Our Dance in the Southwest

My husband delighted me at Christmas time by giving me a trip! He had cleverly packaged a box like a bread maker. For obvious reasons, I had mentally prepared myself to love it, dough and all.  As it turned out my joyful reaction (as the box was a decoy and I was led on a treasure hunt throughout the house to find a travel itinerary to San Diego) was quite sincere. And now we are home already. But the Christmas gift was divine, quite living up to expectations. And as my hubby will tell you...I always have high expectations. Highlights/reflections:

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•  San Diego weather certainly is an instigator for spring fever. It's almost cruel, really, for us Midwesterners. Although, I was a bit disturbed to find out that the temps soared in Iowa while we are gone. Perhaps I'm not so benevolent after all...I wanted our family to tell us how utterly frigid it was.
• The charming Gaslamp District, where we rendezvoused, was not want of art museums, shops, and eateries. My hubby sure knows what I love. Of course, it was sort of a Catch-22, because "eatery" was the only spot that appealed to Doug. Luckily, our marriage understand the meaning of compromise. And four days tested our limits of compromise. ("I'd like to visit one more museum Doug"..."Ugh. How about some Ghiradelli chocolate instead?")
• What kind of parents go to Sea World sans kids? We do. Oh, the whales and sea creatures we saw! And yet we admit it. We felt...orphaned buzzing about, pointing out wonders to each other, not our offspring. Every time we'd see a shark, the same comment slipped from our mouth. "That would certainly scare the shit out of Cole." We'd smile and chuckle. "It sure would."
• And, yes we did it. We upgraded to a convertible. I remember when I was young, seeing old people in convertibles and thinking, "What's the use?" Yeah, well, we're those old people now. And I'm not really sure what's the use. Except to tell our kids about it. And that we can afford to RENT one. Maybe when we retire we'll be able to afford to own one. Maybe. 
• The best meal? Jim Croce's Jazz Restaurant! Even with the nice beggar who I stopped by while we dined al fresco. (I still think we should've given him the rest of our calamari.) The first place we stopped was a bar called Funky Garcia's. It had fish tacos! And San Diego has the best fish tacos right? Right! Well, they were funky alright. Actually, Doug had delicious shrimp tacos there. Mine were just real fishy. But the beer was awesome. And our waitress was sweet. The best part of the Gaslamp eateries? Eating outside without competing with bugs. Only, the nice beggars might want to have a bite of your dish.

My hubby and I both agreed that beyond the luxurious hotel bed mattress the best part of this trip was remembering how much we love and miss our kids.  Everywhere we went was an experience we wanted to share with them. And we will. Until they're bored to tears. And want to send us away again.