San Diego: Part 3

I really didn’t mean for this to turn into three parts – apparently I took more pictures than I realized!

So after the zoo, we had dinner in downtown San Diego with Matt’s “line of business” – meaning the head of corporate banking and everyone within the group who was on the trip (each of the groups had their own dinner).  Our dinner was at Donovan’s, a delicious steak house in the Gaslamp quarter.

Because we are super lame were exhausted from the zoo, we called it a night after dinner.

On Friday, our last full day, we were able to meet up with some good friends of ours (shout out to Kaylan because I think she’s one of the only people who actually reads this!) who just happened to be in San Diego for their anniversary trip at the same time as us!  They live in Arizona so we don’t get to see them as often as we’d like – we were so excited to find out our trips overlapped! 

After lunch, we had a catamaran ride scheduled for the afternoon.  It was a little chilly, but such a fun way to see the bay!

And last, but CERTAINLY not least… the dinner party the last night was out.of.this.world.  Considering this was technically considered a “business trip” we were expecting a banquet hall with typical hotel food, run-of-the-mill décor, etc.  Wrong.  The theme for the last night was “There’s no place like home…” and they went all out.  The Wizard of Oz was written at the del, there’s a whole section of one of the shops in the hotel with memorabilia, but this party took it to another level.  I’ll share some pictures, but let me just say that they do NOT do it justice!  (Please note the projected image of the tornado and house on the back corner of the hotel in the aerial shots.

From the outside dinner/cocktail party, we moved inside where they had completely transformed one of the hotel ballrooms.  There was an amazing live band, ruby slipper chandelier, a balcony where Dorothy, the tin man, the lion and the scarecrow all danced, a giant ice sculpture filled with desserts, a “yellow brick road” running throughout and so much more… it was jaw-dropping.

 

The company also hired a sand castle creator for the week we were there and every day there was a new design.  This was the last night’s castle (Oz!) – it has a wagon wheel (the award Matt won was called the Golden Spoke) and a “Thank You” to the girl who planned the whole week (what a job!).

Such a fun trip!  And the girls had a blast with their nana & poppie (although I have never seen Harper happier than the moment we got home – she literally ran to me with open arms and a giant grin on her face!).