Laguna Beach

The drive to Laguna Beach was beautiful. We left the 1 around La Jolla and hit the 5 going north. The interestate pretty much stays close to the ocean which makes for some nice scenery. My brother not only recommended that we eat at a clifftop restaurant in Laguna Beach called Las Brisas, he also provided the money for a very nice lunch as a Christmas present. The meal was very good and we sat on the patio overlooking the ocean. It was a bit windy, which made it cold, but I survived in just a T-shirt and no coat. I would love to spend more time in the ocean towns along the sand and surf in southern California. My son is not one for walking along the streets, going in and out of stores (especially bookstores).
That night, in the hotel room, N convinced me to watch Saw III with him. I watched the first Saw movie and found it fairly intriguing, despite the grisly blood and guts action. Saw III, however, takes the cake, portraying absurd and horrific grisly acts carried out by a mad man and his pretty female accomplice. It also left t he door open for Saw IV, which I may see just to make sure the "little girl is found by her father in time." I would not recommend this movie to anyone over 30 years old. My 21 year old son, however, really liked it.
That night we had an excellent dinner at a restaurant in Mission Bay called "Nick's." I had shrimp scampi over rice and my son had shrimp and pasta. Very tasty, very good and a nice end to our little jaunt over to southern California. The next morning we packed up, checked out and drove to see the seals one more time. I would have liked to hang out on the benches overlooking the cove for a while but we still had a 5 hour drive back to Vegas looming and we had to figure out how to catch the 15 from LaJolla. Everyone in those parts refers to the interstates as "THE 5" or "THE 15." I've decided that's kinda cool so the next time I travel from Knoxville to Nashville, I'm gonna hop on the 40 and cruise on into town. :)