The flight out was direct – long, but direct, touching down in San Diego shortly after 10pm.  At that hour on a Thursday night, we sped through the car rental, choosing a convertible Ford Mustang over a fire-red, convertible Chevy Camaro (too easy to get a ticket) and didn’t hit any traffic, arriving our AirBnB studio apartment shortly after 11pm local time.   The place was a cute studio, bed, kitchenette, and bath, with a roof deck over the garage, accessible via outside stairs.

It wasn’t until morning that we discovered how close we really were to the beach – an easy few minute walk from the apartment!   After enjoying a short walk on the beach, we headed out to explore La Jolla, gather a few groceries and, it turns out, a great recommendation for lunch at the Cottages restaurant from a fellow Beachcomber (in Wellfleet) fan we met in the checkout line.   Sean and Fatima arrived shortly before noon for a visit and we followed the recommendation to the Cottage for a leisurely lunch, parting ways mid-afternoon.  Friday evening, we headed to downtown San Diego to meet up with Peter’s old friend, Fred and Luci Speckman, for dinner at Anthony’s Fish Grotto on the waterfront.

For Saturday, the plan was to meet up with Eric and Liz and spend a day at Torrey Pines Nature Reserve. Located a short drive north of La Jolla, right along the coast, the park was a beautiful mix of trails through the sandy cliffs, rimmed by a long, flat Pacific beach.    We returned to the apartment in the afternoon to relax before dinner at the Karl Strauss Brewing Company with Sean/Fatima and Eric/Liz.

Sunday started off cloudy/foggy. Hardy New Englanders we are, we headed to the beach for what will probably be our last day of the season lounging in the sun.   By 11am, the clouds burned off, making it another (probably typical) San Diego day, hot by New England standards, though warm enough even for a quick dip in the Pacific Ocean (water temp, a comfortable 73 degrees).

Back to the apartment in the early afternoon, then a stroll along the water, some appetizers and margaritas at a local watering hole for dinner, and back to the apartment to pack up and ready ourselves for our trip to Yosemite the following morning.