cuz i wanna take you downtown

we hit the bay side of coronado after our oceanside walk described below, and jay took the above picture of downtown across the bay. the sun was getting low in the sky after it had become sunny again, and was lighting up the buildings downtown. we should have jumped on the ferry but dinner plans kind of killed that...

hotel del, tent city

had some fantastic weather here for christmas, but i was stuck inside most of the day opening presents and getting smashed. so it was off to coronado island the next day for lunch and some beach time. had lunch at tent city, my seared ahi salad was tasty and i enjoyed the patio seating of course. there's a museum inside which probably explains the whole tent city theme - the hotel del coronado nearby literally hosted a tent city back in the day. but i was content to hang in the sun and linger over my salad, watching the tourists stroll by on orange avenue.

from there we walked over to the del, where we checked out the obscenely large christmas tree inside. the ornaments were the size of my head (which is also obscenely large). out back the ice skating rink was in full swing, kind of fun to watch people wipe out. some kid had full hockey pads on, which was sort of creepy. i'm not too impressed by the timeshare buildings they're putting up on the southwest end of the property, but what can you do. i couldn't get too worked up when it's 70 degrees on december 26th, big waves are crashing, and everybody's smiling.

urban trees

last sunday we came upon the harbor in front of little italy just in time to catch this sunset shot through the "legs" of one of the urban trees. i love san diego.

lucky buck's

we had a enjoyable lunch at the new lucky buck's on university in hillcrest. it's on the eastern end of university in hillcrest, which can be kind of dead, but there was a pretty good late-lunch crowd there on a saturday. i really like the garage doors on the front of the building that roll back, opening up the interior. this will be a fun place to have a burger and beer on a warm evening in the summer. and the corrugated metal in the interior was a nice touch. burgers were tasty, nothing extraordinary - i think crazy burger has them beat there. of course, crazy burger doesn't have any outdoor seating.



across the side street from lucky buck's, next to t-deli a new wine bistro is going in, called . it opens next week, and the pictures they have posted make it look lounge-ish on the inside, with an inviting patio out back. it's a good sign to see these new businesses going in to a part of university that is really coming around.

la vita loca

recent condo sales show most folks are getting 5-10% less than what they're asking for. in particular, the la vita complex in little italy looks like a good value - 2 br condos in the 500's. this place has a lush courtyard that's visible from the street. and a current listing shows an 18th floor unit for under 600k, with great views.