If you ever go to San Diego, go to the Bali Hai for dinner. Call and make a reservation for a table by the windows at a time you know will be after dark. Beautiful view. They also are a great value. Julie and I both had drinks, crab cakes, dinners that included soup and salad, a dessert and coffee. I was shocked when I got the bill (in a good way for once). It was the cheapest meal we have had since we left Bakersfield. The food was top-notch, and the service was great too! It was so good, we are honestly considering eating every meal there for the rest of the trip. This place is seriously amazing. It would be worth an expensive dinner for the view alone. Yet the food is also great and totally underpriced for what we have experienced in the city so far. I highly recommend this place.

Also, Julie looked really beautiful tonight, but she always does.

check it out at BaliHairestaurant.com (don't know why blogger won't let me hyperlink right now)

Soccer in America

The big news today is that David Beckham will be coming to MLS and playing for the LA galaxy for a reported $250 million. I don't know how the league can afford it, and I think that it makes some crazy assumptions about how much of the contract will be covered in endorsement money. But I leave all the talk about this to the sports stations; Sportscenter anchors love talking about this just so they can bring up Victoria and show scantily clad pictures of her.
In terms of the international game tapping into the American market, I think there is a much more interesting story. With the news that Clint Dempsey has been approved for a work visa in the UK, EPL team Fulham now has 3 current or former US national team players in their team (I think Brian Mcbride technically retired from the national team after the World Cup). Word has also been out for weeks that Fulham are also pursuing a transfer for US player Oguchi Onyewu who is currently playing in Belgium. The question is, with so much quality talent out there, why so much interest in US talent from Fulham. A likely reason is that they are finding US talent highly undervalued internationally. What they get out of McBride is a steal for what they pay him. Maybe they just are finding that they can get good US players for cheaper than their international equivalents. Then again, the $4 million they paid for the unproven Dempsey certainly seems like more of a gamble than a frugal tactical move. I think its possible that they are hoping to tap into a growing US market for top-tier soccer. There are a handful of cable channels that now regularly broadcast premier league games in the US, and some of the ratings numbers indicate that more people in the US want to watch the EPL than the MLS. Can you blame them? It is possible that Fulham could parlay some of these US national players into a loyal fan following in America. Time will only tell.

Mobile Blogger

Julie and I are visiting San Diego for our anniversary. We just arrived at our hotel and my mobile wireless internet works great. My plan is to blog every night, but I don't know if I will make it. We didn't really do anything today except drive. We packed and left this morning, stopped at the store for a few last minute travel items, and spent some serious time in traffic. We also ate at "Il Fornaio" in Del Mar. I know that this is a chain, so its not like I'm reviewing a local place. The food was good and the view of the sea was beautiful. We had a corner table upstairs in the glass-walled, covered patio. There was a great panoramic view of the sea and coastline. I hate places like Del Mar, though. Everyone is so pretentious. Crazy! Its like a different planet these people live on.