We began our tour at the historic U.S. Grant Hotel, on Broadway, in the heart of downtown. The hotel is currently owned by the Secuan Indians, and after a $56million renovation, have restored it to probably better than the original. Crystal chandeliers sparkle, yet the furnishings are sleek and modern. The hotel was built from 1905-1910, by the son of President Ulysses S. Grant, as a tribute to his father. Other historical buildings that we toured in the Gaslamp area included The Keating Hotel, San Diego Chinese Historical Museum, Gaslamp Museum at the Davis-Horton House and the historic Brunswig Drug Company building, which now houses an architectural firm.
The city was divided into sections, each area having about 10 iconic buildings to view. Bankers Hill, Downtown, East Village and Barrio Logan are other areas of interest to see at another time. This is such a great way to explore the city, bit by bit, and learn something about the architects and early settlers that influenced San Diego.
After several hours of walking and visiting these historic buildings, we decided to stop for lunch on Broadway at Biga, a restaurant that looked interesting, yet none of us knew anything about. I can tell you, they have fantastic pizza. We ordered two pizzas for the four of us, one burrata, and the other mushroom, and they were delicious. Biga means "dough starter" in Italian. According to our waiter, the dough starter was brought over from northern Italy by the owner, when he opened the restaurant. The dough is fantastic, and cooked over a wood burning pizza oven, it is light and chewy and crispy. The restaurant also makes homemade bread, again cooked over the wood burning fire. I couldn't resist a loaf of date and bacon bread, which I will try for breakfast tomorrow. All in all, it was a
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