My fan-tabulous husband/weekend

I feel the need to preface the story with a little known fact about me. Something you wouldn't know by looking at me. I am a total hotel snob. Now that's not to say I won't stay at a regular, run of the mill hotel, but I much prefer a fancy schmancy place. I mean, I would give ANYTHING to be the next Samantha Brown. (I used to get up hours early to watch Great Hotels) Remember that Vegas trip I told you Jon planned for us? Well someone is thoroughly embarrassed to admit she threw a giant hissy fit when she found out they would be staying at the Sahara causing someone else to change the reservations. Like all my negative traits I blame my parents. When I was little we lived close enough to Disney World to go for a daytrip. We moved away when I was five, but continued trips to Disney on a yearly basis. The first time we went we stayed at Wally's World. It was a dump. Something you'd see in a National Lampoon Vacation movie. We learned our lesson. From then on, we stayed at amazing Disney properties and I was hooked.

Where were they going without ever knowing the way?
We left on Friday around 5-ish. Jon still wouldn't tell me where we were going. Bastard. (I really need to stop doing that - he doesn't deserve it...from now on I will only thing positive thoughts about my sweet and caring husband.....until he does something stupid). We headed south. I let out a deep sigh of relief as we left Orange County. As he exited in Oceanside, my stomach sunk (hey, its not that bad, maybe his friend in San Diego told him about some great Oceanside place). Then he started pulling into the Travel Lodge...the one beside the freeway (It's okay, we're not rich and he didn't have a lot of time, he wanted me to get away, which is a sweet thought...he's sweet, this will be okay) At the last minute he veered away with a "Ha Ha, we're not staying here." And back to the freeway we meant. He got off again in La Jolla. (Woot Woot, I LOVE La Jolla. Wait a minute, why did he get off at La Jolla Village Drive? All the good hotels are by the beach......its okay, there's a Sheraton here, it'll have to do. Wait a minute, why is he turning right? All the hotels are to the left...is he taking the long way to the beach? Tricky. Wait a minute, why are we turning into a supermarket parking lot? There's no place to stay here.) Turns out we were just stopping for dinner. "Um, I appreciate this" I told him, "but this is an awful long drive to go to a Chipoltle." After dinner we got back on the road and almost got on the 5 North until there was another veer, another "Ha Ha." (Seriously, this man is going to kill me) We kept heading south. When we passed downtown I was certain we were headed for Mexico. "15 miles to the border" I told him. He cryptically nodded....and then took the exit for Coronado. "Coronado? I LOVE Coronado. They have the most beautiful beach! This is going to be the best weekend ever!"
And then he did it. He pulled into the Hotel Del Coronado. "SHUT UP, we are not staying at the Hotel Del" (I miss you Jenna). The Hotel Del is only one of the most amazing hotels in the country. Established in 1888 it has housed president, movie stars, and now Jon and I! I was BEYOND excited. We checked in and then headed down to the bar for a couple drinks as we watched the people and the ocean. Then it was sleeptime.
No Sleep Till Brooklyn!
Alas for me, there would be very little sleep. At 6AM a knock on the door woke me. As Jon went to answer it, his phone went off....twice. Who calls and visits at 6AM you might ask? The hotel. Jon arranged for a wakeup call at 6 so he could be up when the balloons arrived. THE BALLOONS? This is kinda an old/inside joke. When I was a little girl, my parents would blow up balloons and sneak into my room the night before my birthday and put them all over the floor. My first year at college my mom called Jon and asked him to do the balloon thing because she couldn't. Jon didn't quite understand and hid helium balloons in his closet till I fell asleep. This year he had the hotel go out and get me balloons. At 6:15AM I got another delivery, a bottle of red wine.
At 7AM my brother called. At 8 AM a friend called. By 8:30 we had given up and Jon made us coffee. He made me open my presents and GUESS WHAT I GOT!!!! Alton Brown's latest. So cool. We spent the morning at the pool till my parents came down and met us for lunch. My mom brought a cake. What a sweetie. We had lunch and ate cake and GUESS WHAT I GOT!!!!! A new purse! (Seriously, a girl can never have too many purses) Then my parents headed home and Jon and I went back to the beach. Then the pool. Then to the room to get ready for dinner. While we were getting ready, we got another delivery from the hotel, a bottle of champagne and chocolate covered strawberries.
We consumed the red wine while getting ready and headed down to dinner. Jon had made us reservations at 1500 Ocean and we both got the tasting menu which came with wine pairings. (Oh we are living it up!) I'm definitely drunk by this point.
We began with complimentary appetizers - yellowtail with avocado, and when our waiter, Chris, found out I don't eat fish, he had the chef make me a special appetizer with artichoke. Next came course 1. Jon had artichoke soup paired with a Spanish Albarino. It was perfect. Tasted JUST like artichoke dipped in drawn butter.I had salad with Sacred Hill Sauvignon Blanc. We both had the same thing for our main course, rib-eye coulettes paired with a Santa Barbara Syrah. We weren't impressed with the wine, but Jon LOVED it with the steak. The steak itself was perfect and tender and rich.For dessert Jon had a chipoltle chocolate cake with port. Jon was a little nervous it would be too spicy and not chocolatey enough, but he thought it was very chocolatey with just a zing of spice. I loved the homemade carmel ice cream which was soooooo light!I had a trio of berries, custard, and cookies with a vin d'glacier. The berries were sweet, the custard was a little too sweet for me, and Jon really enjoyed the chocolate cookies. I was REALLY drunk by this point, but thought Champagne sounded like a good idea, so we went back up to the room and drank until I passed out. I think.
This morning we got up, had fresh squeezed oj, coffee, and leftover cake before heading back to Orange County and studies. It was hard to get back to work, and its going to be even harder to go to class tomorrow!!!!