During his wedding
toast to us last June, Martin’s dad proclaimed it was truly a miracle, or act
of an angel that Martin and I, the perfect pair, met and began our relationship
in Europe. We call that miracle Greg
Coleman and this past weekend we made the trek to San Diego to see him.
We arrived late on Friday night and headed straight to a
neighborhood favorite of Greg’s, Soda and Swine, for a late snack for Martin
and I, and beers for Greg and his friend Kelli.
The beer was cold, the food was delicious and I was struck by how the
restaurant had the feel and quality of a San Francisco joint, but without the
pretentiousness…everyone seemed to be there to hang out and have fun…no
peacocks, hipsters and techies.
We woke up Saturday morning, and with a few suggestions from
Kelli over brunch, began our day of sightseeing with Greg. We arrived with no expectations, which given
our past experiences, seemed appropriate:
7 years ago Greg took me on a tour of London that included a lot of
bars, pubs and 80’s dance clubs but not a lot of sights (unless you count the
guy wearing bright pint spandex leggings and hypercolor shirt); and shortly
thereafter I gave Greg, Martin and John a tour of Zurich that lasted two hours
and ended with us drinking beers at a few pubs… in my defense, I attempted to
point out a few sights but lacked any official knowledge other than sound bites
I had previously heard from friends (“I believe this is the largest clock face
in the world..maybe Europe?…maybe Zurich?…I am not sure”).
Even if the bar was set high, Greg’s tour of San Diego was
perfect. We wandered through Balboa
Park, checking out the flowers and architecture.
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| My favorite idea for our house |
We headed out to Carrillo Point for the
picturesque views back into the city and stopped by the Salk Institute for my
two accompanying architects to admire the work of Louis I. Kahn.
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| Look how happy they are! |
We spent the afternoon at the beach, relaxing in the sun,
swimming in the waves and enjoying the San Diego life.
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| Just a normal day in paradise |
And while the sun set, we headed home for
showers before dinner.
Dinner was at Ponces, a local Mexican joint, however after
previously mentioning Martin’s unwillingness to wait for a table, we made a
detour to the closest dive bar for drinks while we “waited”. Dinner, once seated, was exactly what we
needed: big portions and fun stories.
The party continued at the Red Fox, where we stopped for one last
drink. The Red Fox was my kind of joint;
a prime rib steak house with dark wood paneling and an old guy on an electric
keyboard playing requests….it was the Petar’s of SoCal complete with their own
version of Diamond Dave. There were
even a few cougars in the crowd!
Sunday morning, Greg headed north to see his 6-day-old niece
and nephew and Martin and I were left to explore the hood (North Park to be
exact) a little more. We followed Greg’s
advice and went to Urban Solace for brunch in their courtyard, accompanied by
live Blue Grass music. My cheddar
biscuits and gravy topped with eggs, bacon and sausage was heart attack good
and Martin’s EBLT looked even more delicious.
And to burn off the calories we explored a few shops picking up some
great finds along the way and having to say no to too many items at the nearby
Pigment home store.
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| He almost looks happy listening to the bluegrass music...or maybe that is the food coma |
Overall, the weekend was perfect. It was amazing to catch up with Greg and see
his current home. The weather could not
have been better and everything we did and experienced seemed strikingly familiar
like San Francisco (great food, fun bars, good people) however with a level of
genuineness, a more casual vibe and slightly cheaper price.
