Well, we're home. It's really cold and moist here! When we drove into town last night we were wearing shorts and t-shirts. We got quite a shock when we got out of the car and were hit with the cold San Francisco wind. Ugh, I didn't miss that.
So... our trip. We drove to San Diego via Palm Springs and the Salton Sea. Mike had never seen Palm Springs and was curious. It was as I remembered it; full of palm trees and well-heeled people. We didn't stop, we just drove through. When we got to the city limits of Coachella, I suddenly remembered the Anthony Bourdain episode where he had a date shake in Indio. Too late! We missed the date shake place.
I had read about the Salton Sea and was curious to see it. I wanted to see it for the same reason why I want to see Detroit. I'm interested in decay. I don't know why. The Salton Sea may be a depressing environmental disaster, but it's a fascinating disaster.
We stopped at Desert Shores, Salton Sea Beach, and Salton City. We drove around and looked at the ruined buildings and took photographs. Some people still live in these places within ramshackle trailers and mobile homes. And oddly, there was a large amount of newly built homes in Salton City. I don't know why anyone would want to live there. It's not a very nice place and stunk to high hell from all the dead fish.
We arrived in San Diego around 4. San Diego drivers are awful! There were several times where we were almost killed. I had to pull over and let Mike take over, I was so freaked out.
A friend recommended we stay in Little Italy at the boutique hotel La Pensione. We stayed in a very stylish room on the third floor. There was a balcony that overlooked the Little Italy sign and a bunch of little cafes. I couldn't stop sighing with pleasure when I took a hot shower and washed off all the sweat, sunscreen, and bug spray. And that bed! It was so white and fluffy...I felt like I was sleeping in a cloud.
Even better was that we each had our own bed. I was able to stretch out and hog all the covers and kick all I want. Yes!
We walked over to the Gaslamp District for dinner. It was not what I expected. I thought it would be a quaint little historical district with a few small quiet eateries. No. It was a huge area jam packed with loud people. It seemed to be the San Diego party zone. I was okay with that. After spending several days surviving on peanut butter and jelly eaten while driving and gas station jerky, I was ready for a nice dinner amongst a crowd of people. We walked around for about 45 minutes, trying to decide where to eat. At first I thought I wanted to eat Middle Eastern, but that changed once we saw this beautiful Indian restaurant called Masala. It was more about how the place looked than the food they served. It looked like an exotic palace.
The next day we took the train to Old Town. Again, it was not what I expected. I was hoping to see historical buildings but instead it was just a giant tourist trap full of shops. A guide I had read recommended touring the Whaley House. It was supposedly haunted and quite spooky. It turned out to be a bunch of old stuff behind glass windows. What a rip-off!
San Diego's mass transit is really nice and made me a little jealous. Their trains are so modern and fast. Not like San Francisco's crappy old light rail system that is constantly breaking down and stranding me in subterranean tunnels. But I am not jealous of San Diego's modern, boring architecture. San Francisco has them beat with our beautiful old Victorians.
After Old Town we went to Balboa Park. It was a really neat place. We walked around and looked at the old Spanish style buildings and visited the Botanical Building. There were a lot of really talented street performers we stopped to watch.
Grandma told us that we had to check out Hotel del Coronado. It was really impressive! We thought it was so lovely that we decided to have dinner there. After that, we went for a drink at bar near our hotel called Starlite. It had a 70's space age theme. Very cute.
Yesterday we left for San Francisco. Driving home was AWFUL! There were two terrible traffic jams on the 5. At several points we were at a stand still for an hour. It was a relief to finally get home.
Overall, it was a wonderful trip. The only thing I regret about it is not getting a date shake. We want to travel around the Southwest again soon. There are still so many places we have yet to see.
Check back later to see our photos. I'm going to be uploading them over the next several days.
Thanks for reading!
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