The New Plan and Carnitas

So here is the new plan. We are going to treat San Diego like we are on vacation here. We'll pick up a book of things to see and places to go and start going there.

We kind of started last night. There is a morning show that Jessi and I listen to on our way to work. On the show, once a week, they do a "best of San Diego" and they will pick a product or service and try to find the best maker of that product in San Diego. Last week it was Carnita's. Which is a spiced pork cooked slow and then fried. (at least that is how I think that they make it) Well, Carnitas Uruapan was the winner. It is a restaurant down in Lemon Grove, we went down there last night to try it out and meet up with an old friend of Jessi's from high school. The Carnitas were very good. The meat was tender and juicy and it was served with fresh cilantro, onion, corn or flour tortillas, and of course beans and rice. The three of us ate for 30 dollars, which is kind of unheard of in San Diego, especially for the quality of food that was served there. The place was a bit of a dive. it was definitely a "Mom and Pop" style restaurant with plastic coverings on top of red and white checkered picnic-style table cloths, but the food was awesome and there was plenty of it.

After dinner we went out for drinks in Mission Valley. We weren't really in the mood for a club, just a nice bar that we could sit down at and enjoy a glass of beer and some good conversation. We ended up at a restaurant called "On the Border" it is a Mexican restaurant chain that does pretty good margaritas. It would have been nice to go somewhere with a little more authentic atmosphere but as I said earlier we are just starting to explore the city. We were all pretty tired by the about nine-thirty and because it is a 30 minute drive back to Escondido we had to cut the night short, but it is good to spend some time getting out in the city and trying some new things.