..is awesome! At least this part of it is, anyway. We’re in Encinitas, CA– 30 minutes north of San Diego. We checked in on
Thursday afternoon and we’re checking out this morning. So far, we’ve been to the beach twice, the hotel pool once, the San Diego Zoo Wild Animal Park, and out to dinner twice. The first night we arrived, we got all dressed up and went to dinner-I got fish tacos and Justin got a huge taco salad. It was romantic except for the 15!!! TV screens with 4 different channels showing on the screens, plus at 9, a live band showed up.

Yesterday, we ate our continental breakfasts, cashed in on some recycleables at Albertson’s, and packed a picnic lunch on our way to the animal park in Escondido. We stayed at the park from 10-3 and got a bit burned. My faves were the lions, gorillas, and larakeets (not parakeets). The park was originally a breeding ground for endangered and threatened species, and it was not open to the public. Now the public has access and helps to fund the park. It’s kind of like a zoo, but there’s much more land available for the animals, so you have to take a slow-moving monorail around the park to see the deer, rhino, giraffes, etc. We got to see one of the two living male white rhinos, as well as meerkats, warthogs, and more. Sweet!

On the way back, we picked our own oranges. You pay $8 per bag via the honor system and go at it. Keeping my eyes peeled for rattlesnakes (as cautioned by the sign) and snails (they were everywhere), we plucked warm, unwilling oranges from deep within the tree. We didn’t fill the whole bag, but we’l have plenty to share. When we came back, we swam and I read some of Odd Girl Out. After a shower and much primping, we went out for our anniversary dinner.

We went to Amici, a fancy, tiny Peruvian restaurant that follows the slow cooking movement. It was crowded, hot, and noisy inside, so we got the option of a tiny, round outdoor table. We split a saltena, an amici greens salad (oranges, greens, raspberries, candied walnuts, special vinaigrette, and goat cheese), and the entree of aji chicken with fingerling potatoes. Soooo good!

Knowing we had done enough damage there, we opted for dessert at Via Italiana, an award winning trattoria across the street. The waitstaff, the tiramisu (also a shared treat), and the surroundings made me want to go back to Italy instantly. We laughed and talked and walked back to our hotel up the road.

This morning we got our continental breakfasts and walked down to the beach, where many surfers had ridden the waves already. We ventured out into the cold Pacific water and let the waves splash us for a while. We’re now packing up and getting ready to check out. Ciao!