Friday, I drove down to San Diego to see some friends who were visiting from out of town. Since Friday is the worst day for traffic, I knew I had to time it well.
On the road at 5:50 AM
My daughter’s normal wake-up time is 8:00 AM. So I woke up at 5:30 AM, packed the car, then scooped her up around 5:45 AM. Thankfully, she was still super drowsy, and just hugged me on the way to the car. She opened her eyes a little, but it was still dark out. The movement of the car lulled her back to sleep. I started driving at 5:50 AM.
The traffic wasn’t bad, but there were a lot of cars on the road. Luckily, we were able to take the carpool lane most of the way down the 405. I considered taking The Toll Roads, but since traffic wasn’t bad I decided not to. If it was bad, I would definitely take them, because the cost vs. time in the car would be worth it.
Awake at 7:30 AM
Once I hit traffic, past Oceanside, Aria woke up. Not bad, considering I only had half an hour to 45 minutes left in my drive. She cried for a little, but then went back to sleep. This happened on and off until we arrived at our destination.
Arrived by 8:00 AM, Breakfast, and Pool
The first friend I went to visit was staying at the Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina. It is next to the Convention Center. We had breakfast at Cafe 222. I had “The Basic” Waffle and Sausage Patties. This cafe is a favorite of Bobby Flay.
Didn’t have much time before we had to hit the road again, so we hung out at the beautiful pool at the hotel. The grounds are really gorgeous, so it felt like we were on vacation.
Ship Viewing
We didn’t have much time to kill in-between our visits with friends, but we stopped at the Harbor where to see the Ships of the Maritime Museum. If we had more time, I would have paid the admission fee to go inside the ships. They were all pretty impressive to see. The HMS Surprise is pictured below. It was used in the movie, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.
Friend Hangout #2
By noon, we made it to Mira Mesa, where we hung out with more friends. We had delicious Filipino and Vietnamese food for lunch. My friend’s mom was nice enough to watch and feed my daughter so I could eat (yay!), and catch up with everyone. It was so fun to see my daughter play with my friend’s daughter (who is almost 2 years older than Aria), especially because we knew each other and partied while we were single.
On the road
We hit the road around 2:30 PM. Aria was exhausted from playing and thankfully, slept almost immediately. There was a lot more traffic on the way up, and I probably should have had a second cup of coffee because I was exhausted. We made it back by 4:15 PM. I was so tired, the next few hours before bedtime felt like the longest of my life. I’m really glad we went and had a chance to see our friends. Good friends are very important to me. Even in the age of FaceTime and Skype, nothing beats seeing good friends face-to-face.
