SAN DIEGO — I am a pretty hard-working television feature reporter, but every once in a while I'm up for sitting down on the job. A viewer recently told me to check out the best view of San Diego from a bathroom, and so, I traveled to the Balboa Park Golf Course to take a swing at the story.
One hundred years after the City of San Diego opened the course, I was suddenly standing (then sitting) in the small room with a big view.
"Have you ever seen a better view from a bathroom before? I mean look at that. Even if you suck at golf, going before you go is the perfect moment. " said golf starter Anthony Tavernier.
I approach an unnamed man who works in the golf shop and ask: "Is this the bathroom that keeps the regulars, regular?"
"I get to see it often," says the mystery man with a guarded laugh.
I ask him, "Are you going there right now?"
He responds, "I am."
I follow the man until the situation gets completely awkward and he turns to me and says, "Okay, awkward enough."
Twenty-five years of reporting and I can tell you first-hand, sometimes a story takes you places that you don't want to go.
I almost feel bad for Tim Graham. He is the nicest guy you'll ever meet. He also works for the City of San Diego as a public information officer. I tell him, "Anything you say. The mayor is going to hear. "
Graham responds, "That is correct."
Graham's whole career could get flushed down the toilet if he doesn't "handle" this story just right. He tells me, "Well, there are a lot of really nice views here at Balboa Park Golf Course, on the tee, in the restaurant and in the clubhouse. "
"I didn't really think about the bathroom so much but after you called, yeah, it does really have a nice view in there."
Just doing my job here.
Remember, a viewer contacted me and demanded a Zevely Zone investigation. But I can understand the city's hesitation, there are millions of tourism dollars at stake right?
So, I circle back to Tavernier, the golf starter, who tells me not to worry.
"I'll have a tourist drive up and say, 'my God the view from your bathroom is incredible' and you just giggle and say, 'for a public golf course you couldn't do any better.'"
Okay, time to talk to a tourist myself, so I wait for Keith Wilson to exit the bathroom. Keith is a first-timer to the bathroom and tells me he has never seen sailboats on the sea in Sacramento. I tell him, "We just wanted to make sure you washed your hands."
I then ask him, "Did you enjoy the view?" He said, "I did wash my hands and that is a really nice view."
OK, more digging.
After all, I've got to make it look like I worked today right? I meet Chris Tobey, the owner of Tobey's 19th Hole Cafe.
He tells me he visits the bathroom often.
"Oh, yes, everyday, about every day," he says with a smirk.
Tobey tells me patrons can get the same view from his cafe deck while enjoying delicious food - and all at the third oldest restaurant in San Diego.
I'm still clearly causing trouble when I remind him that means people have been doing their business next to his business for a long time.
"Since 1934. On July Fourth we'll have our 85th anniversary," Tobey said.
The only problem I hear with the bathroom is people often stay in there for 40 minutes at a time.
Can you blame them? The view is incredible.
The bathroom is a hole-in-one.