Day 2- San Diego

Friday, July 15

I woke up on Friday feeling rested, but I still had that DARN headache! I recognized this headache. I’m fairly headache prone, actually, and I tend to get this certain type of headache when I’m either: stressed, overtired, lacking caffeine, dehydrated, over-exerted in life or, after having certain alcoholic beverages. So, in many different scenarios. Haha.

In this particular case, I think it was basically a combination of the above. If you’ve been reading this blog, you’ll know my life has been pretty “full” lately. Last weekend was that Backstreet Boys concert (up LATE & out of town, yet again), and then the workweek started and I never caught my breath. I honestly think my body was revolting a little bit to the harried pace I’ve been keeping.

We were supposed to attend a little breakfast from 7:30-9, and then Ivan had a seminar to attend from 9-10.

Originally, I thought I would either workout, go to the hot tub, or maybe even hit the beach while he was at his employees-only thing. I did none of these things.

I actually skipped the breakfast completely (sorry Ivan…he had to go mingle/network with strangers alone), stayed in the room, and had breakfast there. I drank both tea AND a soda (trying to double up on caffeine and a little sugar boost, two things that tend to help my headaches) and took some Ibuprofen.

Thankfully, it worked. Within about an hour my pounding headache lifted completely, never to reappear the rest of the weekend. PHEW. What a relief.

Bike trip around Coronado Island

At 10:30 we had our scheduled “activity” for the weekend. Each couple had their choice of one San Diego guided attraction- the zoo, hiking, kayaking, catamaran, a food tour or biking. We had chosen the bike trip.

This turned out to be an excellent choice! After talking with others, I really think we picked the best one. We took a small group guided tour all around Coronado Island, getting an awesome up-close view of everything. Weather was perfect.

Here is me, getting fitted for my electric-assist bike. This was my first time riding anything but a normal bike, and it was pretty sweet. Not full electric, but just a little “assist” when you pedaled, so it was a breeze. Extremely comfortable seats, too.

We rode along the water, stopping periodically to learn about the area.

Coronado has beautiful homes and is very peaceful. I thought there were many idyllic “California looking” streets.

Coronado Beach area:

A sand artist had a bunch of cool creations lined up along the path:

I didn’t know what the full bike route would be, but I was happy to learn that we’d be stopping at the historic Hotel Del Coronado- a beautiful old hotel on the island, the most famous in the area. Checking this place out was on my short list of things to do, so this saved us from having to squeeze it in later. With such a short trip, time was limited for sightseeing.

We were allowed 10-15 minutes to wander the grounds of this beautiful place.

Hotel Del Coronado:

In a perfect world, I would have had lunch or a drink on their patio. But, we had to settle for just a walk-through.

Beautiful garden area:

It’s quite the place! Very close to the main town of Coronado, AND on the beach, so it’s a prime location for tourists.

There’s also a Navy Seal training center on the island, a little further down. Large stretches of beach and land are blocked off with barbed wire and signs stating, “Property of the U.S. Government”. We biked past the naval base housing, and the water all around San Diego is full of big Navy ships. I believe they actually build the ships right there in San Diego, also.

I would have liked to see the Navy Seals out there training!! I could have yelled stuff at them, like FASTER! CHEST LOWER ON THOSE PUSHUPS! 😁They most likely train at 5 am, though, and I was still in bed. Too bad.

There were pretty golf courses all around, maybe for the rich people that visit and live there. lol. I guess the cheapest 2 bedroom condos on the island start at over $1 million, according to our guide. Will cross “Coronado” off the list of potential places to retire… hehe.

Lunch by the ferry dock

When we finished biking, we were hungry. We found a restaurant near the bike tour office, along the ferry dock.

I am sure there were better restaurants to be found in Coronado, but we didn’t have all day and this place had nice views.

We shared some nachos (yes, more nachos. no, we don’t ever get tired of eating nachos.) and a shrimp ceviche appetizer. These nachos were just okay though. We actually often prefer vegetarian nachos (just beans/ cheese + other toppings, no meat), but went with the carne asada this time. I didn’t love the flavor of this meat, however.

After lunch, we walked the 1 mile back into town to pick up the free shuttle back to our hotel. (Our hotel was located out of town several miles.) There is also a free summer bus on the island that runs from the ferry dock to town, but we wanted to walk this time. Had to let those nachos settle! Besides, it was a beautiful day.

After that, we were running a little low on time. We had to be dressed and ready by 5:30 to head out for a work dinner.

Silver Strand Beach

I really wanted to go to the beach, though, first! Our hotel was located on a marina, with a huge beach on the other side- about a 10 minute walk away. We quickly changed into our swimsuits and hopped on the hotel’s golf cart beach transport.

The beach was nice!! We didn’t go in the water at all, just sat and relaxed in our chairs. I think Ivan dozed off for a bit.

It was a very wide, spacious beach. I wouldn’t call it the prettiest beach I’ve ever seen- mostly just a big flat expanse-, but it’s always wonderful to sit on a beach, for this Wisconsin girl 🙂

Dinner

We had to tear ourselves away to go get ready for dinner. Boo.

Well, not really “boo”. The dinner was great! I don’t mean to complain. I was just enjoying the beach.

We got cleaned up and had to meet in the lobby by 5:30. A coach bus was waiting to take us all to the restaurant in downtown San Diego.

This was a beautiful venue! It was located right on the water, across from the main downtown, so the views were awesome. It was slated as a “casual” dinner (it specifically said “shorts allowed”, which made Ivan happy). I was happy I wore a dress, though, because most women were.

There was a long cocktail hour and we chatted with a bunch of different people.

They had appetizers and an open bar, and then later a really nice (yet casual) dinner. Then a whole dessert bar and coffee/tea. Very nice! I enjoyed this evening a lot.

Back at hotel

They had staggered return rides to the hotel, and we took one of the last rides back.

Back at the hotel, a bunch of people gathered at the lobby bar and continued lingering a while. I loved this fireplace in the lobby- it was a bit chilly by this time of night, so I sat over there for a while.

Eventually we called it a night! Despite the slow start for me, it turned into a really wonderful day.