Dispatches from the Road: SAN DIEGO

Dispatches from the Road #1

With all of my traveling of late I am being given an opportunity to expand the nature and frequency of posts here on the Thumbnail Traveler blog. I'm introducing a new, more frequent type of entry to be entitled "Dispatches from the Road".

As I have smaller, more specific adventures -- whether it's driving from point A to point B uncovering something I'd like to share, or just walking up the street in a particular destination -- this will give me the opportunity to share those smaller moments without working to include it in one of the more detailed ROAD TRIP: entries. The Road Trips will continue to be primarily photographic in nature, while the Dispatches will be largely text. Both will be labeled as to their category, while the other blog entries will only have a title describing the topic.

As I'm writing this I'm sitting in the lobby restaurant of the Indigo Hotel in San Diego. It's a short hop from the waterfront, convention center and Petco Field (home of the Padres). The Indigo is a small chain owned by the same company as Holiday Inn, but the character of the hotels are completely different. The Indigo is a boutique and trendy hotel, catering to a younger crowd, with a solid nod towards business travelers. Upbeat dance music is played in the lobby areas, and the primary color for the decor is orange. (Better than it sounds.)

San Diego boasts a wonderful downtown district, which includes the Gaslamp Quarter, which I have featured in a previous ON THE ROAD post. The Indigo rests on the southern boundary of the Gaslamp.

The weather here is spectacular, particularly compared with the news from the eastern half of the country which is facing a monster of a snowstorm that promises to bury most of the major cities in a half foot or more of the white stuff. (A few years ago I was in Philadelphia when just such a storm blew through, stranding me there for an additional four days -- the first of which was spent in a hotel without a restaurant. Had it not been for finding a local pizzeria with a 4wd SUV there would have been a whole lot of hungry travelers that day.

So San Diego is a welcome respite. I'm heading home in a day, and at this point it looks like next week's trip to Arizona is on the chopping block, so I may actually have the chance to spend a week at home. After a month on the road that will be a welcome break.

Stay tuned!