Travel Day to San Diego

 Friday, April 19, 2024

Compared to flying from the Sioux Falls regional airport which is much closer to our home, flying out of Minneapolis-St. Paul is almost always cheaper and more direct for us. But…it does involve a three hour drive from our house. That certainly isn't a hardship when we know that we will get to see our grandkids at the end of that three hour trip! So as usual, our actual travel began the night before when we left our home and spent the night at son #2's house.

Whatever respiratory virus I had been fighting was getting a bit better but the lingering cough hadn't improved much. I made sure to keep a pocketful of cough drops handy because once I started coughing I just couldn't stop. My knee (that I injured at the beginning of the previous cruise in late January) was really no better either. Wearing a knee brace made it feel a little more stable, but it was still painful to walk. My doctor had given me a cortisone injection a couple of weeks before our trip but it did very little, if anything, to relieve the pain. What a way to start a vacation!

Our flight wasn't scheduled to leave until almost noon so we had a leisurely morning. We were able to spend time with the grandkids before they left for school and then son #3 and his wife stopped by briefly after dropping off our other grandkids at school. (All five of our grandkids go to the same school.) 

It was snowing lightly when our son drove us to the airport. (Seems like most of our trips begin in the snow!!) There was no wait to drop off our bags but getting through security took some time. I always hold my breath when I put my bag on the scale, but no worries today...it was "only" 48 pounds. Bob's luggage was 37 pounds and that included my heavy toiletry bag that he had graciously agreed to pack for me.

I was worried about my cough and was hoping no one would be in the middle seat between Bob and I...but there was. I think the guy must have also had a cold so we might have just traded germs. I went through many cough drops on the flight trying to tame the tickle.

The flight did go smoothly though. I was thankful for my noise cancelling headphones when the small child in front of us screamed for much of the flight. 

We landed on time at 2 pm (Pacific Time) and our luggage was already on the carousel by the time we got to baggage pickup. As Bob grabbed the suitcases, I was on the phone with the Wyndham San Diego Bayside hotel inquiriting about their shuttle. I was given directions where to meet the van and was told it would be 2:30 before it arrived. We had just gotten to the meeting spot and the shuttle was pulling in at 2:20. Only one other couple was with us.

We barely had time for our selfie before the hotel shuttle arrived!

I had booked a city view room, but we got lucky and were upgraded to a bay view room on the 14th floor. Wow! When we got to the 14th floor we realized we had been so excited about the upgrade that neither of us had heard what room we were in! Bob had to go all the way back to the lobby to find out! Once in the room, Bob grabbed his binoculars and we sat on the balcony for a long time just enjoying all of the activity along the waterfront. 

A great view from our 14th floor room! And to think it had been snowing when we left Minnesota!

The Maritime Museum was across the street from the hotel.
We had visited the museum prior to our Panama Canal cruise last year.

The cough medicine I had taken was making me quite sleepy so Bob went for a walk while I napped. His mission was to scout out someplace nearby where we could get some dinner.

USS Midway aircraft carrier has been converted into a floating museum.

The 25-foot "Unconditional Surrender" sculpture near USS Midway.
The statue is copied from the famous 1945 photo in Life magazine.

Bob walked past the USS Midway which is now a museum and returned with photos of several different menus from restaurants along the way. We decided on the Hazelwood Deli which was the closest of all of the restaurants (it was actually part of the Wyndham Hotel) and had a decent menu. We both ordered burgers (which were huge and delicious!) and sat outside and enjoyed people watching as we ate.

This photo taken from our table at the deli shows just how close the cruise ship pier is to our hotel!

After dinner we returned to our balcony and sat outside until after sunset when the chill chased us back into the room. Throughout the evening we kept in touch with our friends and travel companions, Jon and Michelle. They had flown to Tucson and spent a few days with Jon's brother and then rented a car to drive to San Diego. They didn't get in until later and spent the night at a Hilton Garden Inn about 12 miles away. 

Our day ended with warm showers and some TV time. The two hour time difference had us in bed fairly early but anxious to start our next journey!