Savoring San Diego

Finally we made it to the west coast!  Amanda and I drove west through western Arizona over desert, rocky hills, and giant man made rivers that flowed parallel to the highway.  Storm clouds were ignited by a fiery pacific sunset as we passed through one last, giant mountain range that delivered us into the warm and breezy California coast of San Diego.

San Diego is a city of surfers and sunshine, and when it comes to food, they do fish really well in unique ways such as great, affordable sushi and gnarly fish tacos.

Upon arriving in San Diego we drove to Oceanside where found a great place to camp right on the beach.  Soon after our camp was set up we met up with our friend Bennett who lives on a Camp Pendleton U.S. Marine base just north of Oceanside.

Bennett took us to his favorite sushi restaurant–Harney Sushi.  The restaurant had a sleek décor with an ocean theme, a beautiful service staff who could have passed for models, and an attractive clientele to match (us included)!  We knew we were in California now!

The sushi here was also beautiful (and tasty) and offered some extra Japanese flair that most sushi eaters don’t see everyday.  It must be that southern Californians really know good sushi!  We ordered gyoza (fried pork dumplings), spicy tuna rolls that were generously plump, a fresh-tasting roll of fatty yellowtail and cucumber, an eel and avocado roll that was heaped with tobiko roe, and some halibut balls of thinly sliced halibut draped over balls of sushi rice and broiled with chili mayonnaise on top.

It was fun sharing all this good sushi and catching up with our friend Bennett, and amazingly, the sushi was not very expensive at all!  This was a very impressive first west coast sushi experience thanks to my man Bennett!

It was well past nightfall when we drove the coastal freeway back to the campsite, but there were still lots of people walking and jogging under the yellow streetlights.  It was plain to see that this area has quite and active community working to maintain their southern California physique!

But do you know that atherosclerosis is one of the main causes of purchase cialis online ageing. This sale of sildenafil tablets medicine may mask or delay the symptoms of syphilis. Then the use of hearing aid may levitra pills not have a vent or the vent may be plugged with a small rubbery stopper. Imagine being hooked up to a life support system and having one of the vital electronic assemblies cheap sildenafil 100mg in it fail. The next morning we awoke to the sounds of the waves at our beach side campsite and discovered an entirely new shift of active Californians.  Surfers in black wetsuits dotted the ocean not far from the shore, straddling their surfboards and rocking up and down with the motion of the water.  Looking over their shoulders, the surfers would size up the waves.  Eventually, when a worthy wave approached the surfers, one would lay down, paddle, stand, and ride for a few invigorating seconds.

Amanda and I spent the morning enjoying a breakfast of coffee, tea, and pastries at a leisurely oceanfront café and taking a walk on the beach where we saw more thrill-seeking surfers.  After breakfast Amanda and I were ready for some thrills of our own, in the form of fish tacos!  We headed down to Ocean Beach where we found Wahoo’s Fish Taco.  This Mexicali restaurant with a skate and surf décor. Stickers covered all the walls and surf videos played on televisions giving the restaurant a true beach bum feel.

I thought to myself “the food here can’t be any good, this place looks like a surf shack.”  But, in fact, fish tacos are the original surfer grub and the food at Wahoo’s Fish Taco was great!

To make these radical tacos, the taco shop grills fresh, firm, and white Pacific Wahoo fish.  The grilled fish is then chopped into strips and topped with fresh salsa, cheese, cilantro, and plenty of thinly sliced cabbage for freshness and crunch.  This is all wrapped in a double-layer of soft corn tortillas and can be accompanied by a spicy, garlicy Mexican tapateo sauce.   Our tacos were accompanied with beans and rice that were delicious and perfectly cooked, and a moist and flavorful green and red chicken enchilada.

That evening Amanda and I visited Camp Pendleton to meet up with Bennett again after he finished work.  We watched a beautiful sunset at Camp Pendleton’s beach before meeting up with Bennett and his friend.  Then, we all drove to Ocean Beach to get some drinks and burgers at another of Bennett’s favorite spots.

Bennett has been living in San Diego for a couple years already, and has really come to appreciate the laid back atmosphere he enjoys with his friends.  “Beach cruising” is the favorite activity for Bennett and his buds and consists of hopping on an old “beech cruiser” bike and riding for miles down the boardwalk, day or night, and watching all the people and the world go by.

We had finally arrived in California and it felt like landing in another world.  The lifestyle seems appealing—just choose a great activity that gets you outside and surrounded by friends and others and spend hours a day just walking, jogging, surfing, or cruising away.  Oh, and don’t forget to stop off for some great sushi or fish tacos!