Seaport Village

This afternoon we spent all together at Seaport Village on the San Diego Bay. It's a wonderful place to wander around the shops, along the boardwalk, watching kites fly and boats float. We ate outside on this lovely patio you see below. It was so warm out I was more comfortable on the shady side of the table. A big chance in weather from Susanville!

Joli didn't let her daddy get too far away from her all day.

We ordered this colorful tortilla chips with pico de gallo and guacamole. The chips were both colorful corn tortillas plus a variety of veggie chips - papaya, beet, sweet potato, and a few we weren't able to identify but were still tasty.

Lisa's meal was really pretty too - it was called a "Longboard Pizza" - it tasted as good as it looks.

I might as well finish showing you the rest of our meal - here's my choice, it was a sort of larger noodle spicy peanut pad thai. Joli sampled one of my noodles and then gave me a real chewing out for it after she realized it had a "bite".

Joe had fish and chips. I can't tell you whether it was any good as he'd finished it off before I could ask for a taste. I suspect that's a clue as to it's edibility.

Joli enjoyed a bit of everyone's choices (well, except mine) but she she was just as busy watching the boats, the birds, and the people walking by as she was eating.

We saw lots of people walking dogs. In the duck pond we saw a mother duck with three fuzzy little ducklings. Joli got to pet this parrot.

We all rode the carousel. Joli thought it was awesome. Lisa had taken her on the carousel last week so she knew what to expect and was bouncing up and down trying to make her horse go before it even started.

Look at her silly grin! It reminded me of her Uncle William's signature "shake and smile" gesture. Too much excitement to keep it inside. You can see more carousel photos on Laume's Studio.

We finished off the afternoon at one of my favorite bookstores, Upstart Crow Trading Company. It's not a large bookstore, but it's the kind of bookstore where their selection is hand selected to my tastes. I could pretty much walk in blindfolded, grope about until I found a shelf, select a book and buy it sight unseen - and odds are staggeringly high that it will be a great book. AND, it's not just a bookstore. There's also a lot of unique gifts for smart, book reading, thoughtful people, and a large coffee bar so that we can keep our brain cells primed and ready for extra long hours of reading.

Usually Joli enjoys bookstores as much as her mom and dad (and grammy), but unfortunately the children's book section was in the loft and it was hot and stuffy upstairs, so we took or drinks out to a nice patch of lawn where Joli enjoyed running in circles and entertaining passersby with her adorableness. Here she's waiting for me to growl at her to begin the next chase.

It's been a lovely week. San Diego is a great vacation destination even without family to spend time visiting. I've enjoyed as much of the beautiful weather and wonderful San Diego multi-cultural foods, architecture, and activities as possible. Mostly, I've been soaking up as many hours as I can enjoying Princess Adorable. Tomorrow is the last day of my visit. I'm ready to go home and see my hubby, my William, my Rosie, my own bed - but only if I don't think about how much I'll miss waking up to Joli's happy chatter.