We’re in San Diego, staying at the Holiday Inn Express, across from the landmark El Cortez. It’s apparent from the look of the hotel that it used to be something else, something noteworthy; little did we know that it used to be the Travolator Motor Hotel, linked to the El Cortez by the world’s first moving sidewalk. The sidewalk is gone, as is the first exterior glass elevator in the U.S. across the street at the El Cortez, but we can still enjoy the strange exterior elevator that takes us from street level to the lobby of our hotel, advertised as “Park & Glide.”

We arrived yesterday on the Amtrak Surfliner, about two and a half hours from Union Station. After checking in, we walked through most of the ships that make up the Maritime Museum, including the Star of India, a Soviet sub, and a 1970s replica of a man-o-war that seems best known for its role in Master and Commander.

We had very nice dinner at Bencotto in Little Italy, followed by some tasty gelato, and today, we plan on wandering around the Gaslamp before catching a Padres game.