Yesterday was my first day off work in San Diego, and it was a beautiful day in sunny California. I got up around 10, expecting to sleep in much later after a long day of work. I left the hotel around noon and walked uphill to an area of town called Hillcrest to deposit my check and enjoy the great weather. I headed back to the hotel an hour or so later, meeting up with my friends Iris, Sara, and Sesha to go explore different areas of San Diego. First, we headed to Old Town, grabbed lunch at a Mexican place, and took a stroll around. Pretty cool little spot. All the buildings were old-fashioned and western, with various little shops and restaurants. As we were walking around I explained to them what a bolo tie was, and that I’d been looking for one for awhile now. Sesha assured me I’d find one in a leather shop if we ran into one. Not two minutes later we came across an old western leather shop and went inside to scope it out. The store was filled with cowboy hats, belts, leather gun holsters, and sure enough, some bolo ties. I found one I liked that was inexpensive and bought it.
After a few hours in Old Town we drove past downtown to beautiful Coronado. Trying to reach the beach, we accidently took a street that dead-ended into a U.S. Naval Base. As we drove up to the checkpoint, Sesha explained to the guards that we simply needed to turn around. Before letting us make a U-turn, they held onto her I.D. I had my camcorder pointed out the window and another guard came up to my window saying, “Hey! You have to delete whatever you’re recording.” I showed him the camcorder and explained, “It wasn’t recording.” We finally turned around, got Sesha’s I.D. back, and all laughed at how serious making a simple U-turn had become.
From there we left Coronado and made our way to Pacific Beach. Once we found a parking spot, we got out and walked the boardwalk along the beach as the sun was setting on the water (the advantage of being on a west coast beach). The boardwalk was bustling with people walking there dogs, jogging, bicycling, skateboarding, rollerblading, and hanging out playing guitar, definitely a different vibe from most Florida beachfronts. As the day started to fade we saw surfers in wetsuits coming in from the water and people throwing footballs on the beach, with the ocean sunset reflecting off the windows of the modern, extremely expensive condominiums lining the far side of the boardwalk. It was quite an atmosphere. It started getting dark so we headed to the mall in Fashion Valley, peeked in a few stores, then drove over to our hotel just on the other side of the interstate.
At the hotel, I took a few minutes to eat a delicious leftover California burrito, then my friends Phillip, Stephen, and I took a cab to go see Phillip’s friends Chantel and Jared, who now live in his old place in San Diego. We hung out there for a bit, walked to a bar nearby for a drink, then drove out to a really cool place called Starlite to meet more of our friends. I tried a special bourbon concoction they had there called “The Colonel” and loved it. After some dancing craziness from my friend Jake, we all piled in his friend’s van and drove out to The Sandbar on Mission Beach. On the ride over, I once again realized that although it can be funny from time to time, I don’t really enjoy the nonsensical babble of people when they’re drunk. At one point Jake turned to me and said smiling, “Don’t judge me, James,” which I find people saying to me fairly often, being the least intoxicated one much of the time. Of course, while I personally don’t agree with getting crazy drunk and things of that sort, I always try to make sure my friends know I love them regardless.
Once inside The Sandbar, we took some time scoping it out, and then Stephen and I teamed up against Phillip and a couple girls we met there Sammy and Shannon for a game of beer pong. I’d never actually played before so it was fun making a few shots and getting the win. Beginner’s luck, right? After the match we moved the table aside, opening up the dance floor. After a few minutes, I heard the DJ calling for a dance battle between Sammy and “the black jacket,” and had several people waving me to the middle. And so the battle ensued. It was a blast; everyone cheered us on over the music. Soon, everyone was on the floor and the dance party went until the bar closed, then the boys and I grabbed a cab back to the hotel after a great night of music and dancing.
