America's Finest City (continued)

(sitting at my desk at work, listening to the printer)
Yes, the trip to San Diego was all about food and family. The second full day involved some traipsing around a shopping center that had not existed when I left two years ago. It's quite a swank place called The Forum, and it caters to the thousands of yuppies that continue to move to the area. Thousands of houses, at astonishing prices, have appeared in the area in recent years. I believe a lot of folks are living beyond their means; how many families can there be who can pay $700K or so for a house (not a mansion, a house). All I really cared about was perusing the goodies at Sur la Table, but one can't visit that shopping area and fail to notice the ubiquity of medically-enhanced trophy wives, bejeweled old matriarchs and their expensive SUVs. Where is all this money coming from? I didn't care. I was too relaxed to sanctimoniously judge people (well, not as vigorously as usual, anyway). I don't exactly remember what order in which everything occurred, but many of the pleasures of our trip were more bohemian:
1)Fish tacos at Rubio's (Lindz had guacamole on hers, and she didn't hate it, an unprecedented occurrence)
2)Driving around and enjoying the fact that California drivers are less stupid than North Carolina drivers (yes, I'm serious)
3)The ocean breeze.
4)Stone India Pale Ale
5)A breakfast burrito as big as an adult armadillo, devoured while sitting placidly on the tailgate of a pickup truck. The burrito was from Pipes in Cardiff by the Sea.
6)Freshly squeezed orange juice from the two trees in my in-laws' yard (I have named them Telperion and Laurelin).
7)A California burrito from Rico's in Encinitas. This, my friends, is true fusion cuisine: marinated and grilled beef, cheese, sour cream and french fries in a burrito. Devastating.
8)Being in the same state with friends, family and acquaintances.
9)Watching the horse races at Del Mar. Lindz won a few bucks.

We also did a few things that involve a bit of sophistication:
1)We drank a lot of very good red wine at the Wine Loft (located at aforementioned Forum) for a scandalously low price (Lindz's close friend Ashley works there). It was an evening of pleasant conversation and tasty vino. We ate pizza and continued to drink at Ashley's folks' place. It's half-renovated, so we were in a candle-lit, high-ceilinged room whose walls were 2-by-4's and dangling wires. Kind of neat, really.
2)Sushi with my friends Charlotte, Rebecca and my brother. Marvelous, simply marvelous. Food and eating reach their highest forms in sushi.