San Diego part 3 — Loving Hut

It's surprising how much lots of sunshine, fresh air and walking on beaches can tire you out. Not that I'm complaining — we thoroughly enjoyed our third day in beautiful San Diego, but by evening we were pretty tired out, and ambivalent about whether we wanted dinner or not. But my husband was really eager to try the local Loving Hut — part of the restaurant chain founded by The Supreme Master Ching Hai, so we headed out to University Heights for a late supper. If you're not familiar with Loving Hut, you can read my review of the Seattle restaurant here. We generally refer to the restaurant as "the cult," and sometimes I can't remember the real name, but we like Loving Hut, and family members have eaten in Loving Huts all over the world. Although part of a worldwide chain, each restaurant is individually owned, and the owners control the menu. All the food is vegan, but you never know exactly what you'll find at the different locations.

We were both feeling a little overfed and our stomachs were a bit wonky so we were looking mainly for soup. Specifically, my husband was craving pho. We started with fresh spring rolls, pictured at the top of the post, and we each ordered a medium-size bowl of soup. The spring rolls were tasty but we actually didn't finish them — very unusual for us. Ken loved his pho (fresh rice noodles, soy slices, soy ham and white fungus flower served with basil, bean sprouts, cilantro and onion), and ate the whole thing.

I ordered Noble soup, (fresh asparagus, carrots, king mushroom, bean curd, enoki, cilantro), and it was exactly what I wanted. There was a odd, squeaky-crunchy -not-in-a-good-way, item in the soup that I couldn't identify that the waitress said was enoki, but I could see the enoki mushrooms in the broth and this didn't look like any enoki I've ever seen. Could it have been the bottom part of the enoki cluster that usually gets cut off? Other than that, the soup was perfect. We were both very happy with our dinners and left the restaurant feeling a lot better than when we had entered. We would happily return to Loving Hut in San Diego.

Sunday was our last morning in San Diego before catching a flight back to Seattle. We didn't have much time because when you fly somewhere with my husband you get to the airport VERY early, but we wanted to go for a walk near the hotel and get some exercise before heading to the plane.

I really liked the look of the street we walked down, especially the tiny patios on the right filled with plants, interesting furniture and art objects, and could easily imagine living in one of the brick townhouses.  I wish I had photographed some of wonderful porch settings.

We headed to the Gaslamp District — an area filled with shopping and restaurants — and  happened upon the 4th Annual Fifth Avenue Auto Showcase. While I'm not a classic car aficionado, it was hard not to be impressed by the assortment of classic autos that had been lovingly restored by their owners.

I took a few photos of some of my favorites. The only disconcerting thing is, if some of these cars are antiques, then I must be an antique, too.

Last but not least, I finally got to see, if not actually eat at, Croce's  Restaurant and Jazz Bar, founded by Jim Croce's family after his death in a plane crash.

San Diego is a beautiful city, and I hope to visit again soon.

San Diego part 2

I snapped this photo to remember the impossibly blue sky in Coronado.

On Saturday we went to Coronado. My husband wanted to show me the historic, Victorian Hotel del Coronado. This is a luxurious resort and spa that will set you back a substantial amount to stay there, but it's free to gawk. In fact, busloads of foreign tourists arrived by the minute.

The Web site describes it thus: "Since it was first built more than 120 years ago, the Hotel del Coronado has been a beacon of grandeur and refinement among vacation destinations in Southern California and the world. With its iconic red-shingled roof adding a dash of majestic color to the dazzling azure Pacific coastline, The Del stands as the definitive example of what a luxury resort should be." Who wouldn't want to stay here? And visit the spa?

We wandered the the opulent indoor public areas and, ahem, used the facilities, before heading out to the gardens. The gardens were lush and exotic with beautiful views in every direction. The tree I photographed is a dragon tree, and it was quite striking.

There was an enormous pool in a beautiful setting and lots of people were swimming and frolicking, which now that I'm back in Seattle, seems so unfair.

We followed the garden path down to the beach and were in for a surprise. The huge beach with its warm, soft, almost fluffy, white sand was too inviting to resist. Off went the shoes and we headed down the beach for a long walk.

In the photo above you can see a pile of sand pumpkins that belong to an enterprising artist (under the umbrella). We noticed quite a few street artists, on the beach and back in the city, who build interesting piles of stones or other natural materials, and for $5, they let you take a photo. 

This gorgeous pile of seaweed let me take its picture for free, and I couldn't resist its charms. I may even print and frame a version of my seaweed photo because I like it so much.

On Friday I wanted to live in La Jolla, but on Saturday Coronado was my destination of choice, so I looked on Zillow.com to see what real estate prices were like. Clearly, living here is not in my future, unless I come upon a few million dollars.

All those hours of sun and sand finally got to our stomachs and we headed back to San Diego for lunch at Evolution. Evolution is a funky, all-vegan, fast food place.


As you can see from the menu board, there's lots of "chick'n" and "cheese," but also some raw foods, and juices, smoothies and shakes. Even soft-serve and raw soft-serve.

Lots of choices to meet different preferences, but all served from the counter, just like McDonald's. There were also two cold cases with pre-packaged restaurant food, cookies and such, and cold drinks.

 There was an enclosed outdoor seating patio filled with potted plants and a fountain, making for a very pleasant place to have a quick lunch. When we arrived, the patio was deserted, and we assumed it was because we were having such a late lunch, but pretty soon more people began arriving and there were quite a few occupied tables.

 While perusing the menu, I noticed that hidden among the Gardein burgers was a house-made bean burger for $1 additional, and I went with that. It was huge and I could barely finish it, but I have to say it was kind of bland, even with all the condiments. On the plus side, it didn't fall apart much and was very filling.

My husband chose a bowl of chili, and we both had sweet potato fries. He said he liked the chili, and we both thought the fries were good. The potatoes were fried in slices instead of spears, and lightly salted. I always forget, though, that I make sweet potato fries in the oven and they're not very greasy, but these were the real deal — in all their deep-fried glory.

After lunch we headed to Pacific Beach for some more walking and ocean viewing. And people watching. PB has a completely different vibe from the other two very elegant beach towns we visited — it's gritty, a little crazy with activity, and draws a mostly young crowd. The beach walk is lined with rooming houses and bars where tightly-packed bodies are partying. There are loads of open-air restaurants and (tacky) beach shops and lots of people biking and hanging out. We walked the beachfront path enjoying the sunshine and ocean air. After we'd exhausted our walking urges, we popped into Goodwill to see what the beach had to offer thrifters, but either I was too tired to deal with bargain hunting, or this was the most disorganized Goodwill I've been in. I swear, there were no size categories and I didn't have the patience to look though the jumble. Must be getting too old.

We went back to the hotel to rest, and super tired once again, dragged ourselves out to a late dinner. Tomorrow I'll cover dinner, and our last morning in San Diego.