San Diego

Back in "civilization" it seems the highlights are all food related. That seems a little decadent, but when you remove shopping from the city, and you don't have time for the zoo, what's left? Maybe I'll have to start visiting museums.

I did visit a Borders bookstore but left when they refused to give me a washroom token because I hadn't bought anything. I can see having that rule so you don't turn into a public washroom, but that kind of rule should be meant to be broken, not followed to the letter. Not that I'm a good customer, I almost never buy paper books any more, I just use bookstores to browse. For example, I saw the latest William Gibson was released so I turned around and bought it on my Kindle. Originally, I didn't think being able to buy books on my Kindle anywhere in the world was a big deal. But it's turned out to be a really nice feature. Although for me, wifi would be just as good as cellphone. In fact, some places I could get wifi where I couldn't get cellphone data. (like Cabo Pulmo)

Anyway, back to food (and drink). My first priority was a good latte. I checked Yelp (a useful app) on my iPhone and decided to try Coffee and Art. It turned out to be a tiny place with not much seating and I almost didn't stop. But I'm glad I did - the latte was great and the photographs (the art) were nice too.

My caffeine craving satisfied, food was next on the agenda. Since I was in the Gaslamp district I decided to try out Zanzibar, a place I'd seen on my last visit. And I like the name :-) I had a great vegetarian chili with cornbread and a nice salad.

I had planned on going for coffee again in the afternoon, but for some reason I didn't feel like more coffee. Maybe I need to rebuild the size of my coffee appetite. But hey, I'm on holidays, I can go for a glass of wine instead :-) I ended up back in the Gaslamp district at Chloe's for a glass of flavorful California Bordeaux-style Meritage.

I browsed Yelp looking for somewhere to go for supper. In the end I decided to go to an old favorite, Indigo, rather than trying somewhere new. It was good as always, although the portions are way too big for me. Usually you can count on smaller portions at more expensive restaurants but that doesn't seem to apply at Indigo. Shelley and I have got in the habit of sharing so we can sample more dishes, but that doesn't work when I'm on my own. Indigo serves a west coast fusion, blending Mexican Oaxaca spices with Pacific foods like salmon. I had their Good Things Growing, a vegetarian option with everything from tofu to squash to chili relleno.

For breakfast this morning I headed to my favorite Brickyard for a breakfast burrito and a latte. The sparrows were out in force. I can't help but smile when I see them hopping around so cheerfully. (anthropomorphizing, I know)

Then on to the train to continue my northward journey. To break up the trip a little I'm stopping in San Luis Obispo. It sounds like an interesting place.