A visit from Maryann and Co.

What a nice surprise.  Guess who popped into town – the world hopper Maryann along with Lee and her son Jordan and his girlfriend Rosie.  It was just a day trip but we decided to do a little touring of San Diego.  Lucky I have a big car because he son Jordan is 6 foot 7 tall and needed the extra leg room up front.  We packed 4 in the back and 2 in the front and we were off to see the best of San Diego.

After catching the beautiful views of La Jolla’s cove we decided to take the long way to downtown San Diego to check it out.  When we got to San Diego Bay we bought tickets to check out the old ships and tour a Russian Submarine.  Maryann and Lee are catching some very interesting sights.  They were obviously amazed at the ships in the area, some of which dated back 150 years or more.

Lee catches a solitary moment and ponders all the great things the world has to offer.  It’s a good day when your on a boat in San Diego he thinks to himself.

One of the highlights of the day was when Maryann showed us her Dinghy.  Apparently Maryann has been keeping her little boat a secret for many years.  Her little boat provides her an escape from the daily grind.  When she gets stressed out she often finds herself taking her boat out singing Christopher Cross’s ‘Sailing Take me Away”.  So Maryann has a boat. Now you now.

Did I mention her son is 6 foot 7?  Here is a picture to prove it.  Is he twice as tall as his girlfriend Rosie?  Almost!

When you go into the Russian Submarine, it is very small so they provide a porthole for you to climb through to see if you can make it.  It’s kind of like those measuring tapes that are on the wall in front of a roller coaster to see if you are tall enough to go on.  Tu decided to take it to the next level and actually tried to do a 360 in the porthole.  She almost made it. Check it out.

I met Rosie in London when Maryann was living there.  Jordan and her having been dating for a few years now.  It was nice to hang out with both of them and get to know them better.

Lee, Maryann’s boyfriend has been getting some acting gigs lately and some pretty good roles.  He has got that X factor and leading man look so look for him in a theater near you soon.

We had some fun in the Star of India – one of the oldest shipping vessels in the US.  This ship was in commission during the Civil War and it looks like the kind of ship that a pirate playing Johnny Depp would be very comfortable on.

Jordan contemplates on the history of the ship, imagining himself dressed in swashbuckling clothing fighting off Pirates and defending his fair maiden Rosie on the ship.

After San Diego Bay, we headed over and toured Chicano Park before arriving on the beautiful Island of Coronado.  Now this park is beautiful and has some of the most amazing Chicano art in the US.    We saw a mural that said “No Yonkes” which we thought meant “No Honkies”  or “No Yankees” which is a term many of you will remember from the 70’s.  We assumed this meant no Caucassion people but actually “Yonkes” in spanish means “Junkyards”.  Chicano Park was established to get rid of the junkyard in the hispanic community that they wanted to keep there. “No Yonkes” means no junkyards.

In Coronado we went to the #1 spot in San Diego to catch the skyline view.  Tu, my favorite model helped pose for a picture there.

It was so nice to see Maryann and spend time with people important in her life.  Maryann is my good friend that I have known for many years and worked on many projects together.   It was a fun day with great friends.