Believe it or not, after sleeping from 6-9pm last night, I actually went to sleep again at midnight! Unfortunately, I was up before 8:00am. Now, some might ask, “Unfortunately?” They’d think that getting an early start was a wonderful thing. The only problem is that these days Eric tends to sleep in, so I can’t do anything that makes a lot of noise. I’ll work on the computer, watch TV, clean my desk, and have breakfast, hoping he’ll wake up, so I can really start the day.
At 10:00am I woke him, then I jumped in the shower and he followed right after. We got dressed and headed out. He didn’t even know where we were going, but he said it didn’t matter, he’d go wherever I wanted. What I wanted to do was go to the Farmer’s Market and Flea Market. The only problem is, by the time we got out the door it was 11:00am and I didn’t think we’d be able to do both. The Farmer’s Market is only open until 1:00pm, and the Flea Market is only open until 3:00pm.
These turtles, decorated with stones and shells, would look so pretty in a garden.
I decided the Flea Market was more important, since I really wanted to look at the birds. We drove to the Sports Arena, which is just about 5 miles away. On Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, when there isn’t a game at the arena, the flea market is held in the parking lot. It’s pretty huge. We got a spot and started walking around. I had an idea of where the bird guy’s tent is, because I’ve been to the flea market about 3-4 times already, but this was Eric’s first time.
Our friends, Geri and Larry, have small sculptures of frogs playing instruments. These were much bigger, and were made with stones and welded metal. Eric and I thought they would look fabulous in their lovely garden!
After a few minutes we found the birds. There are hundreds of them – finches, parakeets (large and small), different varieties of parrots, doves, cockatiels, love birds, and a few others I couldn’t identify. There were also chinchillas and bunnies!
These fabulous peacocks are also made with rocks and welded metal. If you push on their heads they will bob for a while!
There was a large green parrot on top of a cage who is extremely tame. He will let anyone pet him and doesn’t bite at all. There were four small parrots around him -- two pineapple green cheek conures and two blue crown conures. They were SO cute. You could pick them up, but the didn’t like you to pet them and would walk away every time. They were VERY expensive -- $350 for the pineapple; $300 for the blue crown. I’ll probably stick with a parakeet, which is about $20!
They also sell cages of every size and shape. There was another even larger green parrot up high on top of another cage. Eric tried to pet him a few times, but he went to bite him and Eric backed off. I just started talking to him and I could see he was interested in me. He looked like he wanted to come off the cage, so I put my hand up and he climbed right on. Eric couldn’t believe it, because he was telling me to be careful, because the bird wasn’t friendly.
He sat on my fingers for a few minutes and then climbed up my arm and sat on my shoulder. I felt like a pirate. Argh! He started nibbling on my earring. It brought back lovely memories of my parakeet, Duke, who I had from 1981-1989. He used to sit on my shoulder all the time, as I did things around my apartment (then our apartment, and then our house). He was such a good friend. I’m hoping to find another bird as sweet, loving and smart as Duke!
Eric said I could pick out a bird today and bring it home, but I didn’t want to rush into anything. This dealer has a wonderful reputation (I read about him online!) and his birds all looked healthy, with clean cages. He’s been selling birds there at the Kobey Flea Market for many years. I will probably go back in a few weeks to pick out a parakeet. I’ll get a baby, if I can, so it can grow up being held and will be tame.
This hand-carved bird was pretty -- but I want the real thing!
After visiting with the birds we walked around for a while. It was very overcast, so it was perfect weather for shopping. It started to get sunny after a while and the sun was bright and strong by the time we left. Eric got a few things and was happy to look at all the tools and “manly stuff” being sold by many of the dealers. I was looking at the vintage stuff, the costume jewelry, and the antique furniture. I saw lots of things I had in my shop at one time or another. The prices are great, too. Too bad we’re not looking for any furniture!
I had this same horse clock in the shop. Our friends, Susan and Andrew bought it, because Susan knew someone who had one a long time ago and it held great memories for her. It now stands proudly on top of their piano! It wasn't in great shape (a lot of the gold was completely worn off), but I was still happy to see it!
We came to a booth with lovely vintage costume jewelry and Eric said he wanted to buy me something for our anniversary on Monday. He pointed out a few pins that he really liked and I took a look at them. One was a WEISS emerald green leaf-shaped pin made up of marquis-shaped rhinestones, with matching clip-on earrings. Another was an umarked round pin with gray, clear, and aurora borealis rhinestones in different shapes and sizes, also with matching clip-ons.
I don’t wear clip-on earrings, because they hurt after an hour or two, but I always take them with the pins, because they make the set more valuable and, if you ever lose a stone in the pin, the earrings can be used to replace the stone.
The woman was very nice and threw in a nice pair of rhinestone clip-ons shaped like flowers. I’ll be using them for crafts! After we paid for our purchases, she gave us a flyer about a religious radio station she listened to all the time and started talking about our savior and Jesus. Eric and I just smiled and nodded and moved off as quickly as we could. I told Eric I wanted to say to her, “Can’t you tell we’re Jewish?”
We walked around some more and Eric bought a frozen banana on a stick that they dip in melted chocolate and roll in nuts. I had a bite and it was really delicious. I never had a frozen banana before!
We really didn’t walk through the whole Flea Market, because it started to get hot and it was too much for me (and Eric, I think). So, we left. Eric said we could go out for lunch, or come back and see what time the game was on and figure out whether to go back out right away, or go out to eat later. We came home and he saw that the game wasn’t on at all today! It starts at 6:00pm tomorrow (and I’ll be watching SEX AND THE CITY!).
So, we decided we’d relax for a few hours and go out to eat. Eric said we could go wherever I wanted. I remembered a cute Creole restaurant in Old Town. We had gone there the first time we went to Old Town, a few months ago, but the restaurant is VERY small and they couldn’t accommodate us without a reservation.
I called up and made a reservation for 7:30pm. I was so excited, because it’s a cute, romantic little place and it was something different. We haven’t had Creole or Cajun food since New Orleans! We love it and we miss it!
For the next few hours, Eric worked on his bicycle and watched TV in the living room. I watched TV for a while and then took a nap (what else?). When I got up I took a shower and got dressed. I decided to dress up and I put on one of my favorite vintage summery dresses. I also got to wear my new (old) green rhinestone pin. It looked so pretty on the dress, which is white with orange flowers and green leaves.
Old Town is just 5 minutes away from our apartment and we got a spot right in front of the restaurant (which is off the street in a little park).
They have an outdoor eating area, and it was a lovely night, but I always prefer to eat inside, and the indoor seating area is so cute and romantic. We were seated right by a window, with a view of the gardens and this unusual giant tree which had a large branch held up by a metal support. This tree must have been there for 100 years!
There was a gazebo made of tree branches behind the restaurant. The restaurant is actually two small rooms – one is the kitchen, and the other is the seating area. The waiters have to walk outside on the porch to go from one room to the other. It’s a good thing the weather is always great in San Diego or it wouldn’t be very practical!
Eric ordered a New Orleans amber beer and I had iced tea. We started by sharing two appetizers. A shrimp remoulade salad and French onion soup. They were both delicious. The broth in the soup was so rich. Eric had the macaroni and cheese with andouille sausage (he’s on a mac and cheese kick, isn’t he?). I had the Shrimp Creole, which was shrimp and rice in a sweet tomato sauce. It was all really good.
We were stuffed and decided to skip dessert and drive to Hillcrest to find a place for something sweet, but the waiter said they had Red Velvet Cake, which is my favorite cake in the whole world, since I first had it in Memphis. Eric immediately said we’d share a piece and we ordered hot tea.
Who knew it would be size of a brick? It was SO delicious and the cream cheese icing was divine. We really should just have tasted it and taken the rest home, but instead we finished it. It was so filling and I was so full I could hardly stand up. Not good for my diet, I’ll tell you that much!
Eric said we could walk around if I wanted, but we did that last time and there’s not much to see at night, because most of the stores are closed. We got back in the car and drove around, looking at other streets to see what they had to offer. We’ve never gone to any restaurant off the main strip (San Diego Boulevard), but there are lots of other cute places to try in the future!
When we got back to the apartment I immediately got out of my dress and into my pajamas. Eric turned channels on the TV and we saw that SOME LIKE IT HOT was on. I just watched that about a month ago, and it was great to show Eric the Hotel Del Coronado, because it’s so prominent in the movie. I really want him to see it for himself, so I told him we have to take a ride there someday. I’ve been there with my nieces, and our friend, Scott, but never with Eric!
We watched the last 45 minutes of the movie, which is so much fun. I worked on the computer while we watched, downloading the pictures I took today and blogging.
We really had a great day. It was fun to go to the Flea Market together and Eric enjoyed it a lot more than I thought he would! We had a chance to see the birds and I think Eric is more enthusiastic than he was before about me getting another bird.
Dinner was delicious and romantic and the restaurant was so cute. It was a wonderful Anniversary Dinner!
Tomorrow Eric is going for a ride in the morning and I’ll just relax around the apartment. When he gets back with the car I’ll go food shopping and then go to the movies. SEX AND THE CITY – I can’t wait!