San Diego was amazing.

You see, my husband and I moved there just four days after we wed back in August of 1992 and made Southern California our home for the following 7 years- during which time we lived in 3 homes, accumulated 3 pets and each got new degrees from SDSU.  We left reluctantly in 1999 because the Marine Corps demanded it.  And we’d not made it back since our departure.

So going back was truly like “going home” in many ways.  It gave us the (much needed) opportunity to reminisce over all of our memories and rediscover each other all over again.  We didn’t have children during our time in San Diego and I am convinced every married couple needs to find time with their spouse without their (very lovely but also very demanding) children to remember why they fell in love in the first place.

We stayed at a great hotel choice our first couple nights, The Courtyard by Marriott which was actually a historic building, having been a bank and still retaining its architectural charm.  It was a great location for our walks hand in hand through the Gaslamp District where we could reminisce over what was there nearly ten years ago when we left.  It was amazing to see the growth there and San Diego has continued to do a great job of cleaning up downtown to make it a great shopping and dining destination.

Not quite on the west coast time zone, we actually took a pre-dawn stroll our first morning.  Well, part stroll, part death march if you include the climb up the 112 flights of stairs at the convention center to grab a view of the sleepy city.  Now for anyone who really, really knows me.  I know.  Me.  Pre-dawn.  Awake.  In the same sentence.  Yes, it’s true.  Pigs really do fly.

We also had a great vantage point of Coronado just waking up from the convention center.

After my morning session (hubby assisted and finally got to see me at work with someone other than our own children!), we headed up to our first home we bought together in Scripps Ranch (95-99) and then drove all around San Diego County looking for old haunts.  Sadly, our favorite winery in Escondido was no longer.  We’d really hoped to have a nice bottle of wine overlooking the vineyard but it appears to have been replaced by the much less exciting self storage facility.  But the all you can eat seafood buffet survived- go figure- never would have predicted that one!

We moseyed down the pacific coast highway through the coastal cities, stopping to take a romantic walk on the beach.  Then finally ended our day with dinner and taking in a local band back downtown (wish I knew who they were as they were fabulously amusing!).

Friday afternoon we headed north to visit our neighbors with whom we’d shared a very unique, close friendship.  We were happy to find that 9 years without seeing each other didn’t change our chemistry and we could pick right back up where we left off- as though no time had ever passed.  We had some great laughs together that afternoon and evening.  And the boys went off to the gym in the morning just like old times.

(can I just say- thank God for tripods… you’ll see why in a minute)

Saturday was the wedding day and we headed up to the beautiful Mission Inn in Riverside.  What a breathtaking place- so charming and romantic.  After catching up with family, we attended the lovely wedding complete with a 20 piece orchestra.  The bride and groom had been taking swing dance lessons so their dance troupe attended as well and they played music from the 30’s and 40’s.  I even got dragged out to the dance floor a few times (well, I wasn’t exactly kicking and screaming) to try to keep up with the moves.

Sadly, the one picture that I had someone take with my camera didn’t turn out so well.  But, since I have a sense of humor, I will share anyways…

After saying our goodbyes the following day, we headed south again, stopping in Orange County in Dana Point where we remembered the amazing blues festival we attended one of our first years married.  And we were also surprised to see our first apartment- buildings looking and named exactly the same- perched atop a hill in San Clemente.  The pier where we used to love going for cocktails and chowder to talk about our hopes and dreams for our future was still bustling with activity.

We ended our stay in Old Town which was the perfect ending to a wonderful trip.

So my little moral of the story is this.  Make time for your spouse.  Take time to be alone together- to nourish your relationship and give it  the energy it deserves.  It’s all too easy to get caught up in the demands of work, children, running a household and everything else.  But it’s all too important to not prioritize remembering the one you love.   Your children will thank you some day for setting the example.