Jess and I headed down to San Diego this past weekend to catch Metric in concert and to explore the area a bit. We’d been itching to get into a city again… living in Orange County is much different than Toronto and we both admittedly miss the urban life. We were down there briefly once before to visit the Zoo, but hadn’t actually explored the city yet. San Diego is actually quite large, so we didn’t even scratch the surface – but we enjoyed ourselves nonetheless.

We stayed the night at the W Hotel, which was a major disappointment in my opinion. Sure, the hotel was cool and trendy, our sheets were color coordinated to match the towels, the bed was super comfortable, and the lobby became a party scene at night – but in the end, I was definitely underwhelmed with the experience. Our hotel room felt more like an IKEA showroom than a hotel room – the best description I can muster is “Cheap and Cheerful” – only it wasn’t. It was expensive. I don’t think I’ll be staying there again. Sorry P.

Luckily we didn’t spend much time in our room and instead ventured out to explore the surrounding area. We spent the majority of Saturday night down in the Gaslamp District, which seems like the place to be in San Diego. The streets are lined with trendy shops and restaurants and there was a great vibe in the air. It actually felt more like a borough straight out of New York… with about 1/3 fewer people of course.

Metric went on at 11:30 that night, and put on a pretty good show. I didn’t realize this until we got there, but the show had been sold out for weeks. It looks like the little band from Toronto has a bit of a following in Southern California – the LA show was sold out as well. They played at a tiny venue called The Casbah which is, as far as I can tell, someone’s house with a bar and stage in the basement. It’s right next to the San Diego airport, so I’m guessing the owners attempted to drown out the sound of airplanes landing with some live music in their basement.

The next morning we went for brunch and then headed out to Coronado for the rest of the day. Coronado is a small “island” town that is connected to San Diego by a ridiculously tall bridge. Coronado is awesome – Jess and I both loved it. It felt like a small cozy cottage town… except there’s a huge Navy base protruding from its side. Yesterday was “homecoming” day, so everyone was out to welcome the Navy Sailors home. Jess wanted me to drive onto the Navy base so we could snap some photos of the homecoming, but the guards with guns thought otherwise.

Turned away at the gates, we headed to the beach. I managed to grab a bunch of photos there… apparently Sunday afternoon is “Bring Your Dog To The Beach Day”, which is to say there were more than a few dogs running along the beach and in the water. Big dogs, little dogs, cute dogs and ugly dogs – they were all there, getting wet and sandy.

All in all, San Diego was a blast and I can’t wait to go back and explore the rest of it.

The night is still young, but it’s looking like halloween in Southern California is mildly different than it was back in Toronto. For starters, it’s hot here. I have memories of putting on long underwear first and my costume second. My favorite costume as a kid was Spider Man in a winter coat. But that’s no happening here. Oh no – you’d die out there. I think a mask alone would be overkill.

Also, this may seem trivial, but I remember going door to door asking for candy. That doesn’t seem to happen here either. I wasn’t the strongest math student, but I think this equation is pretty simple:

Gated Community = No Trick-or-Treaters.

There is a huge sign by the grocery store that reads “Bring Your Kids Here To Trick-or-Treat!”. I didn’t think much of it at first, but now it’s completely clear why you’d take the kids to Ralphs for some candy – It’s 7:00 here, and we haven’t had a single kid to the door. Not one. Apparently the gate is actually working… and of all days for it to keep people out. Jess went to the trouble of, umm, drawing a pumpkin, and we’ve got a few bags of candy ready in case some kid manages to infiltrate the defenses. I don’t get it – that gate is completely for show. People come and go as they please… It’s not stopping anyone from getting in. Wait a few minutes, someone will open it and you can just drive in. And if you’re on foot, you can just reach over and unlock the pedestrian gate. I’ll save you the trouble – the code is 1144. It’s nothing more than a pain in the ass.

Update:

Nope, not a single kid. Not one. I even went outside first thing this morning to see if the pumpkin was still intact… it was. I mean, seriously – what kind of Halloween is it if you don’t find your pumpkin smashed on the road or with its face kicked-in the morning after? A sad one indeed.

It’s been cool here recently. It’s currently 64° (18°C), and has been dropping down into the low 50°s at night, which is apparently low for this time of year. It feels just like fall in Toronto, only the leaves aren’t changing colo(u)r. With this drop in temperature, I started to wonder what this so-called “winter” would be like. Would it actually get colder? Well, everyone is telling that this is it. This is winter. We’re currently experiencing a range of temperature that more common in January and February… the only difference being that it will rain a lot more during those months.

Before leaving, one of the things I said I’d miss about Toronto was the fall. I love the temperature in the fall – not too hot, but not too cold. You can wear a light jacket outside and be perfectly comfortable. When we moved out here, I just assumed we’d be without that… I guess I figured it would be flip flops and shorts year round. Needless to say, I’m pleasantly surprised to discover that we do have fall here – the only thing we don’t have is winter. Goodbye snow, hello perpetual fall.

It’s like the best of both worlds – a light jacket and flip flops.

So, I’ve started a blog… but why? Well, Jess and I just got home from a 12 day trip in Toronto. While we were there, I was surprised how often we were asked to see photos of our place in California. It honestly hadn’t dawned on me to bring photos back with us, but since there appears to be some demand, I figured I’d start blogging our adventures in California and let everyone into our world. Jess and I will be updating this blog on a relatively regular basis (well, at least I will be… it’s yet to be seen if Jess can even figure it out. I’m sure she will though). We’ll also be uploading photos for everyone to see – we’re actually on our way out to head down to Laguna to snap some photos of my office and the surrounding areas.