Friday, November 2nd
After an early start and a short layover in Salt Lake City, I arrived in sunny San Diego! This is my first visit to California, hence my admiration of the palm tree-lined streets and ocean views. My shuttle dropped me off at Hotel Solamar (which I had booked after exhaustive research). What a beautiful, cozy hotel, just a few blocks from the convention center. One hot shower and nap later, my cold seemed less ominous and the trip more exciting.
I met Gus, Gus's dad, Andreas, Erina, Osceola, Haru, Petra and Lubica in Old Town for Mexican food. I resisted the enormous margaritas and ordered the pollo a la crema; how true is the saying "feed a cold, starve a fever." Standing outside the restaurant in the festively lit street, I was priveleged to observe the most elaborately styled mullet I've ever seen. After pointing it out to the others, Gus informed me that the more accurate term was the "Mulletino". With no time to waste, I subtley snapped a pic of Erina standing in front of said Mulletino. Apparently, it requires large bites of burrito to sustain such an impressive coiffure!
Cramming six neuroscientists in a Chrysler Sebring was not as difficult as one might think; grad student diets and small Japanese frames may have helped a little! Back at the Solamar, we recruited Jen and Margaret to accompany us to the rooftop bar, J6. Wow. What an amazing place. The pictures speak for themselves. My ban on alcohol consumption was promptly lifted after reading the menu; I ordered a delicious "Evolution" and Erina, as a researcher, felt obligated to try the "PBS". Fortunately, this acronym didn't stand for phosphate-buffered saline!
All this drink led to a trip to the men's bathroom, where the guys were met with a surprising reception!
Katie soon joined us and things began to get silly... We formed a crafty plan to come up to the pool in bikinis and the leopard and zebra print bathrobes that came with the room, but were devastated to hear that the pool closed at 9 and the bar at 1. Maybe another time.
Saturday, November 3rd
Craving a tasty brunch, Katie and I walked a few blocks over to Cafe 222 (two tutu? tutu, too? two to two?). While waiting in line, we helped ourselves to the complimentary coffee and banana bread, and dog-watched. The hash browns and granola pancakes hit their respective spots, and we headed back to the hotel to brace ourselves for the conference. After browsing through posters, Katie and I met Amrita and we stopped at some shops on fifth avenue. My cold was getting revenge for the lack of sleep, and I dosed up on Dayquil as a counter-attack, beating it into submission. All shopped-out, we went back to the hotel and selected a dinner spot, the illustrious Chive.
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