Shamu, Batters, Sore Wrists. San Diego.

Day four (or five?) of the Fox Rent A Car Road Trip.

I’ve got sore wrists and thighs from a particularly energetic ride. Watch the full video here. (Action starts at about the 4.50 mark.)

San Diego continues to feel like the whole city is a holiday resort. The Old Town is about ten minutes from the city center by trolley. It’s like a sanitized Mexican village.

Thursday we had a three dollar breakfast. Based on the size of the thing, you categorically don’t need to spend more than that, ever.

Check out O’Hungry’s if you’re in town.

Overlooking La Jolla is the Mount Soledad Memorial Park. If you can get there on a sunny day, it’s well worth the trip. Views of Pacific Beach and Mission beach at La Jolla. We didn’t go on a sunny day. We’re in the midst of June gloom.

After pizza at Filippi’s in La Jolla, we went to catch my first baseball game at Petco Park, the Padres against the Washington Nationals.

I was fully prepared to be entirely underwhelmed, my experience of baseball being only televised scratching and sniffing and spitting and standing around.

But I loved it. The crowd made British soccer fans look like extras from
Night of the Living Dead. Being able to see the action on the whole playing field, rather than just the faces you get on TV, made for a holistic (can’t believe I just used that word) experience, and I left disappointed only that they didn’t get my face on the big screen.

Take the time to learn the rules before you go. It makes a difference.

We won. I was proud.

Nightcap at the Top Of The Hyatt. My kind of bar, at least when I’m wearing my “sophisticate” suit, and not my “reprobate” rags.

Yesterday we had lunch with the super-smart Rick Calvert, the brains behind Blogworld. He took us to Brigantine for fish tacos and oyster shots. Oyster shots are exactly what they sound like: shot glasses with an oyster, horseradish and chili sauce. Yep, I’m that hard.

I thought I’d tried fish tacos before. But I hadn’t – not really. These were fish tacos worth writing home about. Consider this a letter of culinary appreciation.

Sea World comped us tickets to go and see Shamu and her (his?) friends and for the first time since arriving in California I got to see a proper cross-section of Americana. The people watching was as fascinating as the shows, but for entirely different reasons.

There are whole families of *really* fat people in this country.

But that’s not news.

What’s news is that for the first time in eighteen months I’m about to go and do some pre-breakfast yoga. Will report back when we get to Phoenix tonight.

If you’re in Phoenix, get in touch. We’re there for the next two days.