It was an absolutely beautiful day so we opted to sit under the beautiful red umbrellas on the restaurant’s patio. As we pondered Chef Jonathan Hale‘s menu, Carol started off with a glass of their World Famous Sangria (red wine, fruit juices & liquers, fresh fruit), while I opted for a wonderful Mojito Cocktail (cruzan rum, sugar, fresh mint & lemon in a sugar rimmed glass raspberry or mint). Both were refreshing and delicious.
Carol w/ our Waitress
For our entrées, Carol enjoyed grilled Lemon Grass Ono (chili-garlic stir fried vegetables, sweet soy sauce & kaffir lime-coconut foam, micro basil), while I opted for a much loved Mixed Seafood Paella (salmon, swordfish, ahi, tiger shrimp, black mussels, chicken, chorizo & english peas, simmered in a saffron lobster broth). Both were fantastic, but the Paella is a house specialty and was particularly scrumptious.
I was completely stuffed from my wonderful Paella, but the restaurant’s manager wouldn’t hear of us leaving without at least having a spoonful of their Tahitian Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Flan (with a lattice tuile globe and fresh flower confetti). This was seriously the best flan ever! I’m ashamed to say that I ate most of it, even after indulging on a heaping helping of Paella.
If you find yourself hungry whilst strolling through the museums of Balboa Park, I highly recommend that you put The Prado at Balboa Park on your itinerary. You will enjoy a wonderful meal, and regain your strength to hit another museum.
Disclosure: this wonderful dining experience was provided by the fine folks at The Prado at Balboa Park.
The second lodging stop on our San Diego destination tour is the world famous Hotel Del Coronado on renowned Coronado Island, in San Diego, California.
This 1880s Victorian National Landmark Hotel has been wowing movie stars, presidents, royalty, and even The Roaming Boomers for over 120 years.
Countless books and movies have been centered here, and evidently this hotel even has its own resident ghost, Kate Morgan, who checked into the hotel in 1892 and never checked out.
As we finished making our video about the resort, we happened upon the housekeeping manager and she confirmed a great many odd happenings around the resort all of which she contributes to the ghost of Kate Morgan.
The Hotel Del Coronado is a AAA Four-Diamond property, and has many other enviable industry awards and acknowledgments under its belt, not the least of which is its inclusion into the National Historic Registry, and even more recently “Dr. Beach” hails the Del Coronado’s beach one of the 10 best in the whole United States.
We absolutely love the feel of historic properties, and you can count on us to visit as many of the good ones as possible.
When we arrived at Del Coronado, they were expecting us and gave us a real VIP welcome at the front desk, including a wonderful assortment of cheese’s delivered to our room.
When staying at a historic resort of this age, the discriminating traveler must align their expectations of a room that was built over 120 years ago, and realize that your lodging isn’t going to be like a Four Seasons that we recently stayed at.
Our room was generous in size, the appointments were nice, and we enjoyed a partial view of the ocean. Unfortunately, someone wasn’t paying attention, and they put us in a handicapped room. I suppose this isn’t the greatest of first impressions to make with a travel writer. They quickly offered to move us, but we already had our luggage unpacked, and besides there evidently weren’t any more ocean-view rooms available.
C’est la vie!
Carol w/ Chef Brian Sinnott
For dinner the Hotel Del Coronado hosted us at 1500 Ocean, their fine dining restaurant. I started out with Hiramasa Crudo (raw yellowtail, kishu mandarins, serrano, cilantro, tangerine oil), while Carol opted for an Artisan Goat Cheese Tasting (grape leaf wrapped sally jackson roasted beets and shaved etude chevre souffle). Both were wonderful!
Duroc Pork Tenderloin
For our main courses, Carol went with Duroc Pork Tenderloin (soft polenta, maitake, fava bean, red wine jus), while I opted for Halibut Confit (fingerlings, chanterelles, spinach, truffle aioli). Once again, outstanding, and the ocean-view sunset wasn’t so bad either!
As is often the case, the chef would not let us out of the restaurant without at least tasting one of their desert creations. Therefore, with reluctant glee (is there such a thing?), we sampled a trio of house-made ice creams that were of course out of this world! YUM!
The next morning, with happily no ghost stories to relate, we made a beeline for the gym in a vain effort to work off some of the calories from the past few nights.
After our workout, we headed for the famous Del Coronado beach to explore, lounge, and soak in the Southern California sunshine. One of the treats, for me anyway, was the occasional parade of naval aircraft that would buzz over the beach from the nearby navel base. We saw helicopters, small planes, large planes, and even some cool jets. Unfortunately, I never had my camera in hand when there was a jet flying overhead.
Overall, we had a most wonderful stay at the Hotel Del Coronado. If you can afford it, I would spring for one of the full ocean-view junior suites.
We asked to see a selection of rooms during our stay, and the white wicker rocking chairs, sitting on their own private ocean-view deck, in the ocean-view junior suites were definitely calling my name. Unfortunately there were none available.
One of the stated objectives of our roaming is to help our subscribers not only find great places to stay, but to also uncover wonderful places to dine.
We use a variety of sources to uncover these gems, and on this occasion the San Diego Convention and Visitors Bureau pointed us to San Diego’s El Vitral Restaurant.
Carol w/ Chef Norma Martinez
El Vitral is located adjacent to the J Street entrance of San Diego’s PETCO park, and as we approached the front door we could see a great deal of the park. In fact, from our table’s vantage point we could see a large brush stroke of the stadium’s bleachers.
Additionally, as we were ushered to our table, we noticed that a group of roughly 25 people were gathered for El Vitral’s twice a month Tequila 101, which is a tasting, parring, and historical perspective on the many varieties of Tequila.
As we got settled in our seats we ordered the house Margarita El Vitral (blanco tequila, house curacao, lime juice, and agave néctor), and an order of their Ceviche De Mahi Mahi (mahi mahi, tomato, acupulco seasoning, cilantro and onion).
The ceviche was delicious, and massive (10 oz.), while the margarita was just what the doctor ordered after a busy day of travel. However, our waiter Brian instructed me that I needed to try the El Tre-Some Margarita (blanco tequila, house curacao, grapefruit, orange, fresh lime juice, green habanero salsa, and agave nector). This was perhaps the best margarita that I have ever tasted, but did you notice the habanero? This baby, after a sip, gave the back of your throat a nice little WhaaaaHooo! to let you know that habanero was in da’ house! Delicious!
Filete A La Tampiqueña
For our main course, Carol opted for Filete A La Tampiqueña (beef tenderloin, cheese enchilada, guacamole, and red salsa), while I went for El Viral’s most popular dish, Enchiladas De Pato (pulled duck with dry apricots and cashews, mole sauce, and freshly made fettuccini). Wow! Carol’s dish was absolutely delicious, but the duck enchiladas were positively out of this world!
By this time our bellies were beginning to strain against our garments, but Carol insisted, with the GM Carlos Mijes encouraging her all the way, that we try the Crema De Elote Con Poblano (a soup of corn cream, and poblano pepper aioli). Once again, totally outstanding!
By the time we left El Vitral Restaurant, we felt we had made new friends, enjoyed some of the best Mexican cuisine on the planet, and had another amazing experience under our belts.
We highly recommend that you enjoy the Mexican cuisine of Chef Norma Martinez, and if you’re feeling really spunky, give their $300 El Chilango Margarita a try.
If you do try this margarita of all margaritas, make sure you come back here and tell us about it.
Disclosure: this wonderful dining experience was provided by El Vitral Restaurant. Thanks!
We just spent a remarkable two nights at San Diego’s Grand Del Mar Resort.
As I contemplate some of the magical places we have stayed over the years, I am hard pressed to put any above the memories that we will have of this stunningly beautiful place.
The Grand Del Mar was opened in 2007, yet it has a most wonderful feel of a resort many years her senior.
Here is what I learned about the architecture of The Grand Del Mar:
“The resort pays tribute to the indelible architecture of Addison Mizner, a turn-of-the- century visionary whose worldly design approach defined the resort communities of Palm Beach and Boca Raton in the 1920s. Inspired by the rich decorative arts of Spain, Portugal, Italy and Morocco, Mizner’s exotic style is evoked throughout The Grand Del Mar, with its colorful palette, graceful arched doorways, rotundas, vibrant tile, wood-beamed ceilings, ornate stone and wrought-iron accents, decorative columns, parquet flooring and gracious verandas.”
The designer has clearly pulled this off, as I would never have guessed this resort to be only 3 1/2 years old by the feel of the place. However, the sparkling new look of everything had me scratching my head.
Absolutely everything about The Grand Del Mar exudes precisely what you would expect from a world class resort. The rooms are amazing in every way. The service is impeccable, without even the slightest hint of haughtiness.
Their fine dining restaurant, the Addison (read my article), is absolutely, hands down, the best cuisine combined with the best service we have ever experienced anywhere in the world!
I was talking with Carol the other night, and this resort experience may have just spoiled all the wonderful plans we have to find the best places to visit in the world. We can’t imagine anything any better.
Well, I suppose if this resort were plopped on a mountain in Positano, it might be better, but other than that, I just don’t know how anyplace is going to top this experience.
Trust me, if you are anywhere near San Diego, California, and you enjoy the fine things of life, then you simply must book some time at The Grand Del Mar.
We have only been gone a day, and we already find ourselves desiring to go back for more.
If there were such a thing as a Six Diamond, or a Six Star resort, The Grand Del Mar would be on that list!
Disclosure: the resort experience was provided by The Grand Del Mar Resort.
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The Roaming Boomers
One of the first places certain to be on our list when we visit San Diego is Balboa Park to visit the vast collection of museums.
