Four Days with My Darling

Friday, the 4th: 10:00am... I was let out of class before the little bit of cleanup started, and by 10:30 I was changed and picking up Michael at the airport. We immediately went to Perry's Breakfast House on Pacific Hwy, as neither of us had eaten yet. It was as busy as ever, but we were quickly given a table. I ordered decaff along with my Darling, as I have developed quite a taste for it (with creamer and sweetener). It was too early to check into our hotel in Mission Valley, so we went home for a good nap before we did much of anything. I sent off what I had written so far on my assigned Navy article, then we decided to go to the Cabrillo National Monument for a walk along the coastline. The weather was perfect... bright sunshine, cool breeze coming off the Pacific. We looked in the tide pools, skipped stones, and got our hands wet. Liberty Station was on our list because I wanted to add Michael to my bank accounts, but it had closed by then. On a whim, I thought it would be neat to take a walk along the waterfront, so we spent a good bit of time enjoying the weather and the romping dogs. On a park bench we narrowed our dinner choice down to Sammy's Woodfired Pizza, just on the other side of Liberty Station. Mike had a thin crust Hawaiian pizza, and I, chicken breast over asparagus. Now able to check into the hotel, we napped, Mike posted his songs, and we had a very nice evening together.

Saturday, the 5th: "Family Restaurant", just up the street from the Howard Johnson we were staying at (on Hotel Circle South), is a breakfast diner that we tried out for the first time. I loved their corned beef hash... and we shared a ginormous California Waffle that had lots of strawberries and whipped cream on top. Just around the corner, towards Old Town and up the hill is the Junipero Serra Museum, built in the style of the original Franciscan mission and Spanish fort that occupied the same site hundreds of years ago. This we visited next, walking through the main room and up the tower for a wonderful panorama of the area, overlooking the river, Mission Valley and Mission Bay. And they had dozens of old-time pictures and lots of memorabilia from the 20's, when the museum was built. After a brief stop at home and at Walgreen's and at the library (for Mike to meet my friends there), we went to the Padre's game that afternoon. We had some Friar's Franks, lemonades and peanuts. They lost, 4-1, but we were able to see a home run and a few great plays. The Old Spaghetti Factory, being two blocks away from the stadium, was the perfect choice for dinner. And we were treated to a large full moon outside the hotel... the same type that graced the sky when Mike first visited me here in March 2011.

Sunday, the 6th: I was finally able to introduce Mike to my friends at Mission Village Christian Fellowship. It was a lovely service... Andy led some outstanding worship, and Pastor Carl spoke about keeping up with knowing the Lord through quiet times. Afterwords we returned to Perry's for breakfast (and a blueberry waffle this time), went home to pick up my dress for the afternoon wedding of Josh & Jacquie (from small group), and had a nap at the hotel before going to it. There was a break between the ceremony and the reception, so I drove Mike and I a little further down the road to see Mission Trails Park, where I had been hiking a couple times. We even got out to see the Old Mission Dam (still in our dressy clothes). The reception was at the Admiral Baker Clubhouse, and they had lots of nice things to eat. If that wasn't enough mingling with church friends, Aku (also from small group) had a college graduation open house that evening. We stopped in for a few minutes, but the both of us were very tired. [Here's the story on the Admiral it was named for.]

Monday, the 7th: A wonderful day with a slow start (I had school for a few hours in the morning). We had breakfast at Ricky's, another diner near the hotels, serving breakfast all day. I tried out a BLT with an egg... mmm! Then we stopped by the base to print out Mike's airline ticket, stopped at the bank to finally add him to my accounts, then went to Sea World as planned. They let us both in for free because we both had military IDs. With only 3 hours remaining to enjoy it, we maximized our time wonderfully. Saw five species of penguins in the Penguin Encounter: a huge room with hundreds of penguins jumping in and out of the water, saw the polar bears, beluga whales getting fed, and a mammoth walrus chewing on sardines right up against the glass. Stopped by Turtle Reef, then fed very vocal sea lions a few sardines at Pacific Point. Very glad we were in time for the final Shamu Show of the day. Loved how the big orcas jumped so high! And we were two rows above the highest splash. :) For the final half-hour we looked in on the otters (they were in the middle of a fight when we arrived) and the dolphins, then rode the Sky-Tower for another wonderful panorama of the area and bought a photo. When exiting, Mike spotted a mama duck with seven tiny babies in the pool under the tower, so we stopped and watched them until it was time to leave. For dinner, we went directly to Red Lobster, just across the river on Sports Arena Blvd. It's practically our tradition to eat there the last night. Back at the hotel we looked through a library book of historical photos of Oklahoma City, that Mike brought to show me. Then I showed him an episode of Foyle's War, and he enjoyed it as much as I do.

This morning we had to say good-bye. I drove him to the airport with ample time for me to go back to the hotel and change into my uniform before class. I already miss him, but oh, what a wonderful time we had!

Jw