Maybe you know from previous blogs or maybe you know us from way back when (though, surely, none of us is that old) but we’re from Fort Dodge, IA. We’ve lived in other cities and towns in our lives but we spent most of our school years growing up in Fort Dodge. We actually had our 50th high school reunion 2 years ago and returned to see all of our old friends from then. So, when we saw a t-shirt with the slogan ‘I’d Rather Be in Fort Dodge’ we couldn’t resist. We even bought one for my brother who still lives in Fort Dodge - though, maybe he’d ‘rather’ be some place else this cold, snowy winter.
Thus, we them into San Diego one day when we were just going to walk around and enjoy the city sights - the touristy sights. Our first stop was at the cruise ship pier. We had checked before hand and noticed that today was the only day in January that a cruise ship was going to be in port. That’s why we scurried downtown today. Action on the waterfront.
Then we began to walk along the Embarcadero, the large walkway with jewelry vendors, t-shirt and trinkets vendors from tables, some food vendors, several monuments to ships that were berthed in San Diego and lots of shoppes. As we walked along, a woman stopped us and asked if that was Fort Dodge, Iowa? Sure enough we said and she said that she had been through Fort Dodge just recently on a road trip.
As you can tell, Gary is in front of the Carrier Midway. We toured this several years ago and what a good tour it was. We just happened to board the ship when an older gentleman who is also a volunteer guide did and he asked us if we’d like him to show us around. Silly question - of course we did. We had a complete tour and even saw him tear up when we got to the Pearl Harbor diorama. You see, he was actually at Pearl Harbor when the Japanese flew in and bombed our ships and killed our sailors. An emotional story from a survivor.
Then we turned to walk down the pier when another person stopped us and asked if that was Fort Dodge, Iowa. Oh, yeah, he had worked in Fort Dodge for several years after college. OK, that’s 2 people. I bet Gary that we’d see at least 5 today.
On the shore side of the Embarcadero are lots of shoppes selling San Diego trinkets, lots of restaurants and a shop selling a tiny cone of ice cream for $5.50 (I told you it was the tourist area.) On the bay side are buskers: a magician, a balloon twister, a tarot card reader and a rock balancer among others. He’s got several columns of rocks balanced on the rocks in back of him. (Here’s a picture from a previous blog to give you an idea of how talented this guy is. And, no, he does not use glue.)
and a challenge for others on the pier side. Gary took him up on his challenge and balanced the rock on the first try. What a guy. I always said he was a well-balanced guy and he does eat a well-balanced diet.
We celebrated Gary’s feat and found our 3rd person who had a connection with Fort Dodge - a sister who lived there and whom they had visited many times. That’s 3.
We continued our stroll and eventually wound our way into the Gaslamp Quarter of San Diego where there are quite a few older buildings. Here we met our 4th person who had a connection to Fort Dodge. Oh, my. Who’d have thought?
We’ve toured the Gaslamp Quarter with a guide book in our hands and have marveled at all the older building with their Victorian paint jobs and their turrets and fancy decorations. But today we had a different destination in mind. Ah, the Ghirardelli store. And, Gary’s shirt is wrong here - he’d rather be in the Ghirardelli store than Fort Dodge.
One last picture and we’ll be strolling back to the car. Ah, the ubiquitous selfie.
Oops, what about my bet with Gary about the people who would recognize Fort Dodge? I guess I lost the bet but my excuse is that for a lot of our walk after the rock-balancer and before the Ghirardelli hot fudge sundae, was along a little used part of the pier and didn’t see many people. We’ll try this experiment again. Imagine, even 4 people recognizing little old Fort Dodge. But it was fun talking with all of them and their connection to the town we grew up in.
Before we left, we hurried back to the cruise ship pier to watch the ship leave. The passengers were lining the side, standing on their balconies and watching San Diego recede. I waved to all of them and they all waved back. How much fun was that?
We turned and saw the sun shining on the buildings of San Diego with the clouds that had rolled in behind them.
‘Not all those who wander are lost.’
J. R. R. Tolkien
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