San Diego is not just full of bat-shit crazy people

On my trip down to Texas, I decided to stop in a couple of cities that I’d been wanting to see. One of them was San Diego. If you’ve never been to San Diego, put it on your bucket list. It’s truly a tropical paradise. I stayed about a block from the water. I parked Magnum in the hotel garage and never moved him while I was there. I walked everywhere so I was able to see, smell, and feel the flora, and of course, the glorious sunshine. The first thing I did when I got there, after checking in at the hotel, was to walk the three blocks to a neighborhood called “Little Italy.” Little Italy is a very cool part of town with a bunch of restaurants, pizza places, coffee shops, and wine bars. My kind of place! I walked around first to see what my options were for eating and drinking. I wasn’t really hungry, though. I was craving a glass of wine and hoping to get lucky enough to chat up a local. I spied a restaurant with a wine bar that looked like an interesting place and ducked in. I ordered a glass of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and took in the scenery. The restaurant was Italian (duh!) and it looked like a scene from Venice. I was in luck! There was what appeared to be a local sitting at the bar having a glass of wine and reading a book. I wasn’t sure if he would be open to chatting with me since he seemed to be engrossed in his reading. After a few minutes, though, he started chatting with the bartender. I waited for my opening. He finally paused for a bit and I told him I was from Seattle and was hoping he could recommend a good restaurant in the area. That’s all it took. He was more than willing to share his knowledge of San Diego, restaurants, neighborhoods, and his political views. Wait. I didn’t ask about his politics. I listened politely to all of his super radical ideas about, “If I was God, this is how things would be run” (his exact words), because I didn’t want him to think that I was rude or impolite. He even had a few really good ideas. Such as, Congress shouldn’t be allowed to make any new laws; they should only have the ability to remove existing laws that are crappy laws anyway. He said that Congress should only be able to meet three weeks out of the year. In summer. When it’s the hottest time of the year. And they have to meet someplace without air conditioning. By golly, things would get done in Washington, DC! Congressmen (and women) could only serve one term. As a matter of fact, all politicians could only serve one term. That way, they wouldn’t be in office long enough to figure out how to use the system to their advantage. It would cut down on corruption, he said. After several more minutes of his ideas on how to run the country, I finally said, “You’ve given this a lot of thought.” This is code for: “I’m drinking my glass of wine as quickly as possible and I’m getting the heck out of here. Please God, don’t let him have a gun.” He smiled and said, “Yes” to my comment. Then he moved on to how he’d solve the drug problem in our country. He said that it’s a simple matter of supply and demand. He said because there is a demand for drugs, there will always be a supply. But if you changed it around by killing anyone caught doing drugs, therefore eliminating the demand, the supply would dry up. Not only did he think anyone caught doing drugs should be killed, immediately, but they should be executed on television. This includes everyone in our country. He thinks we shouldn’t discriminate. If a ten-year-old is caught smoking pot, then execute the ten-year-old on television. Wow. My first opportunity to chat up a local and he turns out to be bat-shit crazy. Oh well, I’ve always said that I’m a moron magnet. Some things never change. The next day was awesome, though. I went to the San Diego Maritime Museum, which is a bunch of really old ships and boats on the water. I walked over to another neighborhood called the “Gaslamp Quarter.” Very cool part of town with lots of restaurants, shops, bars, and there’s a Ghirardelli store where you can get ice cream concoctions as well as their fantastic chocolate bars. I stumbled upon a cool liquor store called “The Wine Bank.” They sold more than just wine, but they had a really nice selection of vino, including several varietals from Chronic Cellars, the California wine club to which I belong. I snagged a couple of bottles of the Purple Paradise, a zinfandel/petite sirah blend. YUM! I went to an “Anthony’s Seafood” restaurant on the water for lunch the first day. In case you’re wondering, this restaurant is not related to the “Anthony’s” around the Seattle area. I asked the bartender and got some non-bat-shit crazy history of San Diego. I guess my moron magnet needed recharging after the previous night. I went back to “Little Italy” one more time and had dinner and a glass of red wine. I had a pork belly dish that was amazing and a beet dish that was equally as good. The weather was so perfect at around 72 for a high and sunshine and water as far as the eye could see. I did see a few homeless people, which was not surprising since the weather there is so nice, and given the economy. But for the most part, they left me alone. I noticed there were lots of police in the area around my hotel and around the “Little Italy” area. Leaving San Diego, I felt sad for having to leave so soon but I was only about half way to my final destination, so I knew I had to get back on the road. Wrapping my shoulder harness in a maxi pad, I got back on the road and waved to San Diego. I didn’t say goodbye, I said, until next time!