A Day With My Teens

The first “Day W/ Jay” was waaaay back in 2002 and looked like this:

“A Day w/ Jay” Part II wasn’t until 2006 and looked like this:

“A Day w/ Jay” Version 3.0 was Dec. 29th, 2008 and will more than likely become a yearly tradition.  Ministering less than a two hour drive from where I grew up, I have just really wanted to show off America’s Finest City to my young people.  “A Day w/ Jay” is a full day of my favorite things to do in San Diego.  In previous years, we used it as a prelude to attending an evening Youth Rally held down there.  This time there was no rally, so it was all about “family time”.

Our first stop was for lunch at “Pat and Oscar’s“, a San Diego institution.  Known mostly for their incredible breadsticks, they also have very good pizza, nice salads and tasty ribs (not BBQ, but tender and enjoyable for being oven baked).  Plus, you can go to McDonald’s, In-N-Out or Pizza Hut anywhere.  When in Rome… (S.J., feel free to finish the sentence!)

Next stop was the sea cliffs of Pt. Loma, a place I visited regularly as a kid and now take my own kids at least once a year.  Usually the tide pools are the big attraction, but we happened to be there at high tide.  This is still a great place to explore, take pictures, skip rocks and attempt to move boulders (ask Robby about that).  Did I mention it’s a great place to take pictures?  We collectively took 326,707 pics there (give or take), with the majority being jumping pictures.

The "Day w/ Jay 3.0" Crew! This is our famous "everyone look different directions" pose.

Robby really wanted to throw this "boulder" into the ocean. So, of course, he asks the skinniest guy there to help him (sorry, Marquis). Needless to say, they hardly moved it.

"The Chloe" working her awesome camera. I saw her out there just enjoying the scenery and just knew a picture of her taking a picture would be cool. I was right.

One of our first "everyone jump" pictures. And, yes, Raphael's peek-a-boo mid-section has been air brushed to keep the nightmares away!

From there, we went up the hill to Cabrillo National Monument and enjoyed the view from the original Point Loma Lighthouse.  I also took them on a not-very-well-known jaunt to a WWII look out bunker.  We only took 23,161 pictures there and decided it wasn’t the safest spot to do a jumping one.

At the WWII Bunker: Marquis peering out at the mighty Pacific ocean, "Okay, where are those Japanese?" Elizabeth pipes in, "Helloooo, we have a whole bunch of Japanese Exchange Students at our church!"

Next stop was Ultra Zone, a multi-level laser tag arena which should also boast of their black lit restrooms.  Ever used a black lit restroom?  You should give it a try sometime, it is quite exciting.  Anyway, I was able to lead my team to victory twice (I proclaimed myself “General Jay”).  It’s always fun pretending to be a Navy SEAL.

Then it was off to beautiful Coronado Island!  First stop was Albertson’s for drinks and potty time in normal light (potty under black light is more exciting).  We drove over to the Pacific side of the island and easily found a fire pit where Raphael got to let his pyromaniac urges out.  It was just after sunset and the beach was beautiful–cool and crisp with a slight breeze.  There was one other bonfire going and a few beach strollers here and there.  It really felt like we had the beach all to ourselves (with the exception of a few military aircraft flying overhead).  We hung out, roasted marshmallows and left over pizza (can you get any better than wood-fired pizza?), took about 197,452 pictures (including just over 20,000 jumping ones), munched on chips, sang a whole bunch and gave testimonies.  I gave a message that I really sensed the Lord was working through.  I only wish more of my teens were there to hear it.  There have been very few times in my ministry when I really, really missed key teens who didn’t come to an activity… that was going well.  This was one of those times.  Not that the kids that were there weren’t a blessing, because they were!  This was just truly a very special time and I thought often, “Man, I really wish so-and-so was here.”  That’s how it goes sometimes, especially during the holidays.

Raphael really up'd the man factor with his fire pit skills. Tim claimed to be the expert, but we wouldn't let him within 30 yards of the fire!

And yet another jumping pic! This time no air brushing was necessary, but nightmares may still be possible if you focus on Raphael for too long.

 At about 7:30 pm, we headed over to the “Three-In-One”, a fast food joint featuring KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut when the BBQthDirector worked there as a teen.  It has since lost Pizza Hut, but gained a stressed out manager who scolded a couple of my teens for spinning in their “spinny” chairs.  I was sure to laugh and point at them when they got busted.  Our final destination was just across the street.  As we were now on the harbor side of the island, I just had to show them the incredible view of the downtown San Diego skyline.  A few camera batteries had died so I think we only took about a thousand pictures.  The jumping pictures got old so we tried to take a running one.  It was fun doing it, but it was way too dark to get a good pic.

One of the more precious memories of the night was our impromptu Cold Stone Pot-Luck!  No plans were made for this so many of the teens were broke.  A few were able to get a “Like It!”, but some could only afford a “Pretty Fond of It!”, but they didn’t offer that size at this swanky location.  Our dear Chloe had a moment of brilliance.  She got the less fortunate kids to pitch in what they could and headed for the shop.  She came back with two quarts (or maybe they were pints?), and a bunch of little cups and spoons.  It was so awesome!  We gathered by this nice illuminated fountain and had a little Cold Stone party.  It’s little things like this that show just what a family my youth group is like.  Maybe it’s lost on you, but the BBQthDirector thinks all this cheesy happiness is cool.  I’m just crazy about these kids!  *Wipes a little tear from eye… please don’t tell anyone!*

This picture is an instant fave and the moment is an instant classic!

There are times when you know an activity was a success.  I have just enough of an ego to be impressed with the ounce of creativity I put into it.  But this one was too easy.  Sure, I had America’s Finest City as our “play ground” but that wasn’t the main ingredient.  I could’ve taken these kids to Santa Ana and played “Duck, Duck, Goose” at a public park and they would’ve found a way to make it awesome.

Shouldn’t this post be entitled “A Day w/ Jay” since that was the name of the activity?  Yeah, I guess that would make more sense on the surface.  But it turned out to be a day that was such a blessing to me personally.  I love to sing and laugh, and we did both repeatedly (well, in between taking pictures).  I’ve already put it on the calendar for next year.

Man, I really hope so-and-so will be there!

Boo-Yah!

My optimism has proven to be… prophetical!  I’m not even backing away from predicting that my 2006, 2007 and 2008 AFC West Champion San Diego Super Chargers would ride the wave of momentum right into the Super Bowl!  Their offense looks like the explosive scoring machine of old, special teams is among the best in the league and I think they have just enough defense to make it happen.  And, by the way haters, L.T. has still got it.  He’s still fast and powerful and looks to have his jukes back.  The very best ALL-AROUND running back to ever play the game!  Now with all these weapons maturing around him at the right time (Sproles, V.Jackson, Rivers, etc.), look out!

Boo-Yah!  The Bolt is back!

The Power of Positive Thinking

Sunday, Dec. 28th, 2:00-ish pm:  Okay, everyone, happy, positive thoughts for the Chargers, hateful, negative thoughts for the Broncos.  Here’s the BBQthDirector’s sports prophecy of the day: Chargers win by at least two touchdowns!

If I believed in karma, the following would be more than precious memories…

The BBQthDirector made a valiant attempt to find a picture of any Broncos praying, but was, not surprisingly, unsuccessful.  How could a decent, moral person pull for a team like that?  Just look at that touching last picture!  The Chargers are a team parents with any semblence of a values system should have their kids follow from day one!

BBQ Review: Texas Chain Massacre!

The BBQ Family is not into the big national chains. Many are awful, the majority are serviceable at best, and just a handful are actually good. Still, if something looks promising, we’ll give it a try. Dickey’s Barbecue Pit is a chain that hails from the great state of Texas. You would think that fact alone would give them some type of “grill cred”.  Oh, contraire…

Let’s start with the three meat combo with slaw and beans (remember, these are the BBQthDirector’s standard sides).  I take one look at the meat and know immediately that we have become victims of false advertising.  This was no BBQ place!  Smoked meats always have a pink “smoke ring” around the outside, and there was no hint of this on the pork ribs, beef brisket or sausage.  They screamed oven baked!  The ribs were pretty tasty (though completely lacking any smoke flavor) and were actually pleasantly tender.  The sausage was your standard commercial grade stuff, not awful, but lacking any distinctive characteristics.  The brisket was gross!  Dry doesn’t begin to describe it.  Chalky is more like it.  The taste was reminiscent of liver marinated in Los Angeles Harbor water.  The slaw was just average, no different than anything you can buy at your grocery store.  The beans were… gross!  The BBQthDirector’s Wife said it tasted like someone dropped a cigarette in the beans.  I say it was a hobo who first swirled his cancer stick in L.A. Harbor then dropped it in the beans!  The best thing on the plate was the roll.  It tasted of homemade yeasty goodness.  Not bad at all.

Also on our table was a pulled pork sandwich, that was quite moist, but also quite flavorless.  The BBQ sauce was served warm and was fine.  A little thin and watery, but it definitely helped all the meats.  The Macaroni and Cheese was a bit better than the stuff out of the box but didn’t taste like much.  We got a couple chicken nugget kids’ meals with waffle fries (standard out-of-the-freezer fare).  A huge plus was the free soft serve ice cream that you just help yourself to (so, of course, we helped ourselves more than once).  No toppings, but you do have your choice of a cone or styrofoam cup (which I’m sure would be remarkably similar in texture to the brisket)!

Thankfully, the BBQ Family got a great deal from Restaurant.com.  Check it out some time for some great deals.  We bought a $25 gift certificate for $10.  The catch was the $35 minimum purchase, which was still a great deal for us.  We ended up paying just under $20 for our meal.  We can hardly go to a fast food place for that much.  I would definitely choose Dickey’s over McDonald’s, but not for full price.

If you like fake “bbq” like Tony Roma’s or Chili’s, you’ll be fine here.  I would only return with a good discount like I had, but I wouldn’t go out of my way.

The BarBeQuethMinistry! Rib Rating (1 bone = awful, 5 bones = legendary):

Ambience/Service: 4 bones

Sides: 1.5 bones

Sauce: 3.5 bones

Meat: 1.5 bones

Overall: 2.75 bones

BBQ Review: North Hollywood Gem!

The best places can be the hardest to find, and Kansas City BBQ Company is one BBQ joint worth searching for!  The BBQ Family being on vacation, we just had to make a BBQ run.  We were able find a place close to our day-trip destination of Griffith Park (more on our adventures later).  What a way to close out a great day (which started with a stop at Leonidas in Pasadena)!  Here’s the play-by-play:

First and foremost, let me introduce you to Mr. Half Rack of Baby Back Pork Ribs with Cole Slaw and Beans.  The ribs were pretty close to perfectly tender with true hickory goodness in every lovin’ bite!  The distinctive feature of these ribs is the dry rub of seasonings that form a tasty crust around the outside.  These might be the best ribs I’ve ever had.  More research must be done, however, to confirm this!

In my opinion, slaw and beans are the quintessential BBQ sides.  The beans had smokey bits of meat in them (probably brisket) and were very good.  The slaw was just average at best.  I prefer a creamier slaw.  This version had kind of a strange fruitiness to it, maybe pineapple.  I won’t be ordering it again.

Also adorning our table was the “Burnt Ends Sandwich”, a delicacy not widely understood outside of Kansas City.  As unappetizing as this may sound, the most flavorful pieces of a properly smoked beef brisket are the… burnt ends!  These are chopped up, mixed with sauce and served up on a roll.  To this point in my life, I could only read about (and dream about) such BBQ lore.  Now, thanks to K.C. BBQ Company, it has become a reality *blots sentimental tears from eyes*.  This sandwich was a treat, the BBQthDirector’s Wife’s favorite part of the meal.

We also had a hot link sandwich which, while pleasantly spicy, was nothing really to write home about.  The fries were your standard steak fries, made a little more pleasant with a Lawry’s-style seasoning salt.  The BBQ sauce was very good, well balanced between sweet and tangy, and conveniently available right on the tables.  We found the service to be very friendly and helpful.

The BBQthDirector heartily recommends this place.  I’ll definitely have to update my Top 5 list of California BBQ joints!

The BarBeQuethMinistry! Rib Rating (1 bone = awful, 5 bones = legendary):

Ambience/Service: 4 bones

Sides: 3 bones

Sauce: 4 bones

Meat: 4.5 bones

Overall: 4 bones