San Diego Kick-off Meeting

A couple weeks ago, my work had our annual kick-off meeting for the year. Since we were newly acquired, we all headed down to sunny San Diego to our new head office. But, this wasn't going to be a whole week of boring meetings.....we actually had some fun planned!

Whale Watching

Despite living in California my entire life, I have never had the opportunity to go whale watching. Until now! Mid-week through our meetings, we took a half day and embarked on a little team-building whale watching tour. The weather couldn't have been better!

Once we were out to sea, we were scanning the coastline for tails and sprays. The first whales we saw were WAYYYYY out in the distance. As the boat was moving in to get closer, the captain spotted a single whale that was close to our boat. Because he was doing a bit more fluking, they decided to follow this whale for a while instead. There's just something super peaceful about watching these large animals in their natural habitat, out in the open ocean. It was quite the sight.

On the way back into harbor, we all noticed that the seagulls and pelicans were following us. Apparently, my coworker was holding out chips for them. It was pretty neat to see the pelicans fly so effortlessly next to the boat.

And finally, before we got back to the dock, the captain stopped by a fishery, where a bunch of seals were lounging on the decks. We obviously weren't the first humans they ever saw.....not one of them moved when we got close. They just let us take their picture while they continued their nap.

After the boat ride, we all made our way to old town for some authentic Mexican food. Old town is really neat. It's like stepping back in time. There are shops and restaurants in little village areas and it goes on for several blocks. Very, very cute. 

Stone Brewery


The last night before everyone started to head home, we got a chance to visit the Stone Brewery - home of Arrogant Bastard Ale. We got the speedy version of the tour since we only had 30 mins before our dinner reservations. But we still made time for the tasting at the end! My favorite was the Smoked Porter......very tasty! The food was good and the company was fun!