July 9, 2016 – Leaving TYRTLE in Pomona, we drove little MURTLE toward San Diego to meet up with old friends Lynn & Joe Murphy. Joe was a computer programmer for IBM for 30 years, and he was on the team that created the code used today in ATMs. Lynn and I worked together for the Feingold Association for about 15 years – each from our own coast – and we made it work. In fact, we were so “in tune” that once while we were on the phone hail began to fall — on both our houses at the same time!
At Lynn and Joe’s lovely home, we had dinner cooked to perfection on their deck, after which we attended the neighborhood “Doo-Wop” at their pool. This is a dance with music from the late 1950’s/early 1960’s. We have no pictures from that evening, but here’s a song you may remember if you are old enough.
The next day, they took us for a ride along the coast.
Along the road, we passed a Self-Realization Fellowship Temple. These centers were founded in 1920 by Paramahansa Yogananda to teach yoga and meditation as a means of “attaining direct personal experience of God.” There seems to be quite a few of them around the country but I confess this is the first one I ever saw.
We also passed the interesting statue below called the Cardiff Surfer, or the Cardiff Kook. People apparently enjoy dressing him up in costumes … See more of them here.
Below is one of the cheerful trolleys we passed, and the Coronado Police Station – just pictures we captured by camera along the road.
Many of the walls along the road out west are decorated. Nice and discourages graffiti, I’m sure.
This is something called Extreme Dinosaurs … ??
We stopped at the world-famous Hotel Del Coronado – it’s huge! The hotel was built in 1888 by Babcock and Story who wanted to create a seaside resort that would be “the talk of the Western world.” Since then, the resort has become a living legend, visited by celebrities, dignitaries and U.S. presidents. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1977.
Accompanying the hotel itself are dozens of small shops, which is where we were headed. In one of them, Lynn spied some turtle salt & pepper shakers for me for TYRTLE … and of course we wanted the turtle dish towels and matching pillow as well. As we were admiring them, who should come in but Jennifer Brinley — the artist who had actually designed them!! Tom got her to autograph the pillow (below above the red star) and pose with him for a picture.
Here’s a picture of Lynn and me in the store – it’s fun spending money on stuff just for fun when you’re with friends!
For dinner, we headed over to Georges at the Cove. On the way, I was amused by the sign on this building, so I captured it.
Here we are, finally, on the rooftop restaurant with a view of the ocean. The food was terrific and the view spectacular.
As the light dimmed toward evening, the view of the beach, ocean, clouds, and occasional sea birds was dramatic.
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And of course, we had a sunset view from the highway on the way home.
You must have had such an awesome time with Lynn and Joe!