Farewell San Diego

We have had a great month in San Diego!
The places we've been, sights we've seen, our "Palace" we called home - it was all great!
But it would have been just another beautiful city if not for our beautiful friends!
So a special thank you to . . .

Pat & Eric


Carl & Nancy


Chad & Amanda


We look forward to reprising this trip!

Best Hamburger in San Diego?

While talking with Chad and Amanda Bibler (Bill & Trish's son & daughter-in-law), I mentioned the dilemma we had deciding between In-N-Out and Five Guys hamburgers.
She asked if we'd like to taste the best hamburger in San Diego!
Well, we couldn't pass by that, so Sat noon (after a nap to recover from the crack-o-dawn ship launching), we met in Pacific Beach.
Pacific Beach is one of the best locations in San Diego (which is saying a lot, since this is a city FILLED with great locations!) - it lies between Mission Bay and the Pacific coast. This shot is of Mission Bay looking South from the island in the center. The tall spire on the left is Sea World. The beaches on Mission Bay offer relief from the surf and are very popular, especially among families, in the warm weather. It was rainy and 60 degrees this day, so the beach is empty!


A very short drive (or walk) puts you on the Pacific Ocean with the surf and drop-dead-gorgeous vista! The pier in te background is the Pacific Beach Pier.


While enroute, Amanda called to say Chad had been recalled to the ship for the Tsunami.
There had been a huge earthquake (8.8) in Chile that morning and Tsunami warnings had been issued throughout the Pacific. (The wave did hit San Diego but was only two feet. Even Hawaii only experienced a six foot swell. Seems they can predict the event but not the magnitude yet.)
So Amanda met us at Rocky's Crown Pub.


Rocky's reminded of the Ice House on Indy's near-south side - only 1/2 the size. Rocky's is a sports bar where you order at the bar, pay cash, and eat hamburger! The menu is on the chalkboard above the bar. Your choices are 1/3 pound or 1/2 pound hamburger, with or without cheese. Oh yea, you can get fries (really good fries made from actual potatoes I think!)


We had to wait for a short bit, but scored a nice round table. When we asked the bouncer (yes, it's that kind of bar) if he'd take our picture he just said "No, I had to buy a camera when I did that last time, so I don't do it any more!" Another patron at the bar agreed and he "shot" the three of us.


After we finished our burgers (BTW - they were great but one doesn't want to rush into such things, so I need to do additional experiments before I proclaim this the "Best Burger in SD!") Amanda suggested a place downtown to get desert.
Meanwhile, Chad had been released and was able to join us. We chatted for about an hour, we had coffee while Chad and Amanda split an apple desert that looked fabulous!
Chad had not yet eaten lunch, so we bid adieu to the two of them after shooting the pic below outside the restaurant. We had a great time getting to know these two friends better!
We repaired back to "The Palace" to begin packing (sob!).

Launch of USNS Charles Drew

Saturday morning, we rolled out at 5 AM to attend the launch of USNS Charles Drew.
(The launch time of 7:35 AM was dictated by the high tide.)
The weather forecast was rain and the weather did not disappoint! It was very heavily overcast when we arrived. But the band was playing, banners flew, and a festive mood prevailed in spite of the threatening rain. Jumbotrons provided a view for those in the back. We were surprised at the size of the crowd! We guessed there were 500 or more people who braved the early hours and nasty weather to see Drew launched!


Tents provided cover from the rain (which started just after we arrived and kept up throughout the entire ceremony) but unfortunately the tent blocked most of our view of the ship!


When the speechifying was done and the launch was signaled, Bob worked his way down the side of the tent and got this sequence.
It was really exciting to see this massive ship glide into the water with her whistle blowing and banners streaming, while the band played "Anchors Away!"

Irish Ceili

When we visited Balboa Park a few weeks ago, we learned that the Museum of Man would host an Irish Ceili. Ceili (or more accurately Céilidhs) is an Irish gathering/party with dancing, music, ballads, and sometimes story telling.
As we approached the Museum, we saw this banner across Laurel Street.


Behind the banner were these pipers to welcome those gathering for the ceili.


Later, the pipers entertained the crowd from the upper floor.


We were pleased to see this truck parked outside since it meant The Field would be serving food! (See our earlier blog on the Field Irish Pub)


We were joined by Don and Iris Newhouse. Don was Bob's pastor in Greensburg in the early 1960's. Iris is a first generation Irish immigrant, having come to the US when she was 19.




Of course there was Guiness! The Guiness girls were a hit! Two beautiful, tall blondes in short skirts were passing out Guiness shamrock necklaces.


Of course, Bob had to have one!


And if Bob has one . . . .


A big part of the party was food provided by several of the Irish pubs in the area.
The fare offered varied from corned beef sandwiches and boxty - potato pancakes filled with delicious chicken mixture


To shepherd's pie and a different boxty - these potato pancakes filled with a spicy beef mix.

Other offerings were Irish bread with a topping of salmon and creamed cheese, bread pudding made with Bailey's Irish Cream and, Irish stew

There was music (of course) with a wide variety of different offerings.


And dancing! These dancers really set the floor on fire with their rapid dancing steps.
They danced both a balletic style and then changed shoes to do the Irish stepdancing made famous by the Riverdance shows. These dancers performed to recorded music.


Note the young girls sitting on the floor in rapt attention!


Later, while one of the groups was playing, this couple came out of the crowd and wowed us with some pretty fancy Irish style dancing. We figured they must be alums of one of these schools.


At the same time, some of the dancers from the earlier show joined in and danced to the folk group. A little boy saw them and decided to join in, to the crowds great delight.


The day ended with a trolley ride back to the Naval Station.
We bought passes good for all of February and used the Trolley and city buses a lot for getting around San Diego. The Pacific Fleet trolley station is about 200 feet from the gate to the Naval Station, so it is very handy.

Bark in the Park

Sunday afternoons in Balboa Park mean organ concerts at the Spreckels Pavilion.
This huge pipe organ was nearly demolished before a group of San Diegans to together and raised the money needed to restore the organ and pavilion.
The organist was British and complimented the audience (many of whom were hunkered down under umbrellas) on their tenacity! She said the weather was very British, so didn't bother her so much. But notice she is wearing a pretty warm jacket!
She actually played "Flight of the Bumblebee" using the foot peddles rather than the keyboard!


The huge pavilion occupies the center of Balboa Park and has seating for several hundred.
The massive structure houses the huge pipe organ. We learned that the large pipes in the front are largely for show - only fifteen of these pipes have a "voice" and even those are seldom used!


The highlight of the show was the dogs!
First the San Diego Humane Society showed six dogs available for adoption.

Then came the pet parade. Most were simply pets and owners.


This dog, aptly named "Chopper," rode a remotely controlled motorcycle and was a big hit with the crowd.


After the concert, we were invited to tour the inside of the pavilion. We got to see the pipes that actually make the music! The volume is controlled by large louvers that close off the pipes from the outside as the organist adjusts the pedal control.


Just before the concert, we caught sight of a photographic shoot with models in a designers latest creations. The models did a marvelous job of looking warm in spite of the cool weather, thin dresses, and misting rain!



Finally, after the concert we walked across the street to the International Houses.
Each of these cottages is decorated to reflect a country staffed by volunteers who represent that particular country. The purpose is twofold: to inform the public about the country, and to provide a meeting place for people of a given nationality.
We visited Poland, England, Ireland, United States, and several others in about an hour.

Chinese New Year

The San Diego Chinese community held its annual celebration of the New Year.
One of the booths offered to look up your birth year and tell you what sign or symbol is your birth year - Theresa is a Dog (we agreed more of a puppy) and Bob is a Ram (Pat Hallilgan kept insisting it was sheep). Pat is a rooster. A sheet explained all of the characteristics of each and, just like the horoscope, some was right on and others were "Huh?"


This man played the xiao flute beautifully! he had two instruments in different keys.


This woman played the Guzheng or Chinese harp - a plucked string instrument, similar to a zither and one of the most ancient Chinese musical instruments.
She is clearly not Chinese, showing the bridges built in the American-Chinese community.


This woman played the pipa or Chinese lute.
The player wears small picks on each finger and plucks or strums the strings.
Maybe because of the picks, the pipa sounded more like a banjo to my ear.


A martial arts demonstration was quite impressive as well.


Later in the day, a parade, complete with dragons, came through the stage area.
The dragon teams were young men from UC San Diego.



The dragon dancers were quite athletic and did some very difficult maneuvers such as this on-the-shoulder-very-tall-dragon move.


If you feed the dragon a dollar (that's Theresa with her hand in the dragon's mouth), you'll have good luck all year!


The pole dragon is a little less stressful on the dancers!
(This is the dragon seen in the first photo behind Theresa and me.)


The taiko drummers wore martial arts regalia and were quite animated in their drumming.



The Chinese opera company presented a short vignette about a mother who wants to protect her son, the prince, from a general who wants to use the prince to control the country.
The costumes were very elaborate and beautiful.
The music was quite unusual and sounded falsetto to me.
Theresa and I agreed that as beautiful as the costimes were, this was not our cup of tea.


By the way, the story has a happy ending and Mom ends up with Junior after all.

Next: Bark in the Park - an organ recital at Balboa Park that has definitely gone to the dogs!