TNNA Show January 2007 Day 2 (really... Day 2!)

TNNA Show Day 2

The TNNA show went pretty well. Here's a blow-by-blow of what we did:

Friday, as planned, we blew off the educational opportunities and headed out for a day of fun in San Diego. Originally we thought we would go to the San Diego Zoo. However, the weather was iffy in the morning... coldish and with a hint of rain. Victoria and I both realized we liked the idea of having been to the zoo more than the idea of actually going to the zoo. Meaning, we both realized we only wanted to go to the zoo so we could say we had been to the zoo.... not because we really cared about seeing the animals. Plus, it's expensive to go to the zoo. So we decided to blow off the zoo, too, and go do something else instead. What, though, we didn't really know.

First of all, we had to go register, so we walked down to the convention center (about a 15 minute walk) and registered and picked up our badges and stuff. The new products table wasn't completely set up yet, so we didn't bother to look at it yet. I thought it might be fun to go to a yarn shop (of course) so we went to the information desk to see where there was a yarn shop in San Diego. Unfortunately, there isn't one, apparently. There were a couple of shops in Old Town and another nearby town (I forget the name) which we could go to.... we would have to change trains twice to get to the first one... and the second one might not still be there, although it did have the distinction of being across the street from a Hooter's. Victoria and I looked at each other and silently agreed that a yarn shop visit was probably not in our near future. I really cannot believe that there is not only no yarn shop in San Diego, but that there isn't one right near the convention center. Seems like it would be a perfect location, especially given the rise in how many career women & men knit now, but oh well.

As I had left the house on Thursday morning, my husband had called after me, "Take a taxi across the Coronado Bridge and go have a drink at the Del!". See, Joe used to drive a taxi in San Diego. He hated having to take people over that bridge, and they were invariably headed to the Hotel Del Coronado to the bar there. Or possibly to stay there. I have heard him talk about that bridge for 18 years. I, of course, had no intention of doing what he suggested. However, given our sudden whole day with nothing to do, the idea appealed to me.

So Victoria and I gamely climbed into a taxi and headed over the Coronado Bridge to Coronado Island to have a drink at the Del. The Coronado Bridge is high-ish and long-ish, but nowhere near the scary behemoth construction described by my husband. I loved the view from the top. I called Joe from the taxi as we drove across the bridge to tell him where I was. He sounded bemused.

We got to the Hotel Del Coronado and walked down to the beach. It truly is a gorgeous place. I took a picture of flowers:

We walked on the beach for a while. A family from Tennessee asked me to take a picture for them, and we chatted a bit. Victoria sat on the sea wall and listened to a song called "California". We strolled up the beach a ways and watched the birds -- gulls, sand pipers, and little birds that might be plovers? We are bird illiterate.

Then we strolled back to the Del, visited the gift shop, and went to have lunch and the required "drink at the Del". It was a really great lunch... I had a fabulous ahi tuna salad nicoise and a martini; Victoria had something else, I forget. I called Joe to tell him I was having a drink at the Del. Apparently I was supposed to have a *margarita*, but he neglected to mention exactly what type of drink I was supposed to have.

After lunch we walked across Coronado Island (about a mile and a half walk) and took the ferry back to San Diego. It was at this point, I am sad to report, that my camera broke. So the pictures above are the only ones you are getting for this trip. Sorry! It worked fine until suddenly all I got was purple, black and white blobs for pictures. I have no idea what is wrong with it. I didn't drop it or anything... it was fine for one picture, and then suddenly all the others were a mess. Prior to the mess, I did get a "zoom error" which I never have seen before. I hope I can get it fixed.

We walked back to our hotel from the ferry landing and got ready to go to the Galleria and Fashion Show. The Galleria was where several companies set up panel displays for people to get a sneak peek at ... we looked at them, but a lot where for needlepoint and cross stitch, so not too interesting to us. I don't remember seeing anything at the Galleria worth noting. Then we went to the Fashion Show. There were about 120 pieces shown. I remember several shrugs and shawls, quite a few jackets and coats (which seemed odd for a summer show) and a few sweaters, but to be honest there was nothing so outstanding that it stuck in my mind. And I really paid attention, too. The fashion show being over, we toddled back to the hotel and collapsed into bed.