This weekend I visited Larry in NY. After a surprisingly good Amtrak ride up Friday night, we went to a Mets game on Saturday,

and then out to dinner Saturday night at a cute little hidden place in Meatpacking called Gin Lane. After that we went to One for a while (and even got a limo ride home).

Sunday I dragged Larry to NJ for Lily’s christening and a Dec family Sunday afternoon.

Monday morning I got another Amtrak back. This one wasn’t so great. We made it to Delaware, and then broke down. They worked on it for about an hour, and then announced that we were going to switch trains. So an Acela pulled up right next to us and we all got ready to “jump ship,” when they announced the the problem was fixed and we would stay on this train. The Acela pulls away and we all get settled again, go about 100 feet and stop again. They annouce there’s now another problem. Great. But they fixed this one quickly and we were on our way again – but at half the speed as normal because of the problems. So 5 hours later, I was back in DC.

Pics from this weekend are here.

The dreaded day had finally come – our last day of vacation. We started Sunday off with breakfast at the Hash House, which is decently well known in San Diego for DECadent food and ginormous portions.

That’s me and my S’mores Latte. Unfortunately, our camera battery died so I couldn’t take pictures of our huge breakfasts but they were great (I had a pancake the size of a small child). When we got back we packed one last time and checked out of the hotel

which, I forgot to mention, had the most poorly constructed shower I’ve ever seen (or used).

No door, just one piece of glass that doesn’t cover the whole shower, so water goes all over the floor. I get the idea but c’mon.

Next on our agenda was the Zoo! We saw Koalas

and elephants

and pandas

Oh My!

Larry was a very good boyfriend for letting me have my fun at the zoo on one of the hottest days in San Diego.

After the zoo we went back and hung out at the hotel. I took a dip in the pool and then we hung out in the lobby lounge for awhile, and then went back to Little Italy for some food. And then we had to say goodbye to San Diego.

The flight back was uneventful. We left on time, Larry slept most of the time, and I watched TV and even managed a small nap. When we got back to NY we slept a few more hours, and then I took my final trip back to DC, to an awaiting Mitzie.

Our Cali trip was 10 days, 4 flights, and over 500 miles of travel. Perfect trip, I can’t wait to go back!

Pics from Day 10 are here.

I also have a collection on Flickr for the whole trip here: http://flickr.com/photos/decla/collections/72157601848785139/

Today was our first full day in San Diego. After a Starbucks run, we attempted to go to Mission Beach. Cool town, but we couldn’t find parking ANYWHERE (Labor Day Weekend again), So we got back on the road and went to La Jolla instead. La Jolla was even nicer. We went to the beach for a couple hours until we couldn’t stand the heat anymore (water here was nicer though).

After the beach we walked around the town for awhile and stopped to have lunch (and watch the end of the Mets game).

That night we went to dinner at a place called Visions which, we know, sounds like a strip club, but had really great food. They had Cakebread wine on the menu, so we got a bottle to cheers to our last night.

After dinner we got a ride home on a pedi cab. Larry sweet talked our driver into letting him drive for a bit, which he did until he crashed into almost hit a parked car. He also talked to the driver all about his life in NY and in finance and, alas, the driver ended the night by ripping us off.

When we got back to the hotel we went to the W Hotel bar for a couple drinks, which is an outdoor bar made out like a beach (read: lots of sand). Then it was off to bed!

Pics from Day 9 are here.