La Jolla

La Jolla is beautiful, but very busy and crowded. Initially Melissa and I wanted to stay here rather than in Del Mar, but we are glad we switched locations. Del Mar was much more of a sleepy beach town, that La Jolla. There was definately more to do and lots of over priced places to shop. By staying in Del Mar and visiting La Jolla for dinner and then lunch the next day we got the best of both worlds. We could go out to La Jolla and then come back and relax in the much more laid back area around L'Auburge.



Above you can see the view from the top of La Valencia hotel at the restaraunt Sky Room. The hotel was built in the 1920s and has a very very old school elevator that is not something you see everyday. I'm a big fan of new technology and having to use such an old elevator had some saftey concerns for me.

In the picture to the right you can sort of make out the La Valencia hotel to the left of the giant monstrosity of a condo on the top right. This tower was truely a blight on the face of the coast. I am not opposed to development, but I don't favor hideous architure in any form. There was a similar blight on the coast of Coronado next to the historic hotel.

Friday night we had dinne at the Sky Room, which was recommended as one of the most romantic restaraunts in the San Diego area. The service at this place was so good they fixed problems that I never realized were even an issue. Take for example this handy dandy stool to rest your purse on while you dine. Apparently there is much confusion locating your purse without such a handy device. Melissa was very impressed with this contraption. I know she was just pleased to see how far above and beyond the staff had gone to made our meal and attend to our needs. It was truely an amazing evening and worth every penny.

We arrived a bit early for our dinner and got to enjoy the sunset out on the balcony of the hotel. While we were enjoying the view, a very friendly sea gull made itself comfortable on the table in front of us. I had no idea birds would eat nuts.




La Jolla is also home to what must be one of the most beautiful retirement homes. I can only guess how expensive a room would be but the place was just amazing from our view on the outside. The buildings are on the edge of La Jolla on the beach. There is a big area across the street where seals gather and there are parks all along the coast. Absolutely amazing. Shown below is a view of the place from out on a little pier where you can watch the seals.

Del Mar

Here are some photos of our hotel, L'Auburge Del Mar and the surrounding areas. I don't think anyone actually works in this town since there is a constant sream of people either biking or running. It felt like we were in the middle of a triathalon while we were in Del Mar. Before 7AM on a Friday morning there must have been over 50 surfers already in the water.

There was a great little restaraunt on the corner next to the hotel that was excellent. Even though our waiter thought we were crazy for wanting to sit outside on a rather nippy morning, it was well worth it. The food was fantastic and the service was even better. Breakfast definately made up for a poor dinner. While the food was top notch at J. Taylor's the service was absolutely awful. It was nearly twenty mintues before we ever saw our waiter. I always hate spending a bunch of money on dinner and then just have crappy service. Even if the food is marginal I am much more likely to return to a restaraunt with great service, than one with amazing food and poor service. I just wish more places would figure this out.
Everytime we head out west we say how much we would love to live out there. If it weren't for the little things like having to spend $2.0 for a similar house we currently own, and the not having a job out there I would move out there tommorow. Well the lotto is up to $32 million so maybe I could get a 2,000 sq/ft house with a view.

To give you an idea of just how insane the real estate prices are in this little enclave imagine if you will a 1950 single story 3/3 beach front house on a lot that is 5075 sq. ft. The house is on the beachfront shown on the bottom photo. No doubt this is a beautiful location and a beautiful beach. How much would you say this house is worth? Do I hear $17 million? Well you you said $17,000,000.00 you would be $500,000.00 short of the asking price. Personally I would prefer the view from the nearby cliffs. If you are thinking that you need a bit more space to spread your wings fear not. Just down the beach there is a 10,700 sq. ft. 6/9.5 house on a 42k sq. ft. lot. Best of all if you put down $10 million at a 6% intrest rate your payments will be just under $240,000/month :-D If you are mathematicaly challenged that translates into an asking price of FIFTY MILLION DOLLARS. Ouch.

West Coast Flavah

Here is a nice view from La Jolla showing our lunch destination, George's on the Cove. Highly recommened with a view that is just to die 4. On the left side of the photo is the location of a rather odd and old tourist attraction. It's a cave. Well there is a hundred something year old tunnel that leads down to a cave that opens up into the bay. The best part of this attraction is the fossilized bird pooh (shown below)that covers the deck at the bottom of the stairs. I should also point out that pigeons may suddenly fly out of crevices and scare the fertilizer out of you. You have been warned.


Shown here is the view from the cave out into the Pacific. There were a bunch of kayakers out this saturday. There were even some freaks that were swimming out in the ocean. Keep in mind the water temperature is in the 50s. Once again there La Jolla was infested with runners and bikers this morning. These people are serious health nuts.