Sergio's Birthday - La Jolla

I took Sergio to beautiful La Jolla for his birthday.



Relaxation was the goal and I think we were successful. It helped to stay at the fancy pants Estancia Hotel and Spa. We went on a gorgeous hike down to Black's Beach, had massages and generally just hung out.


Piatti


One of the most lovely hotel grounds I've seen.


Adobe El Restaurante






Hike down to Black's Beach.






Salk Institute




Our room.





Instagram snaps


We won't be doing any major traveling any time soon, but I really want to try squeezing in these little getaways before baby arrives. Luckily California is one amazing state with endless undiscovered places. Half of me wants to avoid the lure of old favorites and the other half wants to slip them on like an old, cozy cardigan. We'll see.

See full photo set by clicking here.

Ocean magic

On this pretty evening, we drove out to Torrey Pines State Beach, on the hunt for some special waves.



Bioluminescence.








The storm must have dispersed and diluted the little Lingulodinium polyedrum. Check out how strong the glow is in this surfer video by Loghan Call, filmed the week before! (There's a 15 second commercial before the video. But hang tight because it's worth the wait!)

Sergio's Birthday - San Diego - photo diary

Not pictured is the first day. But basically we ate and drank. :) It was pouring rain on the drive down but it did let up in time for happy hour. Sergio and I polished off an entire bottle of Super Tuscan Blend (Querciabella Mongrana Maremma Toscana, Italy, 2008) at Enoteca Style in Little Italy. It happened to be Half Off Wine Bottle Wednesday! We chatted with our lovely server, Regina (with a hard "g") who we found out is from Estonia. After our paninis, she pointed us in the direction of Extraordinary Desserts. After a long stroll in the damp, we headed back to the hotel to relax before a very late dinner where Sergio had a delicious diver scallop dish.




























One of the major highlights was visiting Cabrillo National Monument Park in Point Loma. It is so beautiful there.




I'll post Sergio's favorite part of the trip, our moonlit jaunt to the beach, next time. But you can sneak a peak by heading straight to the photoset on flickr.