LAAAAAAKERS!!!

"Birdman SUCKS, Birdman SUCKS!" was what we were chanting along with the packed arena as we watched Birdman, Chris Anderson, a Denver Nugget forward covered in tattoos and sporting a faux hawk, cheat his way to a technical foul against one of our beloved Los Angeles Lakers. (More to come later...)

Friday started out with a ride to the airport to catch a 6:30am flight. We were off to San Diego! Aka "America's Finest City," AKA, the county I grew up in. We had a smooth flight, quick layover in Memphis and were landing in sunny SD at 11am. As soon as we landed, the stress melted away and everything just felt right. Like the feeling you get when you're comfortable, at ease, and happy. It's HOME. I've never quite experienced that feeling anywhere else I've lived, and I've lived all over the US (miltary brat). Something about going back to the place you grew (elementary thru high school) where I had the best memories, and friends I still keep in touch with. It just makes me feel like I belong, this is my home. Anyways, as soon as we got out of the airport, who do we see? Jeff Zevely from channel 8! He walks up to us as asks if we could give an opinion about a Northwest flight that originated in SD and attempted to land somewhere in the midwest, but the pilots were arguing and passed the destination. We hadn't heard about it, but he still wanted our reaction. So the camera man pointed on us and the microphone was thrusted in our face. It was cool! We just landed and were going to be on the news that night! haha! After our "celebrity" encounter, we walked over to the bus stop to catch the 992 for our 15 min. ride to our hotel in downtown SD.

The staff at the Sofia Hotel said we could check in early. YEAH! Our room was on the top floor and pretty swanky. We changed out of our cold, rain weather clothes and into some 78 degree, sunny weather clothes and we're off to grab some lunch. We walked into, The Local, a cool little bar/grill place decorated with surfboards, surf legends, and flat screen T.V.'s, pulled up to a pub style table and were greeted by a cheery waitress. I order the local brew October special, a nutty brown ale, and Boo gets his fav, Corona. While sipping on our beers, soaking in the atmosphere, and relaxing from the flight, we talk about how we can't believe we are in Cali. After lunch (Boo- tuna burger and Me-carnitas) we head down to Horton Plaza for a quick stop. Horton Plaza is an outdoor mall. (Yeah, I know, I know, who wants to go to a mall on vacation. I guess some do.) But I had a legit agenda. I was going to buy me a true San Diego Charger hat. (my favorite NFL team, going back to when Charger Dan Faust came to our high school to recruit Junior Seau. That's far back!) I know I can walk into any Lids, or Footlocker in the world and get a hat, but I wanted to buy my Charger hat in SD, so we went shopping. The mall is architechually beautiful and the fact that it was a 4 levels and outdoors was pretty cool. Afterwards, we walk down to Seaport Village and Embarcadero Park. Boo was on a mission too, he brought his kite with him and wanted to fly it for a bit. After walking along the waterfront and popping into the kite store, we made it into Embarcadero Park and see that the Kite store had the nicest spot and had all kinds of kites flying in the air for you to try. We stop and watch a guy try to unsuccessfully fly this HUGE kite for a while, then continue down along the water til we find a nice open area. Not much wind, but enough for Boo to get his kite on. After a bit, we decide to lounge on a grassy knoll and chill. We had a loooong night planned and needed to conserve our voices... umm... energy :)

Around 4:30pm, we walked back to the hotel, showered, changed clothes, and were off to catch the trolley to Old Town, where we would jump on the #9 bus to the San Diego Sports Arena to catch a preseason game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Denver Nuggets!! Lakers being mine and Boo's favorite team and the Nuggets being Boo's second favorite NBA team. No room in my heart for a second team, only one team :) (It was Boo's B-day present that I got him b/c I had to miss his B-day to go on my Shenandoah Hike.) It was around 6:30pm by the time we got there and tip off wasn't til 7:30pm, so we decided to grab a quick dinner at an old Cali favorite. IN and OUT burger. And I guess we came to the right place b/c it was packed with Laker fans!! Whoo hoo!! I mean packed! I was too chicken to order off the secret menu (which is not printed, but a word of mouth secret menu that only "in the know" people know about. But I think it's out in cyberspace somewhere now.) So I go with a cheeseburger and a chocolate shake. Boo gets a cheeseburger coke and we split his fries. YUM, forgot how awesome this place was as far as burgers go.

We get back to the arena around 7pm, just in time to get to our seats, and catch the Lakers warming up. I look over at Boo and all he does is show me his arm. The hair on his arms were sticking straight up! He was loving the excitement of being live and in person with his team! I walked down court side and got some great pic's of Kobe Bryant and Lamar Odum talking in the middle of the court. Man those guys are TALL in person. Lamar looks like a GIANT. I check out our newest recruit, Ron Artest, and he is as big as a truck! He's going to make a great addition to the Lakers with his bold, linebacker type moves. And of course, my crush, San Diego's very own Luke Walton looks even cutier in real life. hahha! Paul Gasol wasn't playing tonight (injured), but he was there wearing a suit and looking good. Sasha Vujacic looked good too, sporting a new shorter haircut. I went snap happy with my camera :) (Sorry for getting girly, but seriously, the Lakers are the best looking team in the NBA. We got some hotties! oh... and their alright ball players too. hahhaa! 2009 NBA CHAMPIONS BABY!! ) So after crushing on the team, I went back to my seat for the start of the game. We had a great time, cheering on the Lakers, yelling at the Nuggets, and just being loud and surrounded by fellow Laker fans. Though the Nuggets won, (I hate the Birdman with his black socks pulled up to his knees and that 5 foot quick midget Ty Lawson.) it was still a fun game and hey, we were in San Diego! After the game, off we went. We walked to the Trolley station (cause the line for the bus was ridiculous) and hopped on a trolley headed back to the Gaslamp district downtown to call it a night. Awesome first day back in Southern California. Awesome Day. Til tomorrow, GET OUTDOORS!!!