Where in the world is Karmen? San Diego!

San Diego: Home to a zany news team and mi amiga Noelle; namesake of the globetrotting villain who inspired the name of this blog.

Dinner with Noelle

For dinner we met up with Noelle, another one of my friends I met while studying abroad in Spain.  She couldn’t stay out late that night, so we got dinner in Coronado.  Not-so-funny story: Noelle is a teacher at a school where the other teachers went on strike.  Rather than break her contract, she abstained from protesting.  That means in order to avoid any potential harassment from fellow teachers; she had to wake up early to cross the picket line before the teachers on strike got there.  She said she might go incognito, à la Carmen Sandiego (there's a theme in this post, if you couldn't tell).

Me and Noelle

Mission Beach

We were delayed with our mini tour of San Diego on Friday due to a waterworks problem at Gwendy’s house.  If you've been keeping track, that's three houses Gwendy and Josh have in California.

Unrelated to the waterworks issue, but I was happy to see the Federal Hill couch at Gwendy's.

Outside seating at Gwendy's

Local wildlife

Once we fixed the issue best to our abilities, we headed to Mission Beach, which is only a block away from her place.  It was chilly, to San Diego’s standards, but we walked around anyway.  Anything's better than the -20F in Minnesota.

Saying good-bye to the Pacific.

Attempting to look like Carmen Sandiego with my scarlet jacket.  Since I was missing a fedora, I thought popping my foot would make up for it.  It didn't.

La Jolla

One of the many places that Noelle recommended, La Jolla is an upscale neighborhood with lots of shopping (squeal!).  We had no time to shop, but the best part was the location.  It sits upon the cliffs overlooking the water.  Nearby are sea lions just hanging out on the cliffs next to the crashing waves.  This was our last stop before we headed to Joshua Tree to camp that night.

Sea lions 

LA: Santa Monica & Dinner with Gwendy

Los Angeles: Home to teen pop sensations turned train-wrecks, horrendous traffic that makes the DC Beltway look tame and my friend/ former boss Gwendy.

We got into Santa Monica Tuesday night when it was dark, limiting our chances to see or do much. Once we did a brief tour of the Promenade, an outdoor shopping mall, we headed to Beverly Hills where Gwendy and Josh were barbequing for us. 

Josh & Gwendy

We played a few rounds of Bananagrams after dinner.  Best played with a brew or two in hand.

Day 14: Half Moon Bay, Drinks in SF

Half Moon Bay

One of Mo’s friends from San Francisco recommended that we visit Fitzgerald Marine Reserve in Half Moon Bay.  

Apparently the marine life is abundant at low tide.  Hoping to see some sea critters at the optimal time, we were disappointed to find none in sight.

Except this lone sea ... weed?  Seriously, what is this thing? 

 On the bright side, Ayk finally got to see the Pacific.

And at sunset, no less. 

At least one of their recommendations, Flying Fish Grille, did live up to expectations. Neither of us is a fish taco enthusiast, but we liked them so much we had them for lunch the next day.

 The tacos were just as cheesy as their decor.

Drinks in San Fran

My friend John Britton, who worked at Ixia with me, moved to San Francisco to pursue his masters degree in the classic guitar.  We met him in the city for drinks at Suppenküche, which is a German restaurant, if you couldn’t tell from umlaut.  His opera-singing girlfriend Laine met up with us later. 

Their babies will surely be adorable Mozarts.

We asked him what the transition from East Coast to West Coast was like.  Other than the ridiculously high prices in the Bay Area, he said that San Franciscans tend to get too chatty and too invasive of personal privacy.  Sometimes people will even initiate conversations He says he’s adapted to it, but it took a while.

San Francisco: Dinner & Chinatown

Protest/ Truly Mediterranean

Amy went to the Egyptian protest with a few of their friends instead of sightseeing with us.  Understandably so.  Both Amy and Mo have family in Egypt right now, so no wonder they're so fervent - and worried - about the chaos over there.  Since we've started our trip, we've been so consumed by this trip and haven't really been keeping track of the news.  We had no idea about the Egypt uprising until Ayk called Mo a few days before we got into San Francisco.

Mo and Amy

I enjoy eating at the touristy eating spots to try their signature dish, but it's great taking the night off and going where the locals go.  Inside Truly Mediterranean, this hole-in-the-wall restaurant had several frames of newspaper clippings full of praise.  And rightfully so.  I'll let my pictures do the talking:

Chinatown

This is not your measly one-block DC Chinatown.  No, this place is massive and impressive.  Most of these pictures are from a closed-to-traffic side street, where they were celebrating the upcoming Chinese New Year, which is now passed.

Fear - then eat - the Turtle!

Tea samples 

"Can't talk, man.  I'm hella busy right now."

Tea tasting

 These were so weird.  They were beads that absorbed water and felt like eyeballs.

A glittery, golden cock in the middle of San Francisco.  Would you expect anything less fabulous? 

A perfect way to end the day: The sign at the terminus of US 50 in Sacramento!  We'll  be back soon enough, Ocean City.