It's nice to travel in your own back yard. My oldest daughter Gina flew in from New York to attend a public health conference in San Diego last weekend, so I drove down to meet her. A few months ago upon making a wrong turn on a previous visit to San Diego, I had discovered Little Italy, much as the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus had discovered America. I vowed to return one day, and last Saturday was that day. We parked at Horton Plaza and stopped at the U.S. Grant Hotel to ask for directions to Little Italy, which we knew was within a mile or so.
After a pleasant stroll, during which we passed the law office where my nephew Brooks is now a rising star, we found the weekly farmer's market on the outskirts of Little Italy. A conga combo played on one corner and a guitarist on another. We found a couple of interesting artists there. One puts photos on tile, and there were lots of really cool single and multiple tile pictures, including some great shots of Venice's Grand Canal. Another photographer, Michael James Slattery, used some technique combining different pictures taken over the course of a day to get some great colors on his prints on canvas. One in particular that caught my eye was a photo of Encinitas, by the city sign and La Paloma Theater a short distance near my sister's house. When Gina was growing up, we spent a lot of time visiting my sister's family in that area, so it struck quite a nostalgic tone. 
This video includes that photo, and if you go to the artist's web site (referenced in the video), you can see one of Little Italy.
When Gina and my nephew Brooks, who is three weeks older than Gina, were between the ages of three and seven, the three of us would go into Round Table Pizza to order King Arthur's Supreme or Montague's All Meat Marvel while my mom, sister and wife
shopped for bargains at the Sears Surplus Store next door, joining us about the time the pizza came to the table. Grandma would only eat the crust, because she never liked cheese, and the kids somehow had the ability to pick up a piece of combination pizza upside down to eat it without having the toppings fall off. Those were happy, memorable times.
After a pleasant stroll, during which we passed the law office where my nephew Brooks is now a rising star, we found the weekly farmer's market on the outskirts of Little Italy. A conga combo played on one corner and a guitarist on another. We found a couple of interesting artists there. One puts photos on tile, and there were lots of really cool single and multiple tile pictures, including some great shots of Venice's Grand Canal. Another photographer, Michael James Slattery, used some technique combining different pictures taken over the course of a day to get some great colors on his prints on canvas. One in particular that caught my eye was a photo of Encinitas, by the city sign and La Paloma Theater a short distance near my sister's house. When Gina was growing up, we spent a lot of time visiting my sister's family in that area, so it struck quite a nostalgic tone. This video includes that photo, and if you go to the artist's web site (referenced in the video), you can see one of Little Italy.When Gina and my nephew Brooks, who is three weeks older than Gina, were between the ages of three and seven, the three of us would go into Round Table Pizza to order King Arthur's Supreme or Montague's All Meat Marvel while my mom, sister and wife
shopped for bargains at the Sears Surplus Store next door, joining us about the time the pizza came to the table. Grandma would only eat the crust, because she never liked cheese, and the kids somehow had the ability to pick up a piece of combination pizza upside down to eat it without having the toppings fall off. Those were happy, memorable times. Back to Little Italy, we ended up stopping for lunch at a trattoria called Mimmo's. We were about to sit down at one of the sidewalk tables when we realized they didn't have table service, so we went inside, making another great discovery.
The interior had paintings of scenes from Venice but also three-dimensional facades of buildings that were probably at about 25% scale.It reminded me a lot of the place I had lunch with Amy and Julie near the Spanish Steps in Rome, but this one had a theme of Venice, which was appropriate because the last time Gina and I ate Italian food was in Venice. The food at Mimmo's in San Diego, however, wasn't particularly good and was served on plastic plates with plastic cutlery. It was nonetheless a great place to drink some cheap wine and talk.
Trying to eat low carb, I ordered Eggplant Parmesan, expecting it to be served in a little caserole dish of some kind. It turned out to be served on top of a huge mound of spaghetti that dwarfed the eggplant and cheese for attention. To be blunt, I'm really not even sure it was eggplant, since it was sliced into smaller pieces and actually looked more like sliced zucchini. After ordering, I realized I should have gone with the special of the day, some kind of cheese stuffed pasta which was $1 less and included a salad. Nonetheless, I have to say that despite not eating many of the noodles, I was full when I finished the meal. Gina had lentil soup, served in a plastic bowl, and she said it was delicious.
San Diego's Little Italy isn't nearly as good as the real Italy, but it's a nice place to spark fond memories. It's also a nice place to spend some time before or after a San Diego based cruise. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, so I don't have photographic evidence to support my claim, but I hope you enjoyed the old family photos, which represent memories that came to mind of days gone by.
