Coronado Island, pooches and fire pits

When I first visited Coronado Island in June, I had a blast trekking around the island on a granny bike. This time, with Phil in tow, I thought there would be no way I'd be able to convince him to rent a ridiculous canopied two-seater, but I was pleasantly surprised. We had a great, albeit sweaty, time riding around the island, despite our near miss with a garbage truck while trying to cross a forbidden, super busy road. This "bike" also required quite a bit more man power. I don't remember it being so much work the first time around.

We checked out awesome houses on the island as we cruised through the neighborhoods. There was a normal-sized, adorable Tudor house I ogled. Found out later it was $2.5 million...just a tad out of our price range.

We tired out before getting to Hotel del Coronado (a shame, I know, but I saw it last time), so we grabbed a late lunch and headed back to the mainland to meet up with Mandi.

Mandi gave us a sweet tour of the Hard Rock Hotel in the heart of the Gaslamp District where she works, and I would definitely consider staying there during our next visit. Awesome decor and ambiance, cool rooms and a great outdoor bar with fire pits (I am obsessed with fire pits at bars). P.S. We really liked our hotel, Manchester Grand Hyatt.

Tonight was the night of fire pits. After Moonstone at Hard Rock, we headed to my fav outdoor wine bar (with fire pits), San Diego Wine & Culinary Center to grab a drink. It was doggie night, so bunches of furry mutts kept us entertained, particularly a little Chihuahua named Cha Cha. I had a fantastic experience the first time I was here, but service was a little off tonight, and I never got my port and chocolate, so I was a little grumpy.

When the weather is as gorgeous as it is, it's easy to shake off a mild inconvenience...and replace chocolate with other candy. So, we went back to the candy shop behind our hotel to restock our taffy supply. Then headed back here to pack and wind down. Time to get on that.