The Farewell Tour of San Diego

Well, en route to Nashville, we have concluded one crucial step of the preparations. We just wrapped our Farewell Tour to San Diego. We had the propaganda weather that we never had when we actually lived there, and it was just perfect for playing on the beach in the mornings. It was so clear that there was a really terrific view of the point (Point Loma) in one direction and the Hotel Del Coronado in the other.




























I never did put William in his bathing suit because, unlike all those brave (or deluded; take your pick) tourists who were also staying at the Navy Lodge on Coronado with us, I used to live there and I know all too well how chilly it can get on the beach. Also, the water is ice cold. I walked William down to the water and let him dip his tootsies in the surf, and that was about as much as either of us was willing to take of that.

So we played on the sand mostly.


















It was a little hard to say a final goodbye to San Diego. I mean, I won't miss the desert and 29 Palms, but San Diego is special. We lived there for two years and then visited for another four, so I feel like I really know the city. I'll miss eating lobster burritos at El Zarape, our favorite neighborhood hole-in-the-wall, and I'll miss gazing at the Pacific ocean from the car window or a seat in a cafe. We haven't lived there for awhile, so it's not like we're really leaving San Diego. But yet, we are. Who knows when we'll get back to visit again? It's not that we aren't dancing with joy at the prospect of moving to Nashville (because believe me, we are!). But we have a lot of good memories from San Diego. David asked me to marry him at sunset on a rocky bluff at Sunset Cliffs, and we've licked dripping ice cream cones countless times on the patio at the Hotel Del Coronado. We'll miss it. I told William that he may not remember the times we've taken him to San Diego, but I will. And I'll tell him about playing on the beach and visiting the zoo.

Speaking of the zoo...














I took William to the zoo on Wednesday morning, and all I can say is, what a difference a couple of months makes. He not only stayed awake the entire time we were there, but he was really engaged with watching the animals. He was fascinated by the polar bear that sat right by the glass, and he pointed excitedly and wiggled and strained in my arms when we walked around the giraffe yard. He seemed to recognize the monkeys from the monkeys in his books, and he stared at the panda in the tree for a long time, with wide eyes. In the picture above, he got up close and personal with a peacock. I'm not sure he understood what it was, but he sure did recognize the two ducks that kept parading by his high chair when it was lunchtime. I had a hard time getting him to eat his yogurt and mandarin oranges because he kept whipping his head around to find the ducks. "Du! Du!"

We had one last final meal with our friend Kristin, who we will dearly miss. And yes, I took William to eat at the Hotel Del Coronado, too. I'm glad that William and I tagged along with David while he did the transitional class for the Navy. It was a nice week. Well, except for the fact that William never went to sleep until we turned out all the lights; he just stood there in his Pack n Play and babbled in his happy little baby voice. But the lack of sleep did take its toll. By Friday night, William was standing there, weaving from side to side, with his eyelids at half mast, but he was determined to outlast us, by George. Finally I snapped off the lamp, and he hit the PnP mattress with a thunk a minute later. Poor little guy. He just didn't want to miss a second of his last trip to San Diego, I guess.

Isn't it funny, though, how we've yearned for so long to leave, and now that we're really leaving, we're realizing that we're going to miss some things about California?