San Diego - Here We Come

Flying means preparation. I was prepared. I was packed. All liquids were in a 3 ounce containers and inside a zip lock bag. Everything was packed and ready to go the night before. I was up at 3:30 a.m. and we were at the airport 1 hour and 15 minutes early. We missed our flight. Did you know you had to be at the airport 2 hours in advance for domestic flights? Well, now you do. Missing a flight was a new experience for me and is one I do not hope to have again. We were on stand-by for the rest of the day. Since we had 5 in our party, we needed 5 empty seats. Once they had room for 2, not 5. We deliberated leaving the kids behind but thought better of it and turned it down making some other stand by people very happy. Another time they had room for 4, not 5. Again we turned it down. All for one and one for all, we said. We spent about 9 hours in the Denver airport, concourse A. We know it well. There are mosaic patterns on the floor of that concourse that really don't look like much unless you stand upstairs and look down at them. From that vantage, you can see they are pictures of people taken from above - almost like magic eye pictures. We rode the escalators up and down. We walked the moving sidewalks right and left. We ate dinner at Jimmy's-a concourse A airport restaurant. We told them we were having a bad day. One of our party was having his sixth and golden birthday. We asked if they could help make it a good day. Jimmy's did the trick. The service was kind and generous. The food was delicious. The birthday boy was rewarded with a free piece of cheesecake bigger than his head and a birthday card from the wait staff. Our spirits were lifted. We celebrated his birthday. With the time change, he was lucky to have a 26 hour golden birthday. We were supposed to arrive in San Diego around 2 p.m. Instead we arrived at 1:30 a.m. By the time we picked up our car and drove to our hotel and got ready to bed, it was 3:23. I was 7 minutes short of a 24 hour day. We felt better the next morning. We picked up another nephew who lives in San Diego. We decided to tour the Quail Botanical Gardens. As we walked around the gardens we marveled at the green colors and the beautiful flowers. People who live in San Diego told us this was a drab time of year. Some trees are bare and only a few flowers blossomed. To us it looked like paradise. We can upon one short palm-like fig with a large, conical, green protrusion above two round fruits. We discussed another family member's use of the Washington Monument in a photo. So, of course, twisted family that we are, one nephew stood behind the fig to be photographed. Lets just say, that photo won't be posted on the Internet by me. We didn't see any quail at the gardens but we did see quite a few Anna's hummingbirds zooming around our heads. The gardens were very beautiful. I always enjoy a place where the plants are labeled. That evening our nephew treated us to a limo ride. We got into a l o n g Lincoln Continental limousine and went for a ride. Water and pop waited in the ice buckets. Champagne and brandy glasses were available. We could control the sun window, the window behind the driver, the music, the temperature, and the disco lights on the ceiling and above the bar. We drove around La Jolla. We went to Seal Beach to watch the sunset (see photo). Seals were drying themselves on the sand as the tide rolled in. The sunset was beautiful. Our driver was very nice. His name sounds like Far-ee but I'm not sure how to spell it. He decided to take us to the Corvette Diner for celebrate the birthday. What a crazy place this was. From the outside it looks like a diner from the 1950's with chrome tables, black and white tile floor, old time music, and skirted waitresses. Inside, it was mayhem. The waitress kept throwing stuff at us. First she threw a large handful of straws at us. Naturally, we unwrapped them and blew the paper covers at each other. Later she threw more straws at us. I threw one back at her. After we paid the check, she threw a big handful of bazooka bubble gum at us. One piece of gum landed inside a glass of chocolate malt. A man came around and made a balloon monkey on a banana tree (with bananas) for my niece and a large hat, sword, and scabbard for my nephew. The kids had a good time. That place was so perky. Loud happy music played all the time. About every half hour the staff would stop serving and do a dance for all the customers. You have to be in the right mood to go to that kind of place. With my jet lag and lack of sleep, all I could do was stare with my mouth open. I was too tired to participate much. We took our limo home and relaxed in the hot tub before going to bed. Riding in a limo was a fun experience. I felt so decadent. Usually I try to conserve gasoline. I plan my trips and combine my errands in my little Honda civic. When we got in or out of the limo, people stared us. I almost wanted to explain myself - I'm not rich or famous, just lucky.
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