In January 2006 we went with Nina Wise and her daughter, Dasha, to the Lighthouse restaurant on Harbor Island for Sunday Brunch. The restaurant provides an excellent view of San Diego's harbor and NAS North Island.
We were all very impressed with not only the quality of the food, but also the extend of the brunch selections (which were served with unlimited champaign)!
Steve, of course, was attracted to the excellent DESSERT selection (as well as the lox and bagels shown in the forefront of this photo).
After the meal, we took in the view of San Diego's harbor (with downtown San Diego in the background).
For Thanksgiving 2006, we met Ed and Natasha Ashley and we to one of their favorite restaurants in that area. Ed had driven one of his many restored antique cars.
While the food was quite good, the irony is Steve totally failed to see the main dessert selection which was somewhat separate from the rest of the buffet.
Lena thought that this photo of Ed and Natasha (which Lena had taken) was very good of both Ed and Natasha.
The restaurant had a very nice outdoor patio area which overlooked the valley below.
There was also a very nice fireplace which provided an extra touch of decor to the restaurant.
For Christmas 2006, we returned to our favorite Hyatt Hotel in Irvine, CA, to enjoy their spectacular champaign brunch. This is the same restaurant we have now attended for the last 3 years.
In addition to the 'usual list of attendees,' this year Dave Seyller brought his new girlfriend, Susan, who he has been taking out for a few months.
In addition to Ed and Natasha Ashley, Dave's niece, Katlina and her boyfriend, Ian, we able to join us. Katlina and Ian will be getting married in June.
After a FOUR HOUR brunch (which included lots and lots of bubbly!), the nicely-decorated Christmas tree at the Hilton served as a perfect backdrop for some photos as we were leaving the hotel.
It took several shots to get one in which we all had our eyes open at the same time.
Did I mention that the Hilton had been very liberal in pouring lots of bubbly during the four hour meal?
Skipping ahead to our 8th Anniversay in August of 2007, we celebrated this event with two new very 'special people' in our lives who live here in IVY GATE: Tom and Angie! Angie is the Real Estate agent who helped us make the difficult decision...
...regarding the purchase of our new home and who has been incrediblly helpful with many, MANY recommendations ever since we moved into our new place.
Tom, her husband, is a veteran officer in the San Diego police department. They took us to one of our favorite restaurants...SAMMYS...for our choice of gourmet food items...including this low-cal dessert!
This little "8th Anniversary smooch" in the car on the way home was a perfect way to wrap up a great evening with two very nice neighbors!
When we closed escrow, we gave Tom and Angie this 'artistic design' from our new home which Angie had liked as a small token of our appreciation for all her help in getting us settled after the move.
We also enjoyed an excellent meal with them at a new restaurant (for us!) in Rancho Bernardo as part of our 'getting to know our new neighborhood tour!'
Rick & Paula Woolf visited us at the end of NOV 2007 to see our new house and to go with us to Las Vegas. Steve had run into a former shipmate..Mike Crone...of Rick's when we were moving into our new place. Mike had served together with Rick on the USS Platt and joined us at the Lighthouse restaurant (along with hs wife, Mary Jane).
After an excellent brunch, we took a pedicab to visit the Midway Museum and Seaport Village.
Rick & Mike were impressed by the size of the iron links in Midway's anchor chain.
The flight deck of the Midway....with downtown San Diego's skyline in the background....
...makes for a somewhat interesting photos.
Prior to going to Las Vegas, we took Rick & Paula to see Laguna Beach and visited some of the many art and craft stores there.
Lena was quite impressed with this particular shop which was selling WOODEN FLOWERS and we are now the proud owners of the wooden "bouquet" she is holding in her hands!

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2006/2007 #2