Happy Hump Day friends!
Hope that you all are having a lovely week. Christmas is in just over a week, and I can hardly contain my excitement! I’m like a little kid when it comes to the holidays.
The Christmas tree in Hotel del Coronado’s lobby
And on the topic of the holidays, let’s back it up a few days to talk about a very holiday-ish activity that I did over the weekend: ice skating!
My hubby surprised me on Saturday with a date to Hotel del Coronado for… ice skating on the coast! I didn’t even know that this was a thing until last weekend. I thought it was super sweet of A to plan a date because 1.) He knows that I love all things related to the holidays, and 2.) I’m most definitely the planner out of the two of us. I love being the planner, but it was nice to have him plan something and totally surprised me. 🙂
The view from the Coronado Bridge
I recommend that anyone who visits the San Diego area makes a trip to the adorable, picturesque island of Coronado. It is just such a lovely place with great beaches, beautiful homes, fun restaurants and shops, a wonderful view of downtown San Diego… and the famous, massive, luxurious Hotel Del Coronado.
Hotel del Coronado’s adorable herb garden
I hadn’t been to Hotel del Coronado in December before, and while I expected it to be decked out in lights and decor (it was), I love that they set up an ice skating rink next to the hotel. A and I headed there late afternoon to lace up some skates and see if we could skate around with falling on our faces.
It was funny to look out from the rink and see palm trees and beaches. As a native East coaster from the north, we found it to be such an unusual setting for ice skating! People were ice skating in shorts, and the irony was not lost on us.
The view from the rink
While there were a ton of people wiping out around us (and we saw some hard falls!), I’m happy to say that neither A nor I fell at all. I can’t even remember the last time that I went ice skating, so I was pretty proud of myself!
We skated for a good hour before my ankles were feeling pretty tired from all of the instability. Afterwards we walked around along the beach for awhile, enjoyed a happy hour drink, then headed to an Italian restaurant called Il Fornaio for dinner where A had made us reservations.
Isn’t the view from the restaurant awesome?
Immediately when I looked at the menu, I got excited to see that they had zucchini parmigiana and simply had to order it. My grandma used to make the dish for me all the time, and I hardly ever see it in restaurants.
I also ordered a primi portion of the capellini pomodoro to go along with my zucchini. I’m a sucker for a simple, fresh tomato sauce pasta dish!
While I was anticipating the zucchini to be a larger portion, the small plates of both dishes wound up being a perfect amount for me. I ordered a glass of the recommended pairing of chardonnay with my meal, and the two of us practically inhaled some warm bread when we sat down with very hungry bellies. I thoroughly enjoyed everything, and all in all, it was a great surprise date!
Tell me… Do you like being surprised? When was the last time you went ice skating?
What a fun day!!! I’m the planner too… I just planned a Friday date to see Star Wars. (That better earn me MAJOR brownie points.)
I do really want to go ice skating at the Del. That scenery cracks me up!
Ice skating on the beach really is hysterical! You should do it next year.
We were going to stay at that hotel like five years ago after I finished my bar exam but then it ended up being rainy that entire week in SD so we went to Newport Beach instead! It looks beautiful. I am definitely the planner out of the two of us but I LOVE it when Pete plans something. It makes me feel so special.
Oh that’s too bad, especially since rain isn’t all that common here. I hope that you get to make it Coronado sometime soon! It really is a beautiful area.
I’ve never been ice skating and I honestly don’t think I would do well. I have issues with roller skating or basically doing anything where my feet are attached to wheels or blades. However, I can snow ski!
I think that skiing is WAY harder! The one and only time I went skiing it took me hours to get used to moving around and not completely gliding backwards and falling. Haha.
Oh fun! My sisters husbands parents were there today-so on my bucket list of places to go to!
Ice skating scares the bleep;) out of me.
It’s a good one for the bucket list!
I hear you! Like I said, I’m pretty proud that I didn’t fall on my face…
Wow, what a beautiful Christmas tree. I love going ice skating at this time of the year, but I couldn’t imagine ice skating in the sunshine, I think it would be fun though.
What a cool activity! Although growing up in the northeast it is so weird seeing the rink in the middle of the palm trees!!! haha That must be so different!
Oh yea, it was pretty hilarious!
ICE SKATING! I haven’t done that in BEYOND years! I should put it on my TO DO list for this season!
I still regret not making it to Coronado when we were there last Spring. I guess this just means I have to come back.
Ice skating in December on a beach is amazing!
Happy Holidays.
Oh yea, you guys will have to come back here sometime… once your little one arrives! 😉
Happy New Year!