First National Swing: You Stay Classy, San Diego (part 1)

Time for another epic (overdue) post from the road!

San Diego was a city of so many pictures, I can't upload them all in one post. (Literally, the website won't allow me to add any more at this point.) We'll start at the beginning, get just past the middle, then start up again in a whole new post. Very exciting, I'm sure.

Considering the fact that only my mother reads this, I think I got a 100% excitement rating.

Moving on.

At the airport during our layover, we were privy to a gaggle of gals in matching orange dresses:

Bridesmaids, perhaps? You be the judge. I loved them.
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Finally arrived in sunny California, I picked up my rental car and headed over to Robbie's mother's house. Janie and Mark Kramer were kind enough to lend me the maid's quarters of their lovely home, complete with two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a full kitchen, living room, and access to a deck and jacuzzi. Clearly this was going to be a good week.

Here are some shots of my paradise:

Of course, the first thing I did was bake for my hosts and cast. Gooey Butter Cake, a la St. Louis:

While that was baking, I had playtime with Troy, the family dog. He must like Star Wars, cause he curled up and watched it with me until the wee small hours of the morning:

Every morning, I woke up and ate at this adorable table with fresh roses from the garden. Who could be unhappy here?

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Memorial day, I went to a small BBQ with Tom's family and a few members of the company. I promise there's someone manning the grill behind all that smoke:

I didn't take pictures of all the food we made simply because it was classic BBQ fare. We ended up watching The Artist and driving home pretty late. A relaxing day indeed.
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I love seeing people I haven't seen in years:

Madame Mitzi, formerly of Ruby Foo's fame! We drank coffee and thanked our lucky stars that we're out of service (at least for now).

And speaking of familiar faces:

Okay, Dan Domenech may only be familiar to me and the people I know, but he's pretty darn special and I was excited to see his face on the wall. Along with these people:

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There's no excuse for that.

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After months and months of scheming and dreaming, Miss Ivy Ponturo finally came out to visit me on tour!!! As always, our similarities were abundant:

Sak twins. There, I said it.

Ivy sat backstage with me during act two while I waited for my freedom. In the meantime, I designed a possible tattoo for my roommate Travis's sister:

Travis's family is a recent addition to the California population, and they were able to take advantage of some unexpected company comps. After the show, I gave them a tour and posed for some 90's era family photos:

Here's one with Ivy as well:

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The next day was the first personal day I'd taken in the entire tour thus far. First full day off while the show is going on. Kind of like playing hooky, except they know you're not coming.

Ivy and I had many adventures planned, but my navigational system had other ideas. "Turn left on Sassafras street" may be the best thing my phone has ever said to me:

We headed straight to the San Diego Zoo for a day full of furry friends like the Uncomfortable Panda in the parking lot:

Our parking spot was MAGIC. I swear we pulled all the way down to the beginning of the lot and some guy pulled out of a spot right in front of me. Genius.

Now, this was a crazy day. I have a gajillion pictures and not enough patience to explain every single one. To give my brain a break (since its 1:30am), I'm going to reserve commentary for the extra special images. Enjoy:

Sunglass twins:

I love this:

Its hard to see, but the little guy in the middle is licking the air. So odd:

Interesting comparison between human meals and polar bear meals:

Seals? Seals.

Oh Captain, my Captain:

Warty Pig. hehe:

Hard to see them, but these are the adorable Red Panda:

Not a dead panda, just a very warm, sleepy one:

Giant, black cockatoo back there...

Possibly the best picture of the week:

Pygmy hippos are pretty cute:

Look at this guy! So regal:

"Depression hurts. Cymbalta can help."

Zoos are amazing. Look how close you can get!

A DIABETIC MONKEY. Kinda blew my mind a little bit.

Look at the Latin name and try not to giggle:

Not, in fact, an emerald starling:

Looks like someone took Natalie Portman and dipped her black swan up to the neck in bleach:

Tar pit exhibit. The water slowly drained, revealing fossils below:

This animal was roughly 367 degrees. Burned my ass:

Ivy opted for the non-burned ass version:

Second favorite picture of the day:

There's lions in there somewhere:

Crazy cactus:

Elephant feeding time!!

And this bird... man, he was putting on a floor show. I'm pretty sure he was a drag queen:

I love that Ivy puts up with my nonsense:

CRAZY FOOT MASSAGE chairs. Twenty five cents will make the foot pad vibrate at super high speeds. On the plus side, it does help relax your muscles. On the minus, you can't walk afterwards. And they're really, really noisy:

Hakuna matata:

I forget why we're posing here. I think its because we managed to walk uphill ONLY for the entire day. I don't understand how that's even possible.

I really love giraffes:

Okay, now this is super cool:

They raise the cheetahs with a domestic DOG. I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't see it:

This is the couple we saw:

Every time we walked by the entrance, we heard a crazy squawking sound. I thought maybe it was piped in for effect... as it turns our, there were peacocks in the trees:

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After a very long day (five hours) of walking uphill, we decided it was time for a nice dinner near the water. When we arrived at our recommended restaurant, this was the view from the parking lot:

Pretty promising, huh?

They had a forty five minute wait, so we sat at the bar to enjoy a cocktail. And by "cocktail" I mean "non-alcoholic beverage." The best I've ever had. Ivy had some sort of pomegranate/lime concoction, and I had a ginger beer with fresh mint, basil, and lime. Our buzzer buzzed (not forty five, but fifteen minutes later), and we headed to our table. After I stole a lime from that bowl.

C-Level is a fantastic restaurant, my friends. Good service, great food, and some glorious views of the water:

Lettuce wraps to begin:

Crusted salmon for me:

Fish tacos for Ivy:

The view:

GIGANTIC glass door at the entrance:

We were stuffed, so we took dessert to go. Pineapple upside down cake for me, and a brownie sundae for Ivy:

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The next morning, we woke up bright and early to see the seals in La Jolla cove. Yet another gorgeous view: