Popping Down To Paradise

On the list of paradisical locations in California is San Diego and its environs. The Wife and I took an overnight trip down there yesterday to go to my friend's wedding. As it turns out, the wedding was a pretty minor part of the trip. We left early, before the food was served, because the band was so damn loud, and the area where the wedding was being held was so small, that we couldn't hear what anyone was saying and The Wife got a headache from it.

I'd have liked to have stayed and enjoyed the food and the company of the people we had started to meet, but I agreed with The Wife that conversation was simply not possible while the band was playing so there was little point in staying around to watch people we don't know shouting at each other trying to carry on conversations.

What we probably both enjoyed the most was hanging out, all too briefly, with our friends who were our best man and matron of honor at our wedding. It's been too long since we've seen them and it was really fun to visit with them, grill up some steaks and shrimp, and spend quality time enjoying their company. And seeing how much their kids have grown up, it's amazing. It's a little disappointing to think, they have a third on the way -- their kids were just getting old enough that they could be taken on a longer trip and maybe have come up to see us sometime, too. That will have to wait three or more years now, or we'll have to go down to see them again.

Also, the list of things we miss from Tennessee includes things like greenery, the friends we made there, and affordable housing. But also Chick-fil-A. They have Chick-fil-A in San Diego. I gorged myself on not one but two chicken sandwiches. Turns out when you pressure-cook a chicken breast in refined peanut oil, it tastes really, really good. Yeah, the owners of Chick-fil-A are a bunch of fundy weirdos, but they make damn good chicken and I'm happy to give them some money in exchange for their product.

The weather in SD is fabulous and we actually did quite nicely finding a last-minute hotel deal to stay overnight. Some friends watched the critters for us while we were gone and so we were able to head out of town worry-free. Granted, I'm a little bit zonked from the drive but it's all good. Sure, I wish we could have stuck around to have maybe visited a museum at Balboa Park or taken a tour of the observatory at Palomar Mountain (we weren't all that far from it at one point) but we came home instead and that was okay with me; I needed to veg out after more than 400 miles of driving in two days.