Downtown San Diego
Bruce was working Boston-time half-days until Thanksgiving, which meant 0530-0900 Pacific – clearly an alarm was essential! At the end of his stint we had a Starbucks breakfast in the room, and this turned out to have the tastiest Starbucks food that I’d eaten in quite some time. After showers, we set out to walk to Santa Fe Depot, the city’s main station, using a route that zigzagged through downtown.
Using our smartphones, we had bought 1-day transit passes that were valid on the Coaster commuter trains, for a very reasonable $15 each. We boarded our intended train, installed ourselves in decent upper-deck seats right at the front and rode the train to Carlsbad Village. When the friendly conductor came by to check our tickets at the end of his main pass through the train, he sat down opposite for a chat, mentioning that it had been a while since he’d had foreigners aboard. (This was inaccurate in Bruce’s case, as he was born in Hawaii and had lived the greater part of his adult life in California, but he let it pass.) We both enjoyed the little chat because, after a period of several years seeing TV pictures of some Americans behaving badly or chanting moronically at political rallies, it was a reminder that most remain open, genuine and ready to engage with those who are not carbon copies of themselves.
Carlsbad
Carlsbad was founded as a spa resort. It is named after another spa town, which Bruce and I visited in 2014: Karlovy Vary (formerly Karlsbad), in Czechia. Carlsbad, CA is now better known for its outlet mall (which I once visited) and for Legoland (which I have no plans to visit). Today was about enjoying the train rides along the Pacific coast and seeing the destination itself. The weather was fabulous – I believe we were in shorts – and our wanderings were punctuated by a scrumptious, al fresco Mexican lunch.
Solana Beach
When we felt it was time to move on, we boarded a southbound train and travelled just a couple of stops to Solana Beach, which like Carlsbad lies on Hwy 101. We had a brief stroll around in the weakening sunshine, taking in Fletcher’s Cove and the Design District.
Return to the city
We rode the remainder of the line back to the city, where in another ‘first’ for me, we hopped onto a San Diego trolley (i.e. tram). This took us to Convention Center, a very handy stop for the Gaslamp Quarter in which we were based. We called in at the Water Grill and had an expertly made Bloody Mary while chatting to the friendly female bartender, who turned out to have a Scottish boyfriend! What are the chances?!
After going back to the room for a rest, we had dinner at the nearby restaurant Lotus Thai Cuisine on Market Street. Overall, our first non-flying day had followed a varied and highly enjoyable programme, further enhanced by the agreeable Southern California climate.