night and have a few people over, so we went to the store to get what she ordered: grainy bread, plain yogurt, and a couple of other things. She was going to make some sort of Persian quiche and beet salad or something. Sounded interesting. We also ended up with some cheese and crackers, Girl Scout cookies, and couple of Red Box movies for the night. :)
The cheese/crackers and cookies didn't last long while we waited for dinner and watched the NBA dunk contest. And thank goodness I ate that stuff because I wasn't a big fan of dinner. I ate it, but the quiche was a little too weird for me.
I tried to clean up after dinner, but they wouldn't let me. They just piled everything in the kitchen - which was a disaster - and said the maid would get it the next day, haha. Must be nice! ;)
Ted was the winning movie choice for thie night. Which turned out to be a bad decision. That movie was AWFUL! I fell asleep on the couch during it, but it was so bad the boys couldn't even finish it. I still can't believe it even got decent reviews...
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The plan for Sunday was to have breakfast at some of Matt's friends house not far from Stefan's - a guy he used to work with and his wife. But we got a text late Sunday night that said one of their little girls was throwing up so we might have to cancel. That turned out to be a false alarm. Since she was fine Monday morning, we went over for breakfast.
They had an amazing house in a gated community - one Matt referred to as his "dream home" - and two of the cutest little girls I've ever seen, Ellie and Finnley. Mike was making breakfast when we showed up and the girls were helping: pancakes - made in the shape of our initials - scrambled eggs, and bacon. It was all delicious, and they are such a fun couple!
After dinner, Ellie just rolled out a little chair and started setting her "spa stuff" out. She was giving me a hand massage/manicure. It was hilarious. She rubbed some lotion on my hands, kind of rubbed them a little, and pretended to push my cuticles back with a little wooden stick. When she was done, Finn wanted her turn and rubbed some lotion on with the stick, too... Then Ellie put on a dance show for us to a Katie Perry song. I had to try HARD to not bust out laughing. It was hilarious, but she was so serious and dramatic. :)
We sat around and chatted for awhile with them - looked at some old pictures of matt's San Diego days with his long hair - and really enjoyed our time there. They are just great people. A really cool family. :)
From there, we set off to check out Stefan's new office building and say good bye to him. Then it was time to see some more of San Diego in the last hours we had before our evening flight. First stop was Coronado Island and the famous hotel there, Hotel Del Coronado. We found a spot to park along the street and walked to the hotel, which had a huge beach!
We stopped at a local ice cream place and got some delicious ice cream for a snack, and checked out a book store, too. Just wandred around the cute streest for awhile.
The drive alone just to get to Coronado Island was pretty cool. Going over the big bridge you can see downtown San Diego and the ocean, etc. I couldn't get a picture because I was driving, but I still snuck a few peeks.
Next stop was Balboa park, near the very packed zoo. We got semi-lost - just a small detour, really - and then lucked out with a good/free parking spot again. We walked around the area, which was much bigger than I was anticipating and very busy. (I guess everyone else was trying to get out to enjoy the perfect weather, too.) We walked to a fountain and then by some museums (botanical gardens were closed). Saw dogs wearing visors and sunglasses, and got to hold a parrot!
Our last stop in San Diego before heading to the airport was Point Loma. We had to back track to get to it - we had already driven by it that day - but we had just enough time to get over there, check it out, and make it back to the airport.
However, we couldn't exactly find what we were looking for there. We drove around and out to what we thought was "the point" but it was part of a military base or something and you had to pay to go to it. Not happening. Not since we only had a couple of minutes to spend there. So we turned around and drove back to check out Point Loma Nazarene University - where Matt could of gone to school for free. After seeing the campus and stopping at the Sunset Cliffs Park (basically part of campus), I think he made a mistake not going there instead!
We didn't stay there long. Had to stop for gas, return the car, and take the shuttle back to the airport. It all went smoothly and our flight was on time. We grabbed some croissants and yogurt to hold us over, and hopped on the plane for the short flight to Vegas.
Once we landed in Vegas, we didn't see our flight to KC on the board, and we had a little layover, so we sat down at a new PF Changs for dinner. Much better thanthe bagel we usually get there. Once we were there - taking our time - we still couldn't find our flight. We realized then that there was problem. I don't know how we coudln't find it, but by the time we asked at a Southwest desk and found the gate, we were the last ones on the plane. Which meant the only tow seats remotely close together were in the very last row of the plane - acorss the aisle from each other! I was SO mad I didn't get to sit by / sleep in him on the long flight home! :(
It was a rude awaking to be back in KC. We went for 70 degrees in San Diego, to 30 degrees and snow in KC. Yuck.
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| Freezing back in KC |
San Diego is an awesome city and my first trip there was so much fun. It's definitely on my list of places I think I could live - at least for a few years. I might be working on Matt to look for jobs out there now... :)
