San Diego

I returned from a long weekend in San Diego last night. Glenda and I drove over on Friday and checked into our hotel in Encinitas in the early afternoon, then went out for a look-around and dinner. We were going to go to the Del Mar Fair, but it had ended the weekend before so we just stopped at various places along the beach front. It was a bit windy and many surfers were out on the waves. After dinner, we went back for a soak in the hot tub and dip in the pool before bed.

The comic book convention was in town. Participants took nearly every hotel and motel room in town and made driving on Harbor Blvd a nightmare. Too bad we hadn’t made our plans to attend, but after seeing the people who DID attend, we were just as happy to stay away. Some real weirdos… many dressed as their favorite characters, but many looking like something from outer space in their “normal” attire. We saw body piercings, chains, striped socks, purple hair, bare backs, etc. Come to think about it, that was probably normal attire for the harbor area in San Diego, ComicCon or not!

On Saturday, we rented bicycles and rode up and down the boardwalk and over to Mission Bay. The thing that interested us most were the homes and rentals, and trying to find out how much they were going for. There were some beautiful homes in the hills that started in the low one million, others overlooking the water that were two million and up, and the small condos along the waterfront rented for $300-$1200 a day in the summer. We wondered how people could afford to live there and decided there must be more money in comic book collecting and selling than we thought!

On Sunday, we went to Seaport Village to walk around the shops (didn’t buy anything except a doodad for the kids), looked over the Aircraft Carrier Museum, and went over to Old Town Historic Park. This is where it all began, and many of the buildings have been restored. We saw a real Wells, Fargo & Co. stagecoach. It was fascinating to find that 18 people could ride across the country in one small coach, and we were exhausted just thinking about it. Sitting upright for days on a hard bench as it rattled over raw land just seemed unendurable.

We listened to a book on tape (We Were The Mulvaneys – it was good) on the way home and pulled in just after 10 last night. I’ve posted some pictures on my gallery. I have today off to unpack, do laundry, see the kids and prepare to go back to work tomorrow. We’re in the last hard push of the project and I’m working 12 hour days for the next several weeks. Sure looking forward to my sabbaatical!