Matt and I were treated to an anniversary balloon ride by my very sweet mother (yeah Anne!). We had seen balloons frequently in flight a little before sunset by the Mormon temple off the 5 freeway, and we'd always thought they tracked close to the coast. When we were planning an activity for our second anniversary, I immediately thought of the hot air balloons. I had only been once before in Palm Springs, and it wasn't very scenic. Since I was with my sister then, of course it was fun, but landing in a field with shot-up fridges and sofas just took away from the experience.
We met our fellow flyers and crew in a Vons parking lot in Del Mar--this may sound unappealing, but it gave us the opportunity to grab some appetizers at a kick-ass Persian restaurant nearby (the herb salad made our breath smell like mint and basil for hours). We were trucked over to a launch site, where I'd say about five other companies were getting their balloons ready. Although the area wasn't anything special, it was fun to see the balloons being inflated and lifting off. Ours was the last to take flight, so we got a nice show. Matt was a little nervous, as he has issues with heights when he feels unsteady. The initial moments were a bit hard for him, but the rest of the flight (minus the HARD landing) was smooth and he enjoyed it.
Our launch and landing sites--we certainly didn't escape civilization.
The balloons being unfurled, and our ride is just about ready to go.
Matt, trying not to think too much about what he's about to do, and I'm adding another layer of sun protection.
Some of the others in our group were, like us, a bit surprised at how we flew mostly over developed areas. We should have expected it--San Diego is built up and the winds blow us east, away from the water. Still, the balloon companies do over sell (surprise!) the idea a coastal excursion.
San Diego, a city of subdivisions, and a reason not to go skinny dipping before dark (you never know who is looking or from where).
However, the views west towards the coast were just beautiful. Fog covered the coastline, and surrounded some of the low hills. We were also able to see how SD is really a series of developments tucked into narrow canyons. From where we were, we didn't see a large, flat basin like you have in Los Angeles.
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The experience was fun and relaxing, and though tired and a little dusty, we drove up to the North County beach town of Encinitas for a late dinner at Q'ero, a Peruvian restaurant I read about. It was certainly the type of place that once you enter, you know the meal and experience are going to be memorable. The colors were rich, the space cozy but not crowded, wine was present on many tables, and people just seemed happy and content. We thought that a table of "nice but crazy" Peruvian women (as described by our server) was a good sign as to the authenticity of the food. We slowly enjoyed our ceviche, filet, and fish prepared in Peruvian and South American styles. We also partook of a Patagonian Malbec--it was a night to celebrate.
... and it wasn't over yet--an unexpected adventure awaited us. One of Matt's coworkers lives in Encinitas, and we were going to meet him for a quick drink. The place he suggested was kinda horrible--beach town sports bar, hook-up haven on a Saturday night. Ick! Luckily he was delayed by a "heavy metal band", and we decided that sounded better than the bar. We joined up with him and found ourselves at a Future, Space Age, Retro keg party, with many of the guests and band members wearing some sort of metal or foil.
We love seeing live music, and this was no exception.
The host welcomed us in--he welcomed everyone from 20 somethings, to a homeless man, to a late 50s couple that loved to dance. It was awesome. The band, wasn't really playing heavy metal--Doors, Led Zeppelin, "Let's Get It On", and such. They certainly knew how to work with the crowd. I was impressed that they had a dedicated theremin player, who resembled a glam version of Harry Shearer in "This Is Spinal Tap". Another charming feature of this community is a lady who goes around to parties on weekends selling homemade egg rolls for $1.
I can't wait for next year's anniversary!
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