mrspjuth

After a long flight, total travel 18 hours, from Stockholm to San Diego that included a 5 hour wait at O’Hare we arrived. Greeted by the nice driver of the Dollar shuttle bus we picked up our rental and headed down town to the Doubletree by Hilton. Nice rooms but they need to do something with the lobby and corridors, they looked a bit old. But the best with this hotel is Karla at the Front desk. She gave me good tips regarding what to see and where to eat. Thanks Karla!
Woke early the first day and went out for a walk while my daughters slept. Found a friendly guy at Broadway, Tony. Tony’s coffee cart – great espresso and a friendly guy. If in San Diego head for Broadway and look for Tony. Went back to the hotel to wake my daughters. We went out for breakfast, a lot more fun and cheaper than the hotel breakfast, and found Influx in Little Italy. Influx served us really good bagels, freshly squeezed orange juice and herbal tea.
After strolling around San Diego we headed for a late lunch to Searsucker but had missed that they close at 2:00 pm and open again at 5:00. I really wanted to test this restaurant. It looked really good though and the hostess that greeted us with the bad news did it in a service minded way. So we looked around and found Freds Mexican Café in the Gas lamp quarter. They served really great and tasty Mexican food. I had the shrimp tacos and my daughters Carne Asada and chicken roll tacos. All good but my daughters chicken rolls were the best. Deep fried soft taco breads rolled up and filled with chicken. Soo good!! The interior fun and different and probably a great place to have a tequila evening.
Karla at the Doubletree hotel said that if I want to eat at a restaurant by the ocean with locals go to Georges in La Jolla. I booked a table on the Terrace, their casual side of Georges. The restaurant is run by Trey Foshee, a well renowned chef in San Diego and California. We arrived a bit early but the head waiter got us a table after 10 min. Friendly smiles from all crew and also good looking if you ask my daughters. The ambience is great. You sit on a terrace with the ocean next to it. Big parasols, heaters, locals … and good service. I had the special – Halibut with corn and snap peas. Delicious and beautiful, well presented. To that I had a tasty sauvignon blanc from David Arthur Vineyards, Napa. My daughters had free range chicken and pasta vongole. Both well-presented and great! After dinner I made a visit one stair down to look at Georges fine dining restaurant. The menu looked assume and the head waiter that I met made a good impression. Next time I will for sure try the fine dining.
Next day we left San Diego for a drive to Fresno. Karla said that Jake’s at the beach in Del Mar would be a great stop for lunch. It was closed though because we were a bit early. I think we were lucky because we hadn’t had breakfast and found Americana instead. Americana was voted the best breakfast restaurant by the San Diego Reader. And they really served us great breakfast. Even if I only had 3 eggs over easy, bacon and fresh fruit it was really outstanding. Tables on the side walk outside the restaurant, assume crew and top ambience. The dinner menu looked great too so I really have to go back.
A good start on our California trip!