The view from the top

Wes and I made it to San Diego yesterday after a nice morning with the kids -- some snuggling with Emme, some swimming with Oliver.  Leaving them at my parents' house was much harder for us than it was for them, which is a good thing.  We know they're in good hands with their grandparents, but we miss them just the same.  The flight over was fine is long.  I read an entire book, listened to the woman next to me breathe loudly, and let Wes catch a nap between the captain's unbelievably loud announcements.  We got here around 5pm, which is 8pm eastern time.

The hotel itself is beautiful.  The rooms are nothing fancy -- I've stayed in several hotels that were nicer -- but the lobby is grand and the views from the windows are unbelievable.  We're on the 38th floor.  The windows in our room overlook the harbor, Coronado, and the ocean, and the windows just outside our door overlook the part of the harbor where most of the ships and boats are docked.

We didn't have much time to get out last night.  Wes had a meeting to go to as soon as we arrived, which left me time to unpack, look back through the travel book we bought, and pump after a long eight hours.  We decided to just walk around a little -- mostly along the harbor -- and grab a more relaxed dinner and save our "fancy clothes" for another night.  We ended up at Karl Strauss Brewing Company at Columbia and B Street.  They have their own microbrewery, plus a nice menu.  Wes had the Banh Mi, a Vietnamese sandwich with a nice little kick to it, and I had the Cotija Advocado Turkey Burger, plus we shared a mixed green salad and Rollos Locos, which were great.  We sampled several of their beers, just enough (that is, two!) that I had to -- for the first time while nursing Emme -- dump the milk I pumped when I came back.  We were there for several hours, just sitting and talking.  It was nice.

Wes has a full day today, and I actually have some work to get done before I can play much.  I found a running trail I want to try out, but between the bit of a time difference that's left me groggy and a headache that followed me from the plane (yes, mom, I need to drink more water), I'm skipping today to get some more time on my project instead.  Wes will be done in the afternoon, and we'll either head over to Balboa Park or into downtown or something like that.  Good meals are high on our "to do" list, too.  The weather is amazing -- high 60s, low 70s, and no humidity at all -- and we're enjoying it after the sweltering heat we've been having in the last few days back home.  Oh, and did I mention I slept (on and off) for almost nine hours last night?