A Day at Sea

Sunday I woke about 6:50 needing to pee. I knocked on the door, but had no answer. I laid back in bed and waited. At 7:00 I heard the IL's wake up call. I waited a few minutes thinking they might need to use the bathroom immediately after waking. Then, I knock again, no answer. I put my ear to the door. I can hear the shower running. Damn, I missed my chance. I throw clothes on and figure I can run up two floors to the roof level. There's a restroom up there open 7am-midnight. It was 7:20, but the lousy door was locked. Now I need to go down to the lobby and use the restaurant's bathroom. 9 flights of stairs or the slowest elevators known to man (they were the fastest in 1913) I opt for the stairs. My luck the elevator would stall. Finally, by 7:30 I had relief. Rode the elevator back to the room, undressed and climbed into bed. I couldn't catch a wink. After all that, it's no wonder why.

Note to self: Next time, request the rooms joined by the bathroom.

We packed up and checked out about 9:30. We drove over to Point Loma Seafoods. They had just opened, only cold foods were being served. We got ceviche and the IL's had shrimp cocktail.


It was good, but I was in need of something more substantial. Con Pane it was. We planned to hit it later, but jetted over there right away. Another Italian hit the spot. We also got PB & J for the road and cinnamon rolls to bring back home. So VERY good!!

We had time to kill before our fishing charter so we took the inlaws to the tip of Point Loma, and gave them the choice to see the Cabrillo Monument or the Point Loma Lighthouse. The lighthouse it was.

We parked and walked up toward the lighthouse. I lagged behind taking photos. Frank took his parents into the living quarters of the lighthouse.














We only had a short time to look around, once noon approached, we lassoed the inlaws and walked back to the hotel. MIL was tailing, but we thought she was right behind us. We get to the car and sit for a few minutes. She's not coming, she's not answering her cell. Time is ticking by. I hop out of the car. Do a quick scan and I see her up by the lighthouse. I run up the hill, collect her and tell her we need to hurry if we're going to make the fishing charter.

Parking by the fishing charter is a nightmare. I jump out to get in line to secure our spot on the boat. IL's follow behind and Frank jets off to find parking. As soon as I realize I forgot my sunglasses, I call Frank, but he's already parked and walking toward us. The sun was barely shining so I figured I'd be ok without them. We get our tickets, gear and license and board the boat. Finally, we can relax. We enter a jackpot raffle for the biggest catch then we grab a spot at the bow.


As we leave the marina, the clouds begin to break. It was chilly so I appreciated the warmth, it wasn't too bright. From the marina we headed into the bay and then out to the Pacific. We rode out until we reached International waters, Tijuana and San Diego could both be seen in the distance.






Tijuana, MX


Once we left the bay the clouds rolled back in and the waters turned rough. Fortunately, Frank took Bonine for motion sickness before we departed. We learned on the whale cruise last year, that the rough waters were indeed rough. This fishing boat was smaller than that boat, so he would've been in a world of hurt otherwise. The swells were great. I had the best time riding the waves, it was like being on a ride at Great America.


Once we got to our first destination we were able to grab our poles and bait. I chose to use the squid, because I felt it was easier to handle than the sardines. I get weirded out by the feel of fish. Funny considering we were fishing afterall. Our first catches were small rockfish like this one.


When I caught my first, I tried to take him of the hook, but I got weirded out. My girliness couldn't be avoided. I can't handle the slimy feel, when the fish moves, it FREAKS me out, and I chirp like a girl. I couldn't help it.

My next fish was a big boy, not jackpot worthy but a keeper. That is if I kept him on my line. As I was reeling him in he slipped off the hook, plunged and floated away. I guess he did me a favor, I didn't have to attempt to touch him.

We anchored at two other spots to fish, because the current kept changing. The first spot had the smallest fish, but the water was the most calm there. The boat rocks like crazy out in the ocean. I didn't anticipate how bad it would be. It was quite the core workout to hold steady. At one point I was baiting my line and the boat jerked hard, I bounced off the rail and caught my middle finger on the hook. It didn't feel pleasant and it was only made worse when we were bouncing about trying to get the hook out. The pulling hurt. I was bleeding like crazy. I pulled out an antibacterial wipe and wrapped it tight around my finger so I could go back to fishing. I caught one more fish, and then Frank started to pull in some bigger rockfish that could be fileted.


His dad caught a few lizard fish and a small rockfish.








It was a good day fishing. It was a neat experience. I hadn't been fishing since I was a kid, and this type was much different. It's a lot more work. I thought we would've seen some really big fish, but they must catch those on the more experienced (overnight) charters.

On the ride back to the bay we took in the view and watched the fish being fileted, which caused a flock of gulls to parade behind us.


Now, this is how I prefer to handle fish.


And here come the seagulls.




They loved the scraps, it was entertaining watching them catch the fish mid-air. They'd even take it from your hand.




After the fish were fileted we went back to the bow and finally we could see land. I can only imagine how the early explorers must have felt.


Point Loma Lighthouse from the water.



Ahh, it was nice to see familiar sights after being on the water for 6 hours.


Fortunately, Point Loma Seafoods was still open when we got done with the charter. We caught them minutes before closing. We were the first and last orders of the day. We had squid (I was craving it after handling it all day) and crab cakes. Yum. Inlaws ordered cod and fried shrimp. By now, my sunburn began to reveal itself. My face burned pretty bad despite wearing 70spf. This is when my eyes really started to hurt. They felt so dry and tired. I thought it was all the wind, not realizing they were actually sunburnt. Lesson learned sunglasses are a MUST on water and snow. We walked back to the car, and headed for home. So long San Diego until next time. On the way we snacked on our PB & J from Con Pane, those sandwiches hit the spot. The drive was pretty good. About 12:30 we pulled in the drive way and I headed straight for bed. I was wiped.

This was our 6th trip to San Diego. Every visit has a had a full schedule, and there is still stuff to do. That's likely why San Diego is my second favorite city. I'd love to see Las Vegas take a note from downtown San Diego. Downtown LV needs to be revitalized I think something like the Gaslamp Quarter would be a perfect fit.