After a long winter a good buddy in Brooklyn and I spontaneously decided to take a trip out west. Neither of us had really been to California and it sounded like the kind of place that was always warm.. We only had some time available in May and figured that was plenty of months past winter to be warm and delightful!
So we planned a trip to San Diego.. which was a really lovely place. What we did not know until we got there was this: the only month in the year the weather is not fantastic in San Diego is Grey May - as they call it. Ironically it was sunny when we arrived but we saw what everyone meant with a mix of cloudy or some lightly drizzled days throughout. All in all though the weather was still nicer then Brooklyn, and we both had a good time.
An architecture alumni connected me with some friends of theirs who lived there so we had a few chances to see things like the locals which was amazing. We first met at the Loma Lighthouse to take in the vastness of the pacific ocean. I didn’t realize how close to Mexico we were but after trying a few of the BEST burritos in my entire life I learned my lesson. The city was pretty large and one of the first that I travelled to that needed a car to actually get around. There were busses, but we rented one and just went on adventures together anyways.
It was cool to see how the ‘cali’ lifestyle is really more relaxed and calm. One night we went to a beach area in La Jolla (the cool part of town apparently) that everyone gathered and just had a party near the shore, not even in the sand just all around the coast folks were just hanging outside with music, or dancing, or catching up with friends. Seeing that kind of outdoor living in a casual ‘we are not consumers at a bar’ way was very refreshing and needed. I think one day we did actually go into the water and hang at the beach which was pleasant, but because of the clouds not as sun-filled as we’d have liked.
One beach in particular really got me though, Black’s Beach. We entered high on a cliff overlooking the shore very far below. There was even people paragliding off of the cliff, or sending falcons around to watch their majesty. I thought ‘damn this would is the most non-NYC combinations of activities I’ve ever thought of lol’. We hiked down through a beautiful cascade of stones and crevices down to the shore and hung out. We even saw some amazing mansions on the cliff that also blew my mind a little bit, seeing such expansive and open structures just perched on the peaks.
Always with some architecture luck I did get to see the immaculate Salk Institute from Luis Khan. Unfortunately it was closed for the semester so I couldn’t feel that icon fountain he borrowed from the Alhambra (with the guidance of Luis Barragan by the way). Khans attention to construction detail, material simplicity and clear designation of use are really inspiring and the building looked amazing from the outside.
We even took a day trip out to a small lake/river complex and mountain range, although I can’t remember the name. And another time closer to the city just to stay active the local way. It was great connecting with the planet and enjoying the calm silence of nature, well silent minus all the animal and bug sounds as our background music. Strolling through the natural history museum and gardens was also very nice. One thing we did find strange is after grabbing a bite somewhere late, we figured we’d play some billiards and spend time outside the hotel. We went in and got looked at right away as some foreigners lol when we asked ‘can we get a cup of water’. The guy said, no we don’t do that in San Diego. You just have to buy bottled water.. Apparently something with the local water supply outside the center not being that great they just don’t even give it out! Wow, the small luxuries we have at home and don’t notice sometimes lol
