A Change of Scenery

San Diego

Friday morning, my family and I flew off to San Diego in hopes for a change of scenery from our newly construction zoned home. Yes, it most definitely exceeded the expectation for all of us. With all Jacobson family trips, there happens to be multiple stories to follow. So, here are some do’s and dont’s of San Diego.

Day One

A 7:30 AM wake up call, and some drive thru burger king before we made our way to the airport was how we started our morning. Unlike most trips to the airport, few arguments were made. All seemed great that morning, but let’s keep going.

After our very nice flight (thank you Tony for the seats), we went off to baggage claim. That all went smoothly until we went to the rental car lot. As always, something has to go terribly wrong. My father, and mother seemed to have forgotten to book this ahead of time. If any of you have went to San Diego, you know it is a busy city. My family is pretty much used to our consistent Florida trips, and deserted Louisiana airports. This situation seemed to differ tremendously from the usual. We ended up in this lot for about 2 1/2 hours switching cars a total of three times. My parents happen to be quite high maintenance with this sort of thing. Thank God for Tony’s annoying, yet useful persistency with the employee. Finally, we made our way into a sport utility. If you didn’t catch up to the main message, here you go… DON’T FORGET TO RENT A CAR AHEAD OF TIME.

Next, we went back to our beautiful hotel. Dad did a very great job with choosing the Marriott. We unpacked our things, and went to walk around the city. We settled on a restaurant nearby and ordered pile upon pile of sushi. Me, being the least high maintenance (hard to believe right?) of the family, enjoyed it for the most part. Unfortunately, for the other two, it wasn’t the greatest meal they’ve had. Almost right before the check, dad accidentally knocked over 3 or 4 sauces and dishes onto the ground. Sitting outside that day may have not been our greatest decision. Each table stared, as my father turned into a tomato, and became a little insecure boy about the situation. He apologized to the waiter countless times as if he had never seen the same situation happen before. The words we would hear for the next hour and a half would be, “I can’t believe I just did that.” Conclusion, don’t overflow your table with too many plates of sushi. You might knock it over and face the embarrassment of the whole restaurant staring at you.

After lunch, my dad had a rush of strange confidence. He decided of all days, we should rent a boat. If you know my dad, you know all he can drive is a pontoon. When I say drive, I mean steer slightly, while being instructed by almost every other person on the boat.  Because of dad’s rough lunch, my mom and I reluctantly agreed. We rented a small, old looking fishing boat. Tony read every detail on each contract twice, and we could see the nervousness approaching. We got on and everything seemed great in the bay. Then we went out, into the ocean. With Tony, who is the worst swimmer of anyone I know. We lasted a solid ten, if not nine minutes in the ocean. My mother and I screamed as my dad nervously steered the boat. Waves rushed towards us, and it felt like we were tipping every second. Those 10 minutes were easily the longest of my life. Conclusion, if you’re not adventurous, don’t try to be. You probably suck at it.

When the near death boat ride was over, we walked around stopping by all of the naval statues and boats. This my friends, was a great sight in San Diego. We also ended up taking a boat ride… with a driver, to view some of the places near the ocean. Conclusion, only get on boats with people who CAN drive. If you do, you won’t (almost) die!

Lastly, we came back to the hotel for a quick nap, and to take a shower. After, we hopped into a cab and began to look for a restaurant. Before we did that, Rikki forgot a jacket. We had to make a quick stop at BCBG to fulfill her desperate need ;). Finally, around 8:30 we passed all of the drunken, and young men around San Diego, and made our way to my (old) favorite restaurant, The Melting Pot. Usually, this place has been amazing. Last night, was most definitely not. Not only was the service awful, the people sitting in front of us were worse. The F bomb was dropped a total of fifteen times, and they seemed like they were on the strongest form of LSD. It took a total of three employees to make them leave, and that took our entire dinner. Rikki hadn’t slept for probably a day, and was about to scream at our waiter for how long this meal was taking. She also didn’t enjoy the fact that she was “boiling” her meat, and she didn’t enjoy the “watery” cheese. Tony didn’t like his fruity bourbon, and I had disappointed my family with the one dinner location I have ever chosen. So, the conclusion is, just let your parents pick. Especially if they’re high maintenance, and don’t like boiled meat.

This trip may seem like it had an awful start, but it actually happened to be one of the most fun. Although things didn’t seem to always go our way, at least some memories were created out of it. Instead of our regular pool and beach days, we actually walked around. San Diego is beautiful, and if you follow the do’s rather than the dont’s, it’s just fine.

I can honestly say Day 2 was much better, no worries people.