San Diego 9/8, 9/9: Arrival and Locale

Overview
Frank and I joined our college friends John & Sue and Margaret for a vacation week in bright, sunny, seaside San Diego. This is an annual tradition we enjoy in a different city every year. An overview follows, divided up into series of blog posts about our adventures. The first two days and last two days are paired in one post but all other days have one post each.

Fri      9/08     Arrival and settling in 
Sat      9/09     Market and locale
Sun     9/10     San Diego Model Railroad Museum, MOPA, Timken
Mon    9/11     SEAL tour
Tue     9/12     Midway
Wed    9/13     Fleet Science Center
Thu     9/14     Maritime Museum and Hop-on-hop off Trolley
Fri       9/15     Departure

Arrival - Friday, September 8th
Frank and I landed at the San Diego airport around 3:00 pm at Terminal 1 for Southwest and Margaret arrived within 15 minutes of us in Terminal 2 for United. We met midway between the two terminals to share a taxi to our VRBO. Along the route Frank and I paused briefly to admire the highly detailed bas-relief of an octopus, along with other textural images, adorning the outdoor concrete walls of the airport.

Once we had our luggage, we crossed a pedestrian bridge over lanes of traffic to get us in the correct location to hail a taxi. The "windows" looking out to either side of the span were quaint and added a comical touch.

Settling In
Our rental villa was a deeply colored teal-blue, impossible to overlook, in a section of San Diego called Little Italy, walking distance to many restaurants and sites. We were on the second floor; the window triplet to the left looked out from common living area.

I jokingly said we should call our home-away-from-home for the week the "Halfway House". Certain decorating artistic accents seemed to like dividing items in half: a painted ladder, a painted stool, and even a table with a ½ " gap down the center. Initially, we thought the gap down the center would pose a problem for doing jigsaw puzzles, but we used the kitchen island counter instead and it worked out fine.

The bathroom associated with Frank's and my bedroom had a walk-in, sill-less shower that amazingly worked well with a sufficiently slanted floor that kept the water in. A skylight overhead was bright enough that in the daytime neither Frank nor I could remember if we had turned the light on or off. Our twin windows looked out at a dog park. The playful romping of the dogs was fun to watch and brought smiles to our faces. We could also watch the canine antics at another angle from the common area. The happy yips were a joyful addition to our stay and not at all abrasive or offensive. The dog park was a plus that added to the ambience. Since it was so near, I used it as a reference point in a map of the restaurants we walked to for meals.

From the top down in the following map:

Little Italy Dog Park to Mona Lisa 9 min (0.4 mi)
Little Italy Dog Park to Mimmo's 5 min (0.2 mi)
Little Italy Dog Park to Frost Me Cafe and Bakery 3 min (0.1 mi)
Little Italy Dog Park to Queenstown Public House 4 min (0.2 mi)
Little Italy Dog Park to Claim Jumper Steakhouse & Bar 16 min (0.7 mile)

When we arrived on Friday, John & Sue, who had arrived a few days earlier to meet with relatives in the San Diego area, told us to keep our distance. They'd had a 24 or 48 hour bug from which they were recuperating. We just chatted for a while and then went out to dinner at an Italian restaurant called Mona Lisa. The food was great and plentiful; I had fantastic chicken parmigiana. There was enough for me to take home for another meal. The pictures on the wall sparked conversation, especially the oval ones with convex "bubble" glass such as the example shown. I looked into those type of photos and learned that not only is the glass curved but also the photo behind it. Here are some key points from the website https://www.inlineovals.com/blog/a-brief-history-of-convex-glass/

Convex glass, also known as bubble glass, is a type of framing in which the glass is curved outward... Between the years of 1880 and 1940, these convex portraits were considered very trendy for your home. Although a complicated process, and one that can not be duplicated today, these portraits were considered a luxury... They are always going to be in a circular or oval in shape... The glass is curved, but the original photograph is as well. The glass is bent by adding heat to make it droop.

We relaxed back at the rental for the remainder of the evening, sharing memories of old times. We discussed what we would do the next day, keeping plans loose in case we needed to accommodate low energy levels from traveling or being ill.

 

Market and Locale - Saturday, September 9th
Frank and I awoke the next morning to see a series of tents erected along the street. It was the weekly Farmer's Market with food and craft items for browsing. Little Italy is really dedicated to maintaining a pedestrian environment. I walked the length of the line of tents with Sue in the morning.

 

I convinced Frank to join me for a while as I pointed out that crafts that caught my eye.

I showed this lamp to Frank thinking it would be perfect for our grandson and his dad who are avid Star Wars fans. I said a green light saber would be perfect since it is Isaiah's favorite color and we could mail it directly to him. Thinking Frank would talk me out of purchasing this unique, possibly white elephant, gift, I was amazed when he said, "But aren't they dueling? Wouldn't you need to buy two?" Apparently, when I told him it would not be coming to our house, he was so relieved, he encouraged the double purchase. They arrived in Oklahoma ten days later, and we had one grinning grandson basking in the green (good guys) and red (the dark side) dueling lights.

In the afternoon I broke out a 1000 piece puzzle Frank and I had brought with us. The theme was Harbor Town by Peter Pauper Press and seamed appropriate for our locale. It had special areas and details that could be earmarked for a certain person per his/her choice. We could all work simultaneously without trampling on each others' toes. The large area of the kitchen island was great space or this fun activity.

We also were intrigued by planes flying so low and close to our window. Since San Diego's airport is within the city and has only one runway, the flight path of planes was very near us. Note the airport, indicated as a yellow box off to slight left of middle, and Little Italy, indicated as a yellow box off to the lower right of the following map. The dotted lines parallel the one runway. I kept trying to get a photo showing a plane very large and centered in the window. I kept failing to ready the camera in time, even though we could hear a low hum and get prepared. Many, many scurrying tries later, even with companion help and warning, we giggled as I kept missing. It seems that the human eye perceives things differently than a camera lens. This photo is the best of my many failures. 

That evening we walked to dinner at Mimmo's. The weather was balmy and extremely enjoyable and we dined al fresco at one of the roadside tables shown here. Once again, my order of cheese lasagna and Frank's order of meat lasagna was generous enough to have large portions to take home.

Rail Fair at Ardenwood Farm

Sunday, September 3rd, Frank and I took Alex to a Rail Fair held at Ardenwood Historic Farm. The light, breezy weather was absolutely gorgeous - ever so slightly warm in the sun and ever so slightly cool in the shade. To leave our home in Livermore, pick up Alex in San Ramon, and drive on to Ardenwood in Fremont took just under an hour.

Ardenwood Historic Farm offers a glimpse into life on a family farm between 1890 and 1930. Step back in time as you explore the remnants of the once vast estate of George and Clara Patterson, whose family farmed the land for over 100 years, beginning in the 1850s. East Bay Regional Park District has operated the property as a fully functioning, turn-of-the-last-century farm since 1985.

 

The poster at the entry gate hinted at lots of fun ahead, although it is hard to tell from the serious, determined look on Alex's face.

We stopped off to get some cold drinks and then went on to a model railroad exhibit in one of the first buildings off to our left. Frank eagerly plunged on ahead. Alex preferred to grab a seat on an old trunk near the entrance and thoroughly enjoy the sunshine and his lemonade, a new found favorite beverage of his. Even posing for pictures outside afterward at a photo op spot, Alex's priority was slurping with satisfaction on that all precious lemonade. Of course we bought him at least one more later on during the outing.

After the model railroad exhibit, further straight on were hutches for rabbits and chicks. Alex liked feeding straw to the bunnies. Frank and I were a bit apprehensive about what his reactions would be since his own bunny had passed away only a few weeks earlier. We had worried needlessly; Alex was fine.

We walked on over to the Deer Park Station to catch a ride on a train of ~15 minute duration. The train went up and back and did not do a loop. At the far end passengers needed to disembark and let those waiting at the station board for a ride back in the opposite direction. Rather than walking back we elected to wait for the train to complete another round trip. Then we road it back in the return direction.

Along the way we saw antique farm equipment and old railroad locomotives.

We stood and watched as a train passed by the railroad crossing. The green car pulling the train is "Katie", a diesel locomotive. At either end of the train run, we watched Katie disconnect and move from one end of line of cars to the other end to pull them back in the opposite direction.

The Rail Fair ran from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. We were there from about 11:00 AM until 3:30 PM, leisurely strolling the grounds, having a comfort food lunch of hot dogs and mac 'n cheese. Later we ate home-baked goods for snacks... and lemonade, of course. It had been an enjoyable, low-key outing.