Friday, August 31, 2012

August Travels

On this last day of August I thought I should spend a few minutes and document some of the traveling I've been doing for work.  I have been taking more trips lately and I'm approaching them with a new attitude; as little "mini vacations" from my regular life.  My first trip in August was a team visit to Chicago to meet with a client and have a team building event.  While the drive in a van with 7 people for a quick visit to Chi-town wasn't exactly tops on my list of things to do, it ended up being a pretty fun trip.  The highlight was going to a Cubs game, sort of, on a rooftop overlooking Wrigley Field.  I had never seen the rooftop seating before, except quickly on TV and I have to say it is pretty darn cool.  These folks have figured it out.  You are on the roof of a three story building just across the street from the stadium but you feel like you are right there in the ballpark.  The event had free food and drinks (nice!) and we even agreed to be on the side of the Cubs since they were playing the Reds and we wanted them to lose.  The view was pretty darn fabulous:
I have to say that for me the most impressive thing was the rooftop seating itself.  The structures they have created to allow bleacher and chair seating on top of these roofs are awesome!  The roof next to us had a steel structure extending from the ground below on the outside of the building and supporting these amazing stadium style seating and dining areas on the roof.  So ingenious.

I love that Chicago has embraced it's historic stadium and not felt the need to tear it down and build some generic ballpark like the rest of the country and this extra seating and party area is really cool.

My next trip was to sunny California.  I flew into Burbank Airport for the first time and it was kinda fun getting off the airplane using the outside stairs on the tarmac. I haven't done that since Thailand.  I had to go to Thousand Oaks to start with and then drive down to San Diego to visit a couple of jobsites.  The LA portion of the trip was fine but nothing really special.  I was more worried about getting my work done and getting on the highway headed south before the traffic got too bad through LA proper.  I do have to say I stopped at the nicest Rest Area ever down near San Diego even with the special warning signs.

The rest of my trip was in San Diego and when I could get away from the work portion, it was all about the food and fun.  I stayed in Old Town, ate well, and just had a really nice time in general.  The weather was perfect and San Diego is really a beautiful location.  Oh, and the Sushi was great! Yeah!  If you don't like raw fish, you may want to skip the rest of this post because not only did it taste great, but I think it is beautiful and I am sharing some pics.

My first dinner was at Harney Sushi, which I would highly recommend, and after I spent some time walking around Old Town and just enjoying the atmosphere and beautiful cactus and succulents.  So pretty!



The next day was all about the water.  I went down to the area where the Maritime Museum is located and ate at The Fish Market Sushi Bar; again, yum!!

 And I ended the night back at Old Town again where I sat at Casa de Reyes and enjoyed a lovely margarita and some amazing Shrimp Ceviche.
 Overall, I have to say this was the best work trip I've taken and I think I have more in my future with my new approach.  Next stop, Seattle.

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