Me Kissing a Human Sized Model of a SeaHorse

Off Hours

So began the rest of my week.

  1. Birch Aquarium at Scripps
  2. Palomar Mountain
  3. The 101 Cafe
  4. La Jolla (The seals were at sea our first visit.)
  5. Carlsbad
  6. corned beef & cabbage at Tom Giblin's Irish Pub

Delaying our arrival at the hotel Sunday nightt was a brief stop at the Birch Aquarium at Scripps. There were fish that had three different physiologies as they matured, fish whose eyes migrated across their faces bunching up both on one side of their noses as they swam side–stroke, sharks, and an extensive exhibit about seahorses.

On what would have been our day off for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, we finished up early and took advantage of the remaining daylight to make the trek to Mt. Palomar. Poor planning kept us from doing any hiking and from seeing the observatory, but experienced much cooler weather, some snow beside the road, deer bounding across the mountainside and curvy roads in and above the clouds.

Me Silhouetted Against the Setting Sun on Carlsbad Cliffs

We had some good meals as we made our way around San Diego. One night we discovered the 101 Cafe where I had perhaps the best malt I've had since Badeaux's in Covington in close running with a Black & White malt I had at 1:30a.m. at the Silver Diner in Rockville with some of my old midnight shift buddies. The meal I will remember the best is my corned beef & cabbage. Maybe by our last night in southern California I was beginning to miss the cold weather and soothed my sorrow by eating some good winter fare.

The meal I ate the lightest was the most memorable for another reason. We decided to eat at an outdoor table at a restaurant in the Gaslamp Quarter. On our drive into town it occurred to me that perhaps an acquaintance of mine who was on security detail at the olympics in Salt Lake City would be in town for the SuperBowl. With my mouth stuffed full of salmon salad I caught a glimpse of him walking past on the sidewalk. Just managing to keep my food in my mouth I was able to attract his attention and confirmed what had only earlier that evening occurred to me.

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