A Wonderful Celebration

On one of our hikes- just us and the Pacific

We just returned from 3 glorious days at The Lodge at Torrey Pines to celebrate our 20th anniversary. This amazing craftsman style resort sits on the cliff in La Jolla overlooking a gorgeous golf course and the Pacific Ocean. We wanted a place to just relax and enjoy each other...and I can't think of a better place than this. The Lodge is modeled after The Gamble House in Pasadena, and is richly furnished in dark woods, tiffany lamps, and soothing colors such as sage and maize. We arrived on Wednesday (our anniversary) and at check in were told that they were able to "upgrade our room" (OK, go right ahead). So, we ended up with a 600 sq ft. deluxe room, with a large fireplace and patio with chaise lounges, in full view of the golf course and ocean (it's a bit overcast in the photo below). Nice!

The Views from our patio

That night, we celebrated our anniversary dinner at George's at the Cove, the place of our engagement. What a gorgeous meal. Their menu is extremely innovative -pure California cuisine. Here's our dessert - a warm pineapple upside down cake with basil ice cream - and happy anniversary written on white chocolate. Absolutely exquisite!

What better way to say Happy Anniversary than with dessert?

So as you can see these two foodies were quite thrilled. We also enjoyed two other fabulous dinners - one for Rich's birthday (day after our anniversary) at Trattoria Acqua, and Cafe Japengo for sushi on the last night. Not to mention a trip to Whole Foods for cheese, olives and other snacks. Not to mention room service breakfast every day at 8:00 a.m. (included in our hotel package). We were quite well fed. Food is always such a large part of our vacations!

The best part of the vacation was just enjoying the time together. We relished the time of leisure reading in front of the fireplace and on the patio, taking long, scenic hikes in Torrey Pines Reserve (walking distance from the Lodge), and even sneaking in a nap or two. Rich led us through a study of passages in Scripture that pertain to marriage and God's commands to husbands and wives, which allowed us to marvel in the way God designed marriage and how He blesses it richly. We reflected on our years together and how grateful we are to God allowing us to share life and serve Him together.

We finished our glorious weekend Saturday with a trip to the famous Apple Pan Restaurant in L.A.(which will have to be another blog) and a walk around The Grove. Today, it is back to reality (and a big dose as I am watching Suzanne's boys for the week). Rich is back at work, and I am under piles of laundry. But, Torrey Pines is still on my mind.