My Tourist Weekend in San Diego

I had a pretty busy weekend in my own town doing a few tourist things. What a great city it is!

At work on Friday we got free passes to Sea World for that same night. I purposefully did not tell my immediate coworkers about the passes so I wouldn't bump into them there. I invited a friend of mine but she was sick and I was going to spend time with most of my other friends the rest of the weekend so I decided to call a guy who sometimes calls to hang out with me but I'm not interested in. He got home from work late and told me to just meet him at his house so he'd have a little time to get ready. I walked over (about 15 min walk) and when I got there he needed a beer, so I waited for him to have a beer. Then his client called and he made me wait in the other room while he answered the call. Then he wanted a burrito before we went to Seaworld wo I waited for him to get a burrito. Then we got to Seaworld and he ate his burrito in the car while I sat there. When we finally got to Seaworld it was pretty cool. he was still a total douche but it was really nice going to a theme park where there are zero tourists. Everyone there was invited by their work so it was all San Diegans and their families. The weather was a nice 65 and the lines were short. It was late at night so the animals were pretty rowdy and the view from the rollercoaster was great. We alos got to see the fireworks that I've only ever heard from various apartments around San Diego. When the park closed we went back to his car where I sat and waited for him to finish off the rest of his burrito. Then he drove to his house without asking me if I wanted to go home. Then we got out of the car, he didn't invite me in, and I walked home. Needless to say, I will not be hanging out with that guy any more.

Saturday I decided to walk to the zoo because it's a good fitness walk and I wanted to tell the membership desk that I have not been receiving my ZooNooz magazine, which is very important to my bathroom experience. When I got there I decided I might as well walk in and see a few favorites. This was a very different experience from the previous night. Tourism season is in full affect as the summer has started. I'm not used to the zoo being to crowded because I rarely go on a weekend day after Memorial day. I did enjoy the people watching and I tried to walk slowly with the crowd. I went over to where the giraffes are, expecting to just watch them and the elephants for a few minutes then go home (and maybe get some softserve). Turns out the elephants are no longer there. So I looked at a map to see where they were moved to and find out there's a new section of the zoo that must've recently been opened called "Elephant Odyssey." So that's what all those hats and t-shirts are about! OK, I decide to check it out since it doesn't look too far. It's far. They opened up a whole new area of the zoo that I don't think existed before. it felt like they doubled the size of the zoo. It was pretty cool I guess but the elephants seemed a lot further away than they used to be. It does have more of a "paleolithic age" feel to it though. When I finally got through the odyssey I had to walk home. it was a bit tough, I have to admit, but it felt goot to go on such a long walk and I didn't even stop for softserve!

Saturday afternoon B called to hang out with him and our mutual friend who was in town. He suggested we go for an easy hike. I nixed that right away. I could barely stand. Instead, they each decided to play their new record in it's entirety. Nice and relaxing, except that the listening enhancers made it so I had to get up to dance a little. Finally we went to an Ethiopian restaurant - totally for tourists, but enjoyable. It was surprisingly crowded too.

After dinner I made it home just in time to throw on a fancy dress and some heels and head to a downtown hotel for a friend's ballroom dance competition. This involved lots of standing around and $10 drinks. The competition wasn't too bad - it's always fun to gawk at the outfits, this time it was the men's outfits that were all jazzed up with glitter and sheer material. It's impossible to tell the straight men frm teh gay men. My friend won some cash, which is great because he owes me money. It was alos a nice excuse to wear that New Year's eve dress that gets so little action (wearing action, not sexual action).

Aaah bed time!

Woke up early Sunday to meet B and friend to go to the farmer's market. Another packed place in town. Have I forgotten how many people are here over the summer? We got the usual breakfast gyros that are not at all meant for breakfast, and coconut Thai pancakes that are also not meant for breakfast, and some fruit samples then headed over to the used bookstore. I bought The Hitchiker's Guide to the Gallaxy partly because I've always wanted to read it, but mostly because the actor who just starred as Scotty is the main character in the modern movie adaptation. We then chilled in the grass at B's house for a bit. I forgot how great June gloom is. It's basically 65 all day and night with warm sunshine when you want it and cool shade when you want it. Perfect. Went home to esape the B and friend while they fought over mixing music.

Sunday night B and I went out for sushi so he could get his last non-Mexican food for two months. Then we went up north to see Nikka Costa. We ran into two friends of his/mine at the show, which was nice but scary on my music-listening enhancers. I never like concert goers, no matter who they are. I always find an excuse to hate them - they stand to close, they're too tall (where are all these 7 ft tall ppl coming from and why do they love live music?), or the touch me when dancing, or they're making out in front of me, or they're wearing baseball hats that prove they are out of town hicks. Anyway, this guy came through the crowd to stand next to his 7 foot tall friend, and I, out of habit gave him a derisive look. 30 minutes later, the guy is on stage playing a mean sax with his band-member sister, who is apparently from San Diego. Oops. He looked like such a nice guy on stage too. Whenever he took a breath from playing the sax he had a smile on his face. Oh well, he was still too tall to be standing in front of me and I was happy when he didn't come back out tot he audience after his song.

So I finally went home and got to sleep, promising myself that I'd rollerblade after work on Monday adn wouldn't need to shower until after that workout. Then the alarm goes off this morning and I remember the mandatory happy hour we have scheduled today. I've already surpassed my June budget for money and food! At least we might get our of work early today!

UPDATE: I forgot to mention that B and I watched scenes from Hairspray to get us in the dancing mood for the show. It totes worked.