3-star hotel, my ass

last week, FIL invited the hub to go deep-sea fishing with his church group. while the hub isn't a big fan (he prefers fly fishing), he agreed to go so that he and his dad could spend some time together.

while we were having dinner on friday, FIL casually mentioned that the boat was departing from san diego. the hub and i exchanged glances, because as far as we knew, the group was leaving from newport beach - a much easier drive, considering the departure time was 6am. yikes. and so we ended up heading straight home after dinner to find a hotel on priceline in san diego. the bean and i could sleep in and then head to sea world and walk around. yay for spontaneous getaways!

of course, we found that priceline wasn't booking any same-day stays. pooh. so i turned to hotwire instead, and after debating back and forth between a 4-star and a 3-star hotel, we opted for the latter to save some cash. after all, we weren't going to be spending much time there anyway.

it turned out to be a decision we'd come to regret.

we pulled in to a pretty crappy holiday inn near the san diego sports arena just before midnight. the bean was fast asleep, and the hub and i chatted about all sorts of stuff on the drive down, which was nice. he and FIL checked in, we unloaded the car, and dragged our asses up to the room.

as we got to the door, i noticed a light on in there. um, and the tv was on. and - was that someone's suitcase on the floor? we inserted the key, opened the door, took one look inside, and got the hell out of there. yikes.

the front desk upgraded us to a junior suite for our troubles. bonus! heh. i was just happy that we hadn't walked in on anybody getting busy or anything in there. ick. nasty.

it was a pretty basic room, but it was clean, comfy, and big enough for the four of us. we got settled and went right to bed. there are no pictures, because it really was THAT bleh of a room. FIL whispered "see, told you we should've gone for the 4-star." he'd picked up the tab, so we were just trying to save money.

the guys were up and out of the room by 5:30, while the bean and i slept in till 9. ha! and then we took our sweet time getting ready before heading out to grab some breakfast. it was weird to go to a sit-down restaurant to have a meal when it was just me and the bean, but we had fun together. and then we headed back to the hotel to see if i could get her to nap before going to sea world. since we had a late check-out, we had till 2:00 to get outta there.

of course, she wanted to play in the room, and just before 1, i gave up, packed our bag, and we headed out.

and of course, the moment i pulled into a parking spot, i turned around to find her passed the eff out. crap.

i pulled out the stroller, clipped the bag to the handle, transferred the sleeping child from the car seat, and proceeded to the entrance.

despite the squeals of excitement from other kids in the park, blaring music, and other fun amusement park-type noises, she continued to do this.

so i picked up a snack and grabbed a spot on a bench to do some peoplewatching.

and the bean continued to do this.

i munched and munched till the popcorn was all gone.

and then finally, finally - after a two-hour nap, she woke up.

we walked around the park a bit more before we decided to venture here:

we found the same play area as last time, and she was excited to get in there and join the fun.

but then some mean toddler came over, picked up a block, tossed it, and beaned her on the noggin with it. she came back crying, and decided to sit and watch with me for a while.

she got brave enough to get back on her feet, but not for long.

so she got back in the stroller and we went exploring.

i thought of my friend diame when i saw this.

snack time again! we got a soft pretzel with cream cheese filling, and it was yummy.

and then the hub called to say that they were all done, and we left the park to get in the car and meet up with the guys for dinner. look at what we found:

damn bird.

we headed over to old town san diego to find some mexican food for dinner.

of course, the restaurant the hub had in mind was closed for remodeling. damn. so we walked through the park to find something else.

i totally cracked up because at first glance, i thought this sign said "la casa de martha stewart."

the bean decided to do a little happy dance as we walked on the grass.

and she made a friend, too.

dinner was meh. we managed to pick the one restaurant in the area that served the shittiest food in town, of course. oh, well.

we got home in record time and crashed on the couch. fun times.