A Day in San Diego (MAR 12)

We awoke to rain and a forecast for its continuance throughout the morning.  We therefore did not accelerate fast into the day, eventually having breakfast so late it bordered on being brunch, but who does brunch on a Thursday, even in California.

Rain jackets on, we left the comfort of our hotel for Petco Park where the San Diego Padres play baseball. Although the stadium itself was closed up tight, the outer gates were open, so we were able to wander around the grounds for a while and even take cover under a tent when the rain picked up.

We continued on, crossing a pedestrian bridge we had ridden over on Segways a number of years ago. We got to the promenade along the waterfront and had it nearly to ourselves.  This made for good COVID-19 "social distancing" although the guy in the upper right-hand quadrant of the picture - yes, that speck in the distance - seemed a bit close for comfort.

Soon after I took the picture above, with some alacrity the rain ceased and the sun appeared, making for a much more pleasant walk.

We passed some impressively large sailing yachts and a marina full of powerboats, none of the latter I found myself coveting.

As we got a few hundred yards from the MIDWAY (Aircraft Carrier Museum), who did we meet coming the other way but our grandson Ian and the two friends he brought to dinner yesterday evening.  They had just toured the MIDWAY, in part at least due to his grandmother's suggestion ... and recommendation ... and encouragement ... and endorsement ... and just short of arm-twisting over the course of the dinner.  Thankfully, they seemed to have genuinely liked the experience.

After sending the boys on their way, we walked out on Tuna Wharf where an iconic photograph was re-created as a huge sculpture entitled Unconditional Surrender. Apparently the artist decided that he had a good thing going, because he made several of the sculptures, the first one originally being in Sarasota Florida.

Across the promenade from Tuna Wharf is a monument to the light cruiser USS SAN DIEGO. It was the second most decorated ship in the World War II while at the same time amazingly never losing a single man - they did not say anything about the married ones - to enemy action. She was also the first major warship to enter Tokyo Bay at the end of the war.

The MIDWAY, although small in comparison to the size of today's aircraft carriers, is still an incredibly impressive ship.

We turned up Broadway, walking past the railroad station that still had a SANTA FE neon sign on its roof.  We kept going until we reached the Gaslamp Quarter, then worked our way through it back to the hotel.

Too fancy for a fire hose?

Huh?

In case you cannot make out the name etched into the stone over the door, it reads, Young Men's Christian Association" (i.e. YMCA). It therefore seemed more than slightly odd that it would have valet parking and a chauffeured car waiting out front. Contradiction resolved: the sign behind the valet's umbrella indicated the building was now an upscale hotel.

For dinner, the restaurant I chose turned out to be literally across the street from the hotel. This was comforting given a forecast of possible thunderstorms.

We had an excellent seafood dinner at Water Grill.There were not a lot of people in the restaurant, but it was far from full. 

Walking around the Gaslamp Quarter a bit after dinner, it reinforced our impression yesterday evening that COVID-19 was having a huge negative impact on restaurants and hotels.  Given the time of year, I speculated that canceled conferences and conventions had a significant role in the business downturn.

We got back to our hotel before the rain arrived.