San Diego visit for work (and getting to a few Triple D's)

Many of you know that I am a co-admin of a Triple D Facebook page called "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives (with Guy Fieri)".  My co-admin, Bob lives in the San Diego area and when I was told by my manager that we would be having a work conference in San Diego I thought it would be a great opportunity to meet Bob (we had only communicated through the page) and maybe try a couple of places.  I had been to all of the San Diego area locations form the show except two.  I wasn't sure if I would be able to get to them but after chatting online with Bob if possible we would be able to get to both of them! 

I took a morning flight from Dulles to San Diego arriving about 11am.  The best thing about this flight was that, although it being almost full, I had an empty seat next to me which makes the long 5 hour flight so much more bearable.  Our agenda for the day  had me in meetings until about 4p,  so Bob and I decided to meet at my hotel after I arrived there.  Bob came by and picked me and a co-worker of mine, Bashri.  This was the first time I had met Bob and it seemed like we had known each other for years!  We talked about our Triple D experiences, he had been to almost 70 places so we had a lot to talk about.  Bashri said that our conversation was making him hungry! 

We drove about 15 minutes to an area of San Diego called Ocean Beach, known to most as OB.  This is a popular area of shops and restaurants and is home to one of the most popular Triple D places called Hodad's.  I went to Hodad's a few years ago and it's founder was a great friend of Guy's, Mike Harden who passed away just a few month's ago, a real loss to fans of Triple D.  On this Monday night OB was really hopping as the hometown San Diego Chargers were playing a Monday Night NFL game against the Chicago Bears.  We had to park a few blocks away from our destination as parking in OB can be at a premium, especially during Chargers games.

We arrived at the "OB Noodle House and Sake Bar" and had to wait for about 15 minutes for a table.  We were given a table near the kitchen and the place was really hopping!  This was a first visit for both Bob and I to the OB Noodle House. 

Bashri and I at OB Noodle House

Bob at the OB Noodle House

We decided to try a couple of appetizers along with the restaurants signature dish, Pho (pronounced fuh).  We chose the chicken wings, fried dumplings for appetizers.  The garlic chicken wings were awesome!  They were some of the best I have ever had, we got them with no spice but the flavor was unreal.  The dumplings were stuffed with veggies and served with a side of chili duck-style sauce.  they were really good.

OB Noodle House Garlic Wings

Dumpling Appetizer

Bob and Bashri chose the OB Special Pho (the item featured on Triple D), and I got a large Pho bowl.  Pho is a Vietnamese soup with meat, veggies and noodles.  The OB Special has rare steak, well done steak, brisket, flank and tripe.  Mine was rare steak and well done steak.  All were served with sprouts, parsley and peppers on the side to be added as wanted.  I will admit that soup is not my favorite meal but the Pho was fantastic!  I am glad that I got the large and not the extra large as the large filled me up and truth be told I didn't really want to try the Tripe.

Bob and Bashri's OB Special Pho

Sides to added to taste to the Pho



My Pho meal

I told our server about my Triple D adventures and showed her the book to get it signed and after chatting for a few minutes we found out that she grew up in Fairfax and went to Robinson High School and James Madison University, small world!  The manager came out and signed my book.  Bob peeked into the kitchen to thank the chef and his staff before we headed out after a great meal!  Bob told us that he goes to another nearby place for Pho, but the OB Noodle House blew that place away, he said he has a new place!

Bob and I outside the restaurant



Bob drove us back to our hotel and gave us a driving tour of the downtown area.  It was a great time with new friends.  We planned to meet again two night later, which was my next free night.  I was already looking forward to it.

The meetings were planned for our hotel, the Grand Hyatt Manchester at the Seaport Village in downtown San Diego.  The hotel is a huge twin towered building with great views of both the city, harbor and Coronado Island, which is home to the famous Hotel Del Coronado and the US Naval base.  My room was on the 22nd floor and had a great view of everything!

From my room at the Hyatt

Boat Harbor in the front and the Coronado Bridge in the background

Downtown San Diego

Upper Deck of Petco Park home of baseball's San Diego Padres

Full view of Harbor and Ocean entrance

The meetings went very well.  It was a few days to get some training and to work with some of the guys that do the same job that I do.  They were from Cleveland Los Angeles and Denver. When our official meetings were done we were treated to a visit of one of San Diego's most popular tourist attractions, the USS Midway  Museum.  The Midway is a decommissioned aircraft carrier that served the US Navy from 1945 through 1992, 47 years!!!  Not only was the visit incredible but it was a real treat to tour it on Veterans Day!  I was able to tour the entire ship from the super structure control tower to the below deck areas that included the hanger deck, berthing areas and engine room.  The Midway is a must for anyone visiting San Diego.  The docent guides on the ship are almost all retired Navy men and women, many served on the Midway!  The following are photos of the tour...

USS Midway Museum

Balloon of the Midway

Ships Bell

Hanger Deck



T6 Texan - WW2 Trainer

Life raft survival kit

FA 18 Hornet

F4 Phantom

Super Structure

Heed this warning!

USS Midway CV-41

Flight Deck

Seated in the Air Boss's seat

Flight Deck control room

Chart Room Table

USS Carl Vinson as seen from the Super Struture

In the CO's chair on the Navigational Bridge

Ship's engine telegraph on the bridge

RPM telegraph on the bridge

Control and steering wheel

" I got the Con!"

Admiral of the Fleet's Kitchen

Admiral's Conference Table cover

Radar Control Room

Radio Room

Tight walkways

Photos of all of the Midway's Captains

Captain's At Sea Bed area

Captain's Conference Table cover

Captain's kitchen

Captain's china service

Grumman Hawkeye "Screwtop"

Launch system know as "the Cat"

Flight Deck

Midway Sundries shop

Enlisted bed area known as a "Rack"

Ship Builder's plaque

Below deck Anchor area

Junior Officer's Berthing

Ships Jail known as "The Brig"

Flight prep area

End of a great tour

Bob came back to get me from the hotel and we headed north out of San Diego for the drive to the town of Carlsbad, about an hour away.  On the way I got to experience Sand Diego's rush hour traffic.  I must say I wish the DC area traffic was as "bad" as Sand Diego's!

We arrived at "Spirito's Italian Diner" which is in a shopping center.  Spirito's is one of Bob's favorite places and he said that it is one of the few places that he would drive an hour to go to.  That is very high praise! 

It is a small place and was at first a bit intimidating as the menus is on the wall and with the constant line I felt a little pressure.  Bob told me that the Cheese Ravioli and Roman Meatballs were the featured items on their Triple D episode and that sounded fine with me!  All of my grandparents emigrated to the United States from Italy so when I saw the term "Tomato Gravy" vs. "Tomato Sauce", it was a bit weird but it's really the same thing.  Spirito's uses counter service instead of sit down service so I was able to get the manager to sign my book just after ordering.   This was the only day of the week that the owner is not there, oh well, I guess those are the breaks!  The meal came it was awesome, huge cheese filled Ravioli and a huge meatball!  The Meatball was interesting as it had golden raisins in the mixture which gave the ball a slightly sweet flavor but not overpowering.  The meal came with a thick piece of Focacia Bread, which made sopping up the "Gravy" easy.

Spirito's Ravioli Dinner

Roman Meatball

We had a really nice conversation with the manager about Triple D and Guy's visit.  Just as we were about to leave a young couple saw the book and asked us about it.  We had a long conversation about my travels and the show, they had come because of the show and it was their first visit. 

Bob and I had a great drive back into San Diego, talking the whole time about great places we had visited.  He was a wonderful host and I look forward to visiting him again and I hope that he will make it to the DC area so I can host him on a Triple D trip!

The next day was the flight back home, full and uncomfortable but one of the fastest transcon flight's I have ever been on, we had a heck of a tailwind, we did San Diego to Dulles in 3 hours and 50 minutes!

I returned home after a successful week of meetings and making a new friend in my Triple D travels which now stood at 436!

Thanks Bob, "You're a great host and friend!"