I needed to take one more trip before the end of 2016 in order to accumulate enough air miles to retain my current mileage status with United.  Normally, such things wouldn’t matter that much to me but it’s common with my current status for me to get upgraded to first class.

When you fly first class on United, you get a reasonably comfortable seat, a free meal, and all the alcohol you want.  It’s a nice perk to get a complimentary upgrade but I would never actually pay to fly first class.  The premium they charge isn’t worth it in my opinion.

The cheapest flight I could find from Kona was a two-day trip to San Diego.  So San Diego it was.

I arrived at San Diego International Airport early in the morning and promptly took the bus to downtown.  For the most part, I spent the day walking around town taking pictures.

A couple of years ago, I decided to cut back on the amount of red meat I was eating as part of a new year’s resolution.  For the most part, I’ve kept that resolution.  I never meant to cut red meat out completely.  I just wanted to cut back.  This year, I want to cut back on my sugar.  That said……For lunch, I walked to the Hillcrest neighborhood and got a burger and fries from a place called Burger Lounge.  It wasn’t bad.  Good actually.  I’d recommend it as a nice casual burger joint.

 

Since this was an overnight trip and my flight was leaving early the following morning, I didn’t book a hotel room.  I didn’t even pack a bag.  All I brought was an extra shirt and my camera gear.  I guess you could say I was homeless for the day.  At night I took the bus back to the airport and just slept there for a few hours.

 

My flight back to Hawaii had a seven hour layover in Los Angeles.  I took that time and spent a few hours with Khanh.  It’s always good to see him.

 

 

We went and had lunch in Manhattan Beach after spending a couple hours taking pictures out on the pier.  It was a chilly, overcast day.  I tend to like those kinds of days better because, in my opinion, they make for more interesting pictures.

 

Lunch was at an artisan pizza joint called Pit Fire Pizza.  The food was good.  I have no complaints about it but I wouldn’t say that it was the best pizza I’ve ever had.  I tend to enjoy pizza with a thin crust better because that allows me to taste more of the toppings.  Their pizza crust was a bit on the thicker side.

After lunch, we went for a desert drink at a place called Whiskey Red’s in Marina Del Rey.  We got chocolate martinis.  Good times.

Soon after desert, Khanh dropped me off at LAX to catch my flight back to Hawaii.

I’m glad I met Khanh.  He’s a nice person and  good friend.  I hope I’ll know him for many more years.  I spent a lot of time in California this past year.  I could almost say that I lived there part time.  Maybe one day it will be my permanent home again.