24-7
By JoeBruin88. Filed in Josephine Bruin, Life and Photography |Tags: anniversary, Balboa-Park, downtown, Josephine_Bruin, Keating-House, Life, Little-Italy, Photography, San-Diego, Seaport-Village
I was fortunate enough to have Friday, April 21st off from work. Josephine was on Spring Break from her work. So we went on a 24-hour adventure for our seven-year anniversary. For the last few years, it’s been somewhat of a tradition to go somewhere special to commemorate our years together. So from 11:00 AM on the 21st until 11:00 AM on the 22nd we had a grand time in downtown San Diego.
We headed out Friday morning, greeted by smooth sailing, traffic-free freeways, on our way to the Keating House. We’ve always wanted to go to a Bed N Breakfast, so I decided that this year was the year to do it. This place was kind enough to let us stay just one night as most places require at least a two-night stay. We stayed in the “Blue Room” (of course) of this 19th Century Victorian style home.
When we arrived a little before noon, our room was still not ready. So we left our bags after a little tour of the house and headed out to Balboa Park. Prior to this, I had only been to the park just once to watch a friend run a half-marathon. But Balboa Park was fabulous. We walked around, especially around The Prado area. We really liked the Spanish-style architecture.
We didn’t go inside any of the museums because we didn’t want to spend money on that. But hopefully someday, I’ll get to go to the Museum of Photography (even though you aren’t allowed to bring in any photographic equipment). After the park, we drove to North Park for lunch at Lefty’s Pizza, a place recommended to me by my manager at work. It’s a family-owned pizzeria, a little hole-in-the-wall place, known for their pizza. However, I hated their corn meal pizza while Josephine loved it. I’d like to go back again, maybe for Father’s Day and try some of the other stuff on their menu that looked very very good.
After that huge lunch of pizza, we headed for Little Italy, which is in downtown very near our bed and breakfast place. A few minutes after leaving Lefty’s, I realized that I left ALL my camera gear in the restaurant. PANIC! So while I frantically turned the car around, Josephine called the restaurant and had one of the workers get my gear, which I had left under the table we were eating at. After successfully retrieving my gear, we once again headed back to downtown for Little Italy.
Josephine loves Italian food and has always wanted to see Little Italy. So this was the highlight of our little adventure. Arriving in the early afternoon, we walked around looking at the various shops. The three-block section of the city is mostly made of restaurants. BTW when we first found a parking spot on India Street, I noticed that Matt Fine Jewelers was located there. That’s the place where I bought Josephine’s diamond and engagement ring a little over seven years ago.
As we were arriving, I called my manager (at work) because I had forgotten the place she recommended for gelato (Italian ice cream) and dinner. While I was on my cell phone, some bum was asking Josephine if he could use my phone - that was the only lame part of the day. Ignoring him, we walked down India Street to get some gelato at Café Zucchero. Despite being extremely full from the pizza, we managed to eat some delicious ice cream and cannoli.
We walked around some more, just looking at various shops and eating places. I even bought some mounting boards for my Photography class. Josephine found an Italian grocer that stunk to high heaven because of the dried fish in the front part of the store. I even saw a bottle of olive oil that was priced at $199!!
We decided to stay until after dark in Little Italy so I could take some pictures for my low-light photo assignment. Feeling stuffed with food and a little tired, we hung out for a bit at It’s A Grind coffee house. We noticed that above many of the shops and restaurants in Little Italy, there were condominiums and apartments. We thought it would be cool to be able to retire in a nice place in downtown. You wouldn’t have to walk too far because everything would be right outside your door.
Even though we weren’t hungry, we decided to eat at Buon Appetito for appetizers and a salad. Afterwards, we waited until it was very dark and the night life of Little Italy was in full bloom. And I took some of my best night shots, as well as best shots of the semester. You’ve seen some of them already, so I’ll feature the food. View the slideshow.
The next morning we had a nice breakfast in the house. And took a short trip to one of Josephine’s favorite places in downtown, Seaport Village. We didn’t stay long because we were kinda tired and plus, there wasn’t much happening since the village had just opened when we got there at around 10:00 AM. But it was also overcast and cloudy, so it didn’t make for good lighting for photography. I did, however, take a picture of some boats. I like the black and white version; the color version seems plain while the B/W is more interesting to me for some reason.
Happy Anniversary Josephine. Here’s to many more years and adventures together!