San Diego: Two Months of Booze and No Sleep Finale

 ‘Twas a weekend in San Diego… and, as always, my heart was captured by the place. From the bay to North Park, Little Italy to the Gaslamp quarter, Ocean Beach and back to the bay, beauty abounds, and the cultural and market diversity is astounding. Arriving on Thursday night, I took a $2.50 bus from the airport to my hotel in the bay, it was about a 10-minute ride, and I spent this time talking to a construction security officer from the airport who had just finished work. After check-in, as I was walking to my room, which was down a long and relatively dark corridor, I sensed someone walking behind me. I looked over my shoulder and saw the silhouette of a lady with long hair wearing what appeared to be a horse-riding outfit. Without being able to see her face, I smiled and continued walking towards my destination.

‘How are you?’ asked a silky female voice with an Eastern European accent. It was the silhouette behind me. ‘I am well, thank you, how are you?’ I replied. ‘I am great. Are you walking to your room?’ When she asked this question, I realized that she was carrying a coffee and that her outfit was the hotel uniform. ‘Yes, I am. Are you on a break?’ ‘Yes, I am going back to work now.’ ‘That is good, that means you can show me where my building is if I get lost.’ She laughed at this and asked if I was in Building 3. I was indeed. As it turned out, she was the concierge from Building 3. She was from Moldova but had been living in San Diego for 5 years. I thanked her for her help and went up to my room to drop off my bags.

When I came back down to go and find a place to have dinner and a drink, she was sitting at a little podium at the foot of the elevator. Her face immediately broke into a smile as I appeared, and I felt flattered and fluttered... she had beautiful straight auburn hair that came down to the midway point between her shoulder and elbow. She wore glasses that looked more suited to a schoolteacher from 1960 but, somehow, they made her look loveable. We spoke for one hour or so about life… she suggested some tours and restaurants, and I set off on my way. After drifting around for a while, I decided to brave a bar that was across the street from my hotel and over the water… one that had been suggested to me by the lovely lady at the hotel. I say ‘brave’ because the place looked a little bit on the ‘posh’ side and I dislike places that are often pretentious and full of people dressed up, wearing make-up and a lot of jewellery, trying to impress each other over over-priced cocktails. It turned out to be a mix, but there were plenty of people in shorts and flip flops, so I felt completely at home. I walked over and sat at the bar, astonished by the view over the water and the sun as it was starting to set. I ordered a ‘San Diego IPA’, which was called ‘Celestial Navigation’ and began to settle into the blissful joy of the San Diego evening whilst chatting to the bar staff and a few fellow customers. Sadly, the sunset, as beautiful as it had been, was blocked at its peak by low-lying clouds. Once it had settled in its bed beyond the horizon, and I had consumed a few too many beverages, I decided to make my way back to the hotel.

Arriving back at the hotel, I was greeted by my lovely Moldovan concierge. The grin on both of our faces was beyond that of customer meets concierge. We both knew this. I apologized to her as I was drunk… then I jokingly blamed her as she gave me the free appetizer for the place. Ironically, I went for an expensive appetizer, and it was not free, it was $5 off. I bought it to bring back to the hotel for her. She was delighted.

I awoke at 04:30. Not bad, I thought, as it was 06:30 in my regular time and I had to do some work anyway. Nevertheless, I felt terrible. I was hungover and tired. Too much booze and not enough hours of sleep. The same old story. As it was Friday, I cancelled my meetings and converted them to a live chat, and once things had settled, I took a walk to the Gaslamp Quarter, where I had stayed on my previous visit to San Diego, to go to my favourite breakfast place – Lucky’s Lunch Counter. Walking through the area I had a brief moment in which I wished I had stayed there again, but I quickly realized that where I was this time was just as good if not better. I was a short walk from Little Italy and right on the bay. I had an omelette at Lucky’s, which was delicious, but I sadly got bitten by some furious mosquitoes. My intention was to work from the central public library after breakfast, but I had arrived too early, it was a while before opening time, and it didn’t look too inviting in the streets, so I took the trolley back to my hotel and worked from there. I had a quiet lunch at Hazlewood’s deli and then took a nap.

Awaking from the nap, I went downstairs to get some water, and as I emerged from the elevator, sleepy and dishevelled, there was the concierge girl, Miss T. Her face burst into a smile, and she said my name aloud. We spent over an hour chatting in the lobby. I think some guests were dismayed to see us chatting so much. I eventually excused myself to shower and prepare to go to see Bad Religion.

The Uber to the venue was smooth and my driver was giving me guidance as to where I could find the best Mexican food in San Diego (and Mexico). The show itself was brilliant as always when Bad Religion play. Their shows are the perfect blend of punk rock chaos and complete professionalism in terms of performance. The crowd moshing and surfing as Dr. Greg Graffin delivers words of scientific wisdom and the band plays at a heart stopping pace. I was also surprised, when I first arrived, at the youth and beauty within the audience… but the reason for this became apparent when the opening band, Speed of Light, took to the stage. They were young, good looking, full of energy, and delivered a solid rock performance. The Uber home from the show was not smooth. My driver began to panic when she discovered that the highway we needed to take was closed. I tried to calm her and tell her that the GPS was guiding us further along to a point where we could turn back onto the highway, but she started to drive faster and make erratic turns. I put my seatbelt on and hoped for the best. Miraculously, 30 minutes later, after what should have been a 10-minute journey, I arrived safely at my hotel.

In the morning I upset myself by watching English soccer. Pain eternal. Then I walked across the street and boarded a boat in the harbour for a 2-hour harbour cruise. The harbour cruise is always my favourite thing to do in San Diego. Just being out on the boat on the water is special in itself, but the history and the sights along the cruise are spectacular. Coronado island, Coronado bridge, the naval base, Navy ships, helicopters, and jets, as well as lazy sea lions basking in the sun. At 11:30am I am bought a beer and sipped it on the roof deck of the boat as we cruised with a view of the city skyline. I was the first to buy an alcoholic drink. After me, however, there seemed to be a rush to the bar. It was as if I had declared it okay to have a drink.

In the evening I wrote a note to Miss T and placed it inside of the book that I had finished reading that morning, Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout. I loved the book, so I wanted to give it as a gift. I had written the note so that I could leave it at the concierge desk and Miss T would know who it was from. I walked downstairs and there she was. The usual bright smile. A long conversation. Gratitude. We agreed to meet the following morning for coffee.

In the morning, it was the story of my life… I was 15 minutes early, she was 15 minutes late. This gave me an opportunity to explore Little Italy and I was happy for it, the area is beautiful. Miss T and I explored it again after breakfast and I enjoyed it even more as I was being charmed by her. At one moment, we stood beside a water fountain, and she stood upon a ledge, which made her the same height as me, and we spoke face to face each with a smile on our face.

In the afternoon, as Miss T went to work, I took the trolly and bus to Ocean Beach. I had lunch and drinks at the Ocean Beach Surf Lodge where the bartender initially forgot my drink (he said it was on him due to the time he took, but later charged me for it anyway) and then practically ignored me when beautiful couples walked in and sat either side of me. I paid and left, I waved goodbye but did not even catch the eye of my bartender. I walked next door into a bar called Blue Water, instantly fell in love with the bartender, Tonya, had a beer, and then, as Tonya was finishing her shift, left. As soon as I left, I regretted not asking her if I could buy her a drink. I walked back, hoping to see her, but she had vanished like mist into the hot day. I walked back the few steps to Newport Avenue and went to Ocean Beach Brewery where I climbed to the rooftop and sipped a drink whilst overlooking the beach. I took an Uber back to the harbour and my hotel and spent the evening watching the sunset from the same bar that I found on my first night.

It was a fitting end to two months of celebration that started in Frankfurt, went through Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, Dallas Houston, and ended in San Diego.

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