The Pact

Jessica - "So you're hanging out in San Diego just for the heck of it?"

Me - "Yes"

Jessica - "I hate you."

Jessica, like a lot of other people, is severely jealous of my ability to go wherever I want, whenever I want, for free. This week I used my benefits to head west to San Diego, where Russell and I enjoyed the second trip of our Pact. For those of you unfamiliar with the Pact, Russ and I have an agreement that each quarter we select a city of mutual interest, go there for 24 hours, see a sight or two, and consume one ridiculously expensive, enormously good meal. Here's the San Diego tail:

Our journey begins in Chicago at O'Hare, where I met up with Russ and we both attempted to jumpseat to San Diego via a United flight. Unbeknownst to us, United's 757's are only equipped with one cockpit jumpseat, as opposed to the standard two jumpseats EVERY other operator of the 757 uses. Since every single seat in the peanut gallery was occupied, we were forced to plan B, the LAX flight next door. Two jumpseats, but one of them occupied. Plan C, Denver and try to connect. Two jumpseats, one of them occupied. Plan D, San Francisco and try to connect. One jumpseat. (All of this gate to gate running around is now taking it's toll on Russ, who's aerodynamicly hairless head doesn't quite make up for his excessive bulk) Plan E, Las Vegas and try to connect. Two jumpseats, both occupied. Plan F, LAX again, almost 2 hours later. This time, we were lucky enough to snag both the jumpseats on an A320. We were supposed to leave for San Diego at 5:30. We left for LAX at 7:20. Thanx to Enterprise Rent-A-Car being accomidating, our reservation was switched to LAX, and when we arrived there at 9:30, we collected the automobile. Our string of bad luck had ended apparently, since they were out of economy cars and set us up instead with a convertable Chrystler Sebring. We took the upgraded vehicle the 2 hours south to San Diego, checked into our hotel, and went to bed.

We awoke to a beautiful morning in San Diego. Sunny and 70 degrees. Out the door by 10am local and we headed for the USS Midway Aircraft Carrier museum. The Midway is a decommisioned ship that is used soley for museum purposes, and it is AWESOME! The free audio tour takes you through several interesting areas of the ship, including the enlisted men's quarters (which are tiny), the mess hall, the infermery, engineering, weapons loading, the bridge, the chart room, the hangar deck, and the flight deck. Several aircraft are on display on the flight deck, and a lot of kind docents are available, most of whom served at one point or another in the Navy. Being the pilot dorks that we are, Russ and I had to try our hand at the F-4 simulators as well. Needless to say, neither of us is any good at dogfighting...

After taking in all the museum had to offer, we set out to locate a battery for my dead watch. The first jeweler we stopped at wanted $60 to swap out the battery. After kindly telling the merchant to pack sand, we located a watch repair shop that did the deed for $10. Go figure...

Well, on to dinner. Since I bucked up for the meal in Seattle several months ago, it was Russ's turn to arrange for the meal in San Diego. He reserved us a table at an establishment called Blue Point Coastal Cuisine, located in the Gas Lamp Quarter. It's a swanky joint, and the menu is a sort of Japanese American mix. We started with an appetizer of shrimp and lobster potstickers which were, to quote Russ, "Oh... My... God!!!" Russell's main course consisted of a seared Ahi Tuna steak, and I chose the roasted rack of lamb. No exclamations were made due to the fact that both of us were far too concerned with the next bite of our delicious entrees. Finally, there was dessert. Russell's selection of a nice Creme Broule was excellent, but I was far more satisfied with my liquid center chocolate cake, which came complete with a scoop of hazelnut ice cream. The only unfortunate part about dinner was our inability to drink an alcoholic beverage due to our status as jumpseaters later in the evening. Dinner, including tip, cost Russ a total of $120.

Alas, our time in San Diego had to come to a close. We headed for Lindbergh Field, dropped off the rental car, and both boarded the next Southwest flight to Phoenix, where we parted ways. Russ headed for Charlotte and me for Chicago, where I had breakfast with the girlfriend, and then on to St. Louis.

Between bites at dinner, as is now Pact tradition, Russ and I discussed options for the next Pact trip. September is the target month, and the front-running destination is Vancouver. San Antonio and San Francisco were also names tossed around, but time will tell as we get closer to the fall...