Saturday, November 30, 2013

THANKSGIVING IN PACIFIC BEACH






 The rest of my family went back to Atlanta to spend Thanksgiving with Betsy’s relatives so it was an opportunity to do something different for the holiday.  We found a great alternative was to enjoy the Thanksgiving buffet at the Catamaran Resort on Mission Bay.  The resort has a lush tropical atmosphere as one enters the lobby. The complex is located on a lovely stretch of beach on Mission Bay with boats and boards for water activities and plenty of tables and chairs for relaxing. 




We made reservations for the first seating at 12:30 to enjoy the food while it was fresh and plentiful.  There were many food stations filled with tasty, creative appetizers that included many kinds of seafood, a wide choice of salads, lots of meat entrees and side dishes along with a wonderful choice of desserts. This a popular event held in a large ballroom along with two nearby meeting rooms and well attended.


The view from our table .  




After the delicious meal we headed to the dock in front of the hotel where  we boarded one of their sternwheeler boats for a complimentary ride to sightsee around Mission Bay. It was a mostly sunny day with a few scattered clouds and a mild temperature.

Glass ceiling of the sternwheeler



 It was a pleasant way to spend the afternoon sitting on the top deck watching the scenery that included a few people sailing around the bay or paddling on boards.

Sunday, November 24, 2013

DAY IN DOWNTOWN SAN DIEGO





             
            The new downtown San Diego Public Library opened at 12:00 the day we were scheduled for a 12:05 tour.    We thought we could park in their basement parking lot about a half hour ahead of schedule but we were told it would not open until ll:55 so we parked across the street and      used the time to explore Petco Park baseball area and the Padres store.                                                                                                                                                              


                                                                                                                                                                        The extensive tour of the library included most of the 9 levels except for the 2 for the charter high school. 
  It was amazing to see what the library offers: book stacks at every level, computers, children’s area, teen area, art gallery, reading rooms, baseball research center, handicap area, & an auditorium. There are incredible views of the city from every direction. An outdoor cafĂ© will open soon.

 










                                        In 1986, the San Diego Chinese Historical Society formed to preserve and share Chinese and Chinese American history and culture. They rescued the Chinese Mission building built in 1927 that was designed by the nephew of famed local architect Irving Gill.  It was relocated and opening in 1996.  With many donations from supporters.  The director Alexander and his wife Agnes came from their office to talk with us for a while.  Alex worked with Ed when he donated some Ming bowls and vases to the museum. A second space across the street has a modern gallery for rotating exhibits, a library and a lecture hall. There is a third area for storage and conservation.
We had time to head up to Balboa Park. The Mingei museum had some new exhibits that were worth a stop.  One new exhibit featured chairs from many periods and cultures from simple stools to  mid-century modern styles by American and European designers. Another exhibit showed  metal works by C. Carl Jennings that included gates, headboards, chandeliers and free-standing sculpture.



We also stopped in at the Timkin art museum where they had a famous Gainsborough painting “A Peasant Smoking at a Cottage Door” on loan from UCLA’s Hammer Museum.  Gainsborough’s Cottage Door will be displayed together with Corot’s View of Volterra, painted 50 years apart, to demonstrate how landscape painting changed at the end of the eighteenth and beginning of the We finished the day with dinner at China Max and later watched a DVD of Don Quixote (Don Quichotte), an opera by Massinet.
nineteenth centuries.
.