Off to a great start

After only three hours of sleep, I left for the Orlando airport at 4:30 a.m.  Despite the early hour, there were a lot of other people getting an early start on their trip, too, but not the hoards who will probably be there tomorrow and the next few days.

My flight to San Diego was fantastic!  I haven’t said that about flying in many years.  Usually, flying has become synonymous with torture to me. But not today.  I had paid a few more dollars to have a seat with a little more leg room…but what I got was a whole row by myself!  This happened on both legs of the flight.  Next, the weather was beautiful, so the flight was smooth and seemed to go much quicker than the seven hours it took to get here.

 

I am staying at the Best Western Bay Side which is just a few blocks from the cruise terminal where I will board my ship tomorrow.  I have a fantastic view of the bay from my room, looking straight down Ash Street to the tall ships docked at the foot of the street.

The hotel’s shuttle came to pick me up at the airport, and on my way to the hotel, the driver gave me some suggestions for a good place to eat that is nearby. 

The hotel is on the edge of San Diego’s Little Italy, and he said that Filippi’s was where the locals go.  So I went.  What an interesting place! A combo of deli and restaurant.  You wander through a narrow passage among all kinds of groceries and cheeses and cold cuts to the back where several small dining rooms branch off.

I sat in one little one where an Italian family of three or four generations were enjoying a huge meal while talking to each other in Italian.  The  food was good, the atmosphere authentic.

It’s only 8 p.m. PST, but 11 MY time.  I’m writing this in bed. Tomorrow the cruise begins!