DEBRIS.COMgood for a laugh, or possibly an aneurysm

Six months ago I joined a group of friends for a social weekend in Cincinnati. We’ve all moved on to new homes since the time we lived in San Francisco — now, we’re spread out across the country. In Cincinnati we vowed to meet twice each year in an attempt to keep in touch, so we don’t grow old and fat and full of regret at having lost contact with each other. (To be clear, the twice-annual party plan only combats the “regret” part of the progression I just described. The “old and fat” part is pretty much inevitable.)

This time we met in San Diego, which was an excellent choice. Although I was there last Fall, I’d forgotten, or maybe not even noticed what a stunning city it is. We stayed in the Pacific Beach area at a dumpy motel about a stone’s throw from the beach. This motel, the Diamond Head Inn, was ideal for our reunion for many reasons:

• the rooms were relatively inexpensive
• the carpets and upholstery were already stained, limiting the amount of damage the management could possibly blame us for
• the balcony was large enough for everyone to sit outside and stare wistfully at the sun setting over the ocean, and yet not high enough in the air to be fatal should anyone tip over the rail in a desperate grab for a dropped shoe, tortilla chip, bottle, etc.
• the housekeeping staff was patient and forgiving
• many taverns and restaurants were within walking distance, providing necessary chemical sustenance to support our visual apparatus, which was overloaded with several varieties of natural beauty (in addition to the beauties that simply can not have been natural)
• our rooms had refrigerators, which were crucial for chilling beer and preserving leftover takeout food (although we found that most leftovers fared well enough on the balcony, the counter, the couch, and select areas of the floor (i.e. anywhere they didn’t get stepped on before being greedily consumed the next day))

Weekends like this can be pricey, if you factor in the travel, lodging, meals, obligatory CD shopping, tattoos, replacement clothing, and subsequent therapy. And yet this is exactly the sort of thing I want to spend my money on. What’s better than catching up with friends, making new times while reminiscing about old times? I hope we do this every six months forever.

If you go to the Diamond Head Inn, make sure to request one of the two rooms with ocean views.