San Diego - October 2017

Patrick and Lauren had planned a trip to Scottsdale.  Unfortunately, Lauren had some work conflicts so we had to re-direct; resulting in a trip for us to San Diego.

Keith, Patrick, Lauren, and Shawna at Children's Beach

We were able to get a 5:30pm flight which was on time, so we easily got in by 6:30pm.  Keith changed clothes at the airport and Patrick picked us up so we could head straight to dinner at Cucina Urbana in Bankers Hill.  The restaurant had a "wine store" where we were able to choose a bottle (or 3!) and then pay a corkage fee.  Lauren met us at 7:15 - by then we were already well into the first bottle.  We shared a few items, including squash blossoms, grilled octopus, pate, Brussel sprouts, and salmon.  We followed dinner with a pint at Princess Pub.

Keith, Patrick, and Shawna on Cowles Mountain

Saturday morning we slept in a bit.  By the time we were up, Lauren was next door at the neighbor's house.  After a couple cups of coffee, we drove over to Cowles Mountain with Patrick for an hour walk.  It was already quite warm but was a nice (albeit highly trafficked) walk.  After a quick shower we headed out to Pioneer Park for a friend's birthday party where we hung out for a couple of hours. We then drove north to White Labs, a yeast / brewing company. They are primarily a yeast company, but have a 20 barrel brew house on site where they brew identical beer other than the strain of yeast - to teach people the effect that yeast has.  It was interesting to taste the flights of beer and sip the difference.  The brewery / yeast tour only took 20 minutes or so.  Following White Labs we headed south to the La Jolla Art and Wine festival.  We walked around the art stalls and followed by a stroll down to the beach where we stopped by Children's Beach and saw seals by La Jolla Cove.  Dinner was at Starlight, a restaurant near the airport.  Dinner included Mac and Cheese, the Grilled Octopus (really good here), Barbacoa Sort Ribs, and the Pan Roasted Chicken.  Dinner was delicious - and in order to continue the night a little bit we headed to Old Town where we had a drink at Casa de Reyes.

Sunday morning we slept in (again!), had a quick California breakfast of avocado toast, and then Patrick took us to the airport.  It was a fun weekend and great to see them again!