Cameron and Tori's Adventures Out West: April 2014

For the second weekend of February, Cameron and I (Gambit too!) drove down to San Diego to explore the city for Cam's birthday. Gambit was getting luxury accommodations at the Petsmart in La Jolla while we stayed in the historic Gaslamp Quarter.

While we were dropping Gamby off at Petsmart, we took a few hours to explore UC San Diego (it was literally right across the street from the Petsmart.) We (really me) would like to stay in SoCal after I graduate (in about 2 months, eek!), so we took the opportunity to look at two larger schools (UCSD and San Diego State) while we were visiting to see if we liked the campuses and the area. UCSD is large- much larger than either Cameron or I expected, and quite a nice campus. They're the Tritons (like as in The Little Mermaid's dad), and I actually asked one of my cohort-mates from UCSD why they were the Tritons and not the Tridents or something along that line. These are the important conversations.

After we finished up at UCSD, we tried the Carnita's Snack Shack via recommendation from another foodie in my cohort. We were actually early--they open at 12 and we arrived at 11:45am-- and good thing we were! The closer it got to 12pm, the longer the line wrapped around the block. The snack shack is really a shack- it's a small storefront, but they have a large patio behind it for seating and drinking beer from the patio bar if that's of interest. I got a sandwich that honestly could have fed Cameron and I both, and Cameron got a sandwich that he claimed was rather tasty (it did disappear unlike my sandwich). We also ended up having a long conversation about the stuff I was learning in school- I thought I was on vacation! It was actually pretty nice to talk to Cam about what I was learning and see what his thoughts on the matter were.

Look at the size of that sandwich!

Following lunch we headed to downtown San Diego to check into our hotel. Cameron and I have differing opinions on what constitutes a satisfactory hotel stay (I like my comforts!), but since it was my treat for his birthday, I got to pick the hotel :] I ended up doing an unpublished rated on Expedia. These unpublished rates are usually significantly discounted rates in the desired area; the only catch is that you don't know the name of the hotel that you're staying at. Since it really didn't matter what hotel we were staying at (and the more affordable the better) we I splurged for a nicer hotel in the heart of the Gaslamp Quarter. It ended up being a really good deal; we would have only gotten that price either farther away or a not-so-great-hotel in the area. We were quite close to the water and also the baseball stadium downtown. The Gaslamp Quarter is the historic district of San Diego and has lots of restaurants, bars and nightlife. We drove around in the evening and enjoyed the sights!

Once we checked in, Cameron and I headed to Stone Brewery, which was about an hour or so out of San Diego (this was Cameron's portion of trip planning...didn't go so well). We wanted to do a tour of the Brewery, but once we got there, the tickets for the day were sold out. We actually drove past it on the way in to San Diego; had we known, we could have snagged tickets and then returned. You live and learn. We ended up just parking it at the bar and Cameron had a field day sampling a lot of their beers. We ended up going on a great weekend as it was their Winter Fest (something or other) but they were putting a lot of their specialty beers on tap that were usually in reserve. Cameron tried a bunch of 5-10year old beers and even one brewed with Ghost peppers! I'm not a huge fan of Stone beers, so I happily ordered some dessert and DDed for Cameron once he had his fill. If we ever make it back to San Diego, I know Cam would like to try the tour again and actually have a full meal at the brewery restaurant. They had a nice bier garden, but it was a bit chilly (to me) that day to sit outside in the shade- next time in the summer?!

The last place we managed to go to on the first day (before passing out at the hotel after watching the Olympics for an hour...at 9pm) was going to Old Town. I'm pretty sure Old Town is more of what "San Diego used to look like in Ye Days of Olde" or even potentially the original settlement of San Diego. I'm not 100% sure on this, so we'll just go with Tori has some hypotheses). It was really neat, to say the least. It reminded my a lot of Williamsburg in VA in that they had old storefronts, general stores, stables etc. There was a lot of boutique shopping there as well, so Cameron got his fix of hot sauce shopping and we could see some local artistry. There ended up being a lot more exploring than either one of us anticipated, and by dinnertime rolled around, we were exhausted. I did get freshly made flour tortillas! One of the restaurants made them fresh on their patio and you could buy two for $1 or something comparable. So delicious!

The last day we were at San Diego was dedicated to the Zoo. Before we moseyed over, we ate at Cafe 21 in the Gaslamp Quarter. Holy moly! Crepes! (I love crepes) and it was such a rustic cafe and packed. They made their own infused vodkas which were on display, and they also had some intense Bloody Mary's (one had a HUGE prawn as a garnish!)

Apparently, my family brought my to the SD zoo when I was little, but I have no recollection of it, so it just as much of an adventure for me as it was for Cam. We were there for quite a while-- my favorite exhibit were the Koalas. They each had their own tree! So cute :]

Creepiest animal ever.

It's a Direwolf! Game of Thrones, anyone?

Pumba?!

Balboa Park is where the Zoo is located and we drove the perimeter (there are also lots of museums and structures to visit), but you actually had to walk into the park to see it. I tried to convince Cameron to walk a little with me, but in his words, "not after we just walked all day at the zoo." So, next time, we'll have to explore this area. It was quite picturesque from what I saw, but it'll have to wait!

I've realized that many of the places that I thought I posted about, I haven't. So, as a result, here's a HUGE post about places we've eaten at in the past six months or so. Some have been frequent repeats ~~Fat Sal's, Blockhead's Shavery~~ and some were one-offs. But it's definitely an exploration! We've been to a bunch of other places, but no photos were taken. Memorable recent places include The Park's Finest- Filipino/American fusion BBQ; Connie and Ted's Seafood- a taste of New England in LA! They had great chowder (or chowda as they say); 800 Degrees & Pitfire- individual gourmet pizza places (there's another one close to us that is double the price of 800 Degrees and Pitfire, and not as great to me).

Lobos Truck- I was not impressed. Cameron likes their sides.

Steel City Truck- Cameron was a fan. Coleslaw on a sammy? No thanks.

Corn Truck- Can't go wrong with spicy/cheesy corn on the cob!

Fluff Ice Truck/Store- Cute, but I like Blockheads better. Cameron attests that the truck is better than the storefront.

Blockhead's Shavery- I may be addicted. Cameron thinks so. They have a larger storefront in East LA- I cannot express the joy this discovery gave me.

Public School 310- Everything in this bar/restaurant is school themed! Tres cute!

TLT Food- Strangely addicting. They were one of the winners for Food Truck Wars or something and got this store front. It is very bright green, but then again TLT stands for "The Lime Truck."

Cafe Bene- A very cute cafe in KTown. I definitely enjoyed the coffee better than the waffles :[

Umami Burger- More hype than Cameron and I thought it deserved.

Fat Sal's- DELICIOUS GOODNESS. I have not veered from the "Fat Buffalo" since I got it… To give you an idea, this "Fat" sandwich is a hoagie stuffed with chicken tenders, mozzarella sticks, french fries, cheddar cheese and topped with buffalo sauce and bleu cheese dressing. There are days when I can finish it, and days where Cameron has a late night snack. We agree this is the best one on the menu (C has tried a significantly higher amount of sandwiches on the menu than I…at two).