so cal, so cold

my mother and i had been wavering on where to take our next little trip. airline prices at christmas were higher than thanksgiving, naturally, and i didn't have many vacation days available so we settled on something domestic. we decided to do southern california, figuring that it would be a nice warm destination. well it turned out the joke was on us because the entire time we were there the region was experiencing a cold snap. (meanwhile it was an unseasonable 80+ degrees in south carolina.) still, it was a perfectly pleasant trip and we managed to see quite a bit.

san diego's architectural mix

we flew into san diego, coming in just over the tops of the buildings in balboa park, lit up in blue. we were shocked to see just how close the airport is to downtown on the map. even more dramatic is when you seem to be skimming the tops of the buildings downtown or - on the flip side - when you're driving downtown and huge planes seem to come out of nowhere and be right overhead. the proximity of the airport to the city was quite handy, since we landed close to 11pm. our hotel was quite close, in little italy. what was most striking about the city was the way little old victorian houses were peppered among high rises and office modern apartments.

islamicate stucco and snapdragons. i'm a fan already!

the next day we were up bright and early in search of breakfast. a few blocks away was a little italian place that sounded nice. it did not disappoint - the friendly staff were chattering to one another in boisterous italian and the food was delicious. everything tasted authentic - from the baguettes to the mozzarella (yes we got breakfast paninis). my chai latte was quite tasty too. we were able to sit outside only because there was a nice little sunbeam - otherwise it would've been just too cold. there was a little bikeshare station just across the street that i'd been eyeing and the park didn't look too far away so... we went for it. turned out the path to balboa park (by bike anyway) was a bit farther than i thought and involved several hills and passing interstates. we did make it eventually though (my mom was a good sport) and turned in our bikes before catching a handy trolley to the other side of the massive park. (the signs advertise that the park has 17 museums - so already i'm intrigued.)

i do love arch. that seems islamic!

we arrived in what seems to be the epicenter of this gigantic park - the stretch with several museums surrounded by a central fountain and open square with friendly umbrellas and chairs. we had a bit of time before we were meeting my friend so my mom and i explored the museum of man (a natural history museum, for the most part), part of which includes a tower that looks very much like a minaret. (i'm a fan!) we picked a few exhibits to explore fully - there was one small exhibit about monsters around the world that was great (putting my museum educator hat on now) for kids, although there was plenty of information for adults too. we also enjoyed another exhibit on evolution that was incredibly thorough.

lovely architecture and palm trees - classic combo

by now it was getting close to lunch time. we weren't far from the japanese tea gardens, where we had planned to meet my friend kelly. my mom was excited to see her too, as she was an old friend from high school who my mom had known fairly well. we eventually found one another and settled in for lunch at basically the only nearby restaurant. luckily it was pretty tasty and not outrageously overpriced. we caught up and discussed her new post there - she only arrived a few months ago and hasn't had much time to explore the city yet, what with defending court martials for the coast guard and all. after our leisurely lunch kelly was eager for a nap so we parted ways, her to make the walk back to her place, and us to keep exploring this park.

lovely persian ceramics

our next stop, and most anticipated, for me anyway, was the art museum. our first stop was a small collection of california watercolor landscapes by james hubbell. i really enjoy bright little watercolors like those - although i may have appreciated them even more after we'd been to the desert. the main exhibition was called 'the art of music' - and, truly, it was one of the best exhibitions i've seen in a while (and, frankly, i see a lot of exhibitions). they really explored the idea of music from all angles - from literal inclusion of music in works of art to musical instruments that serve ritual or spiritual purposes, to the influence of jazz on artists like matisse or ragas on indian miniature painters. it was truly global in scope - no continent was overlooked. and in several instances they included recordings of certain nearby instruments that could only be heard when you were below a discrete sound cone. towards the end there was a station where you could create your own work of art while listening to jazz music, provided via headphones on the wall. i love it! the collection was smallish but also quite nice, with a lovely little gallery full of beautiful islamic ceramics and upstairs some pretty colorful postmodern paintings of paris. by this time my mom was flagging so i went downstairs to explore the shop (of course) and head out. i could've stayed a bit longer but overall i left quite satisfied.

bye bye, balboa

i could have stayed in the park a bit longer - going down to explore the japanese tea gardens or the mingei international museum (which had a very promising shop) but my mom was spent, and worried about how we were going to get back to the hotel. uber to the rescue! it was my mom's first time experiencing the app and i think she was smitten. about twenty minutes later and we were back in our hotel room with our feet up on the bed. so far san diego had offered up bikes, islamicate architecture, and lots of museums. check, check, and check. so far, so good, san diego.

kelly's nap turned into an evening so we were on our own for dinner. we strolled the streets of little italy. did anyone else know that san diego had a very authentic little italy? well, i didn't. it was so thorough that i think it might've been hard to find a place that wasn't italian. both places we had been recommended were closed (oh, it was christmas eve, didn't i mention?) and the rest were packed. we found a little place that was decent enough. we had to sit 'outside', which meant behind a clear plastic curtain and next to a space heater. see, the locals knew it was cold too!

the next day, christmas morning, we were up fairly early so we thought we'd get in a quick walk down to the harbor before meeting kelly. sadly, our great little italian place, being staffed by good italian catholics, was closed so we had to settle for hot cocoa from 7-11 (watery and underwhelming) instead. it was about a 10 minute walk to the harbor and, honestly, it wasn't much to look at - at least that part of it. we made our way back up and over to kelly's apartment - amazingly about two blocks from our hotel. we admired her incredible apartment - somehow she lucked into the penthouse! - as we enjoyed the breakfast she had sweetly assembled for us.

hungry hungry polar bear

our plan for the day was to go to the zoo, one of the few attractions open on christmas day, which of course makes it also one of the most crowded. so we made it back to balboa park and into the famed san diego zoo. kelly got in free with her military ID but for my mom and me it was 50 bucks. i was skeptical that any zoo could be worth that but we set off. it was certainly a nicer zoo - lots of vegetation and very big and naturalistic habitats for the animals.we started with the penguins - diving and swimming amazingly fast. then we made our way through the reptile cages (so many kinds of snakes!) and past some colorful macaws.

cable car.. things? chair lift? hanging buckets? i don't know.

the highlight was probably the polar bears, since one happened to come right over to the corner we were at and playfully munch on his soggy lettuce under the water. we made it to the elephants (they seemed very far away) and saw some monkeys and flamingos. and of course we rode the chair lift/cable car things - what do we call those?? the one area was skipped was the pandas. for some reason there was a line snaking in and out for yards and yards - there must have been 1000 people in that line. at least. we figured no wait was worth that - especially when at the end there was no roller coaster but the off chance you might see a panda not sleeping. pass! we snacked on some pretty tasty nachos before we left - not bad for zoo food. overall it was a very nice visit. but was it worth the 100 dollars? i'm just not sure. honestly, the riverbanks zoo in columbia rivals this one easily.

the view from the penthouse

we made our way back to the city and each had another rest before meeting up for the evening. this meant (as usual) mom napped off and on while i watched whatever christmas movies were on tv. after an hour or so i made my way to kelly's so we could have a glass of wine and catch up. this was made even more pleasant by her fireplace and floor to ceiling windows where we could watch the sunset over downtown. after a bit my mom joined us and we had a bit more wine before leaving for our fancy christmas dinner.

part of del coronado's light extravaganza

the dinner was across the water on coronado islamd. the famed hotel, aptly named hotel del coronado, is something of an institution. the place was massive - and full of families doing the same as we were. we stopped for the requisite picture at the famous christmas tree (i'm told it's where all the local go to get their yearly christmas photo taken.) the island itself is quite exclusive, with fancy houses and upscale shopping areas. we took kelly's word for it as we didn't see much in the dark. we made our way through the huge hotel facilities, past the courtyard and the skating rink (yes, in san diego) to our dining area. we opted for the least fancy of the three options, although the meal still came out to a pretty penny. eighteen dollar caesar salads! the meal itself was lovely and we were fully stuffed with chilean sea bass and risotto and all kinds of other lovely seafood. we made it back to kelly's and sampled the desserts she had kindly bought the day before. i was too tired even for a last glass of wine so we said our goodbyes and made it the two blocks back to our hotel.

didn't know what dahlias were, but they're lovely

the next morning we were up early again and ready to hit the road. before we left we thought we'd better get one last breakfast at pappalecco, our favorite italian cafe. just along our path was the local farmers market, with vendors just finishing setting up their booths in the bitter cold. (seriously, i'm not just being whiny, it was about 38 degrees.) it was a lovely market, with all kinds of wonderful california produce (oranges and tomatoes and avocados), gorgeous (and surprisingly affordable) flower bouquets, and of course lots of hippie goodies - kale this and superfood that. we got some hand-painted postcards of SD (complete with low-flying planes!), a few apples, spice mixtures, cookies for later, and two lovely woven baskets. it was a really wonderful little market - i can't recommend it highly enough.

from there we were set out into the desert for the next leg of our trip...