Entries tagged with san diego

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San Diego, last day

Last day of the meeting went well--the sticky issue of earlier in the week has been put aside for brainstorming on later, so we prioritized lists of things, looked at a demo or two, and had some general discussion on how the group has been functioning. After leaving the office, most everyone assembled at the hotel bar for a happy hour, and Bill A., head of the program office that sponsors this committee, joined us--he'd been in the meeting off and on, as he's based here in SD.

Eventually a group of 7 of us set off for dinner, and ended up at Bali Hai, a Polynesian restaurant on Shelter Island, close to the hotel. Despite tourist-trap decor, the food was quite good, though neither my entree (grilled pork loin with an orange-hoisin sauce) nor dessert (macadamia nut brownie with coffee gelato) was exceptional. Maybe 'perfectly acceptable' is better for the food descriptor. The view was again wonderful--another angle on the SD harbor, as dusk settled in and the downtown lights came on across the water.

We dropped Chuck at the airport, as he's taking a red-eye flight out tonight. The rest of us dribble out over tomorrow morning--I have a 9:15 flight, and will catch the hotel shuttle to the airport around 7:30.

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San Diego, Wednesday

Let's see...weather's still beautiful. Meeting is going smoothly--we almost stopped at 3:30 today when we got through the afternoon's agenda, but went back to revisit a snarled issue from yesterday instead. That remains snarled, though.

Then it was off to the harbor cruise after a quick stop at the hotel. We got the 5:30, 1-hour tour of the south harbor. (Snippets of "a three-hour tour" were sung as we walked...and we wondered if any boat tour operator dares offer a three hour tour anyway.) That was nice--mostly views of Navy ships and installations, this being a huge Navy port. Coronado was pointed out as the very upscale place to live--"the admirals' island"--and the restaurant where Linda and I ate Sunday was pointed out for its interesting split roof. We hadn't noticed that at the time...

After the tour we all headed to The Fish Market restaurant, which had also been pointed out on the tour. (Yes, I imagine there was financial compensation for the advertising.) There we split into two groups, one at "Top of the Market", the upstairs section, and the other at the main level Fish Market. "Top" turned out to be the more upscale, and that's where I ended up in a group of 8. Lovely views of the harbor, and lovely food. I had grilled scallops on garlicky broccoli rabe with grilled tomatoes and roasted potatoes, the scallops and tomatoes sprinkled with a tapenade. Really, really good.

We had a nice stroll back along the water to the cars, as we had misjudged and parked some distance from the boat tour location. That took us by the USS Midway, now a museum, and the Star of India, the HMS Surprise, and more of the SD Maritime Museum's collection. Oh, I could spend a long time being a tourist in SD!

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More San Diego

And it's been another lovely day in San Diego, though with unusual (I gather) clouds in the morning and evening. Temps are in the mid-70's, cooling to the 60's after sundown. My supervisor called today (wanted permission to give my personal cell number to a co-worker who flew in for the meeting today) and said Atlanta was in the 90's with thunderstorms to keep the humidity high. I'll take SD even with clouds.

Meeting went smoothly today, ( Visiting with Gail )

( Post-prandial activity: in search of beach )

Anyway, it was very pleasant, and much better timing for dinner and exercise for my preferences than last night. Tomorrow we are having sandwiches brought in for lunch to have a round-table discussion with any of the local office staff who are interested, and after work most of us are going on a harbor cruise/tour. Only an hour--my predilection for sea-sickness should hold off that long in protected waters. I hope.

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Back from the zoo

I'm back from the San Diego Zoo visit, and it was wonderful! Write-up will have to be later though, as I joined my work compatriots for a dinner excursion that went a lot later than I wanted to be out and I need to go to bed.

The dinner excursion involved a caravan of 3 vehicles to Pacific Beach, struggles to find parking during which one car got separated and we never met back up with them, a longish walk on the beach to satisfy those who wanted exercise (I'd had plenty at the Zoo, but...), then a longer search for a place to eat that met mixed requirements. Lynn needed either a patio seating so he could keep his dog nearby, or would take her back to his car. Linda wanted "grab and go". Chuck and Ron weren't sure they wanted to eat at all for the sake of their waistlines, but as it got late, they got hungry. Nobody wanted fancy, but nobody wanted fast food. John wants cheap (he'd have accepted the fast food options.) We eventually found a Pizzeria Uno with a patio, made a few remarks about coming to San Diego to a) eat in a chain restaurant and b) eat Chicago-style pizza, and had dinner about 8:30 PM. Add in a rather circuitously navigated route back to the hotel, and we didn't get back until almost 10. If tomorrow's dinner plan is similar, I'll opt out and walk to something near the hotel.

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San Diego time

And it's time for the other national committee I'm on to meet, and the chosen location is San Diego. The official meeting starts Tuesday (a subcommittee I've been careful to stay away from is meeting Monday), but I came out today because I've never been to San Diego, and I want to go to the zoo.

( Starts smooth, then there was that turn for Albuquerque... )

( Long wait for a car )

( Met up with a friend, and we wander to Coronado )

Tomorrow it's off to the zoo.