1. Fern canyon!!! The best hike ever. Alyssa says it is her spirit animal, her soul sister and her happy place all in one. This place was amazing! Go there immediately. It is worth the 8 mile drive in potholed gravel roads and small stream crossings. I am pretty sure that is not allowed in our rental contract.
2. Stout Grove was incredible. DP wants to build an ewok village there and live in it forever.
3. Finding the waterfall we were searching for in
4. Zola’s Pizzeria in Harbor Oregon. yum!! Thanks for the grub!
5. Gold Beach for it’s sunsets, cheap hotels and great locals.
1. waking up just as the sun was rising over the mountain behind us on our own private beach (well, ok, California’s beach, but we picked up some extra trash from the beach to pay our toll…) making a hot cup of coffee and finding the point on the beach where the very first ray of sun hit. Standing in the sun and watching the morning creep in along the surf and the beach.
2. Driving Ave of the Giants and hiking Founders Grove. The redwoods are so incredible. Alyssa’s first time walking through a tree trunk!
3. Little co op in Arcata was fabulous. Like the wedge with beer!
4. While sitting for a little free WiFi and a quick bite at Lost Coast Brewery in Eureka, CA, Alyssa looked up and saw a cop creeping by the front window in front of us with his gun drawn…soon he was running through the restaurant fast on the heals of some criminal…so yes, police gun drawn makes the top 5…it’s a first!
5. Camping down on the beach at Clam Beach which DP realized he had camped 8 years before!
1. Picnic lunch break at Stillwater area where we climbed along the Oceanside cliffs, boulder hopping and dodging the spray of the waves hitting the rocks.
2. Walking through the sleepy town of Mendocino, enjoying the views and having a cold drink at the local watering hole.
3. Stopping for pizza in fort Bragg and a meeting Greg and Diane who clued us in on a great spot to park our van for the night.
4. Being waved off the road by a car full of young, metalhead French Canadians because the thought they saw our Bob Marley van in hollywood and they wanted to meet us and say hello (a little later at the beach they also asked us if we had any gonja).
5.finding the most amazing beach to park our van for the night and watch the sun set. Then later sitting on top of the van and watching the moon rise.
Brunch at Nopa. This brunch transformed my world. Oven basted eggs with roasted tomatoes and grilled brioche! Get Out! butter basted eggs chickpea fritters. Shut up! Smoked trout on a homemade bagel and creamy heavenly goodness. Oh Jeez. Corned Beef Hash! SMASH! I could have flipped the table over and stabbed myself right there.
Driving up the steepest hill I’ve ever driven on, then driving down Lombard street, the curviest street in the country.
Seeing Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge. Alyssa’s first time. It’s like we’re in the MOVIES!
The mushroom ravioli with quail egg in a brown butter sauce we had at dinner.
Going home early and getting into bed early. It’s been a really long week of overindulgence and gluttony and I’m really really looking forward to a long night of sleep and eating more healthy for a couple of days. My body has about hit it’s limit.
Bottom 1 of the day (hopefully we don’t have too many days with these): Saying goodbye to David…Back to NYC and the real world. It was like losing an arm…see you soon I am sure. 🙂
Bottom 2 of the day: Parking in San Francisco. I hope I never have to do this again. We drove circles around the block for thirty minutes before finding a spot.
1. Brunch at Mission Beach Cafe- seriously, we have no freakin clue about brunch in Mpls. This was some serious voodoo shit they pulled with breakfast items. The pancake… Oh the pancake!!! They definitely churned that one out. And the benny’s were ootw. Hehe…that means outta this world. I probably did not make that up but it feels like I did.
2. The SF cable cars and buses. Seriously! It feels like we are in the movies!! Stay classy SF. And bars in alleys that look like Italy. 🙂
3. Visiting Lucas and Ryan at their Hipstamatic compound. Great company and great people. Lotta love and brains there. Thanks for the tour and t shirts!!!
4. Oysters at the marketplace. So great!!!! Oh, and the Peruvian food at El Mar. Seriously. Ceviche never tasted so good. Com’on SF, give us a break.
5. Matt Englund. Thanks for being our tour guide and casual entertainer today. Your laugh is a blast from the past and the present all at the same time. Love!!!
Delicious breakfast from our hotel this morning ( that never happens!). A decent spattering of wine tasting around the valley. Awesome snack at the culinary institute. Wine and cheese picnic, and some bocce and pool time back at the hotel.
There often comes a time when a person says to themselves, “Did that just happen?”. This day was filled with these moments, and I think the day warrants a little more detail than the previous couple posts.
The day started out pretty unassuming. We checked out of our vomit-smelling room in Santa Cruz, and went on search for breakfast. We ended up finding a goldmine when we walked into a cafe bakery called Buttery. We ordered a croissant sandwich and a Croque Monsieur and picked up some bakery items for Mark and David who we were on our way to pick up from the San Francisco Airport.
The airport pickup when fairly smoothly. Our next stop on the map was Yountville, CA, Just a few miles north of Napa in wine country. About ten miles out the general concensus was that we were hungry and wanted a taco, so we pulled off the highway and found immediately found a taco truck. We also found that David’s wallet had gone missing sometime between the time he ordered a bloody mary on the plane and getting in our car. After a lot of phone calls, and a drive back to the airport, the wallet still hasn’t turned up. So now david is our child for a few days while we wait for his roommate to next day air his passport from New York.
After the a little while of wallet hunting, we headed north towards Napa. We decided it would be a good idea to calm our nerves with a drink, so we pulled off the highway again and found a small dive bar named “Town House” for a cold one. This is where we met Marco. Marco greeted us with a flamboyand “Hey boys” and shortly after serving our drinks brought over four shots of “hot Sex” on the house. Lady Gaga was plugged into the jukebox and then another man at the bar bought us a round of drinks. It was about this time that I realized that we were at a gay bar and they were pretty excited to see new customers that were both A) not locals and B) younger than 50. I believe we actually paid for about one drink each, but got four or five, as well as a bowl of microwave popcorn. Walking out of this place definatley left us with “did that just happen?”
We arrived in Yountville and found the Napa Valley Lodge where we’re staying. I won’t go into detail on this, just believe me when I say it’s beautiful.
We went for a walk down the street, ate some oysters, and strolled past the French Laundry Gardens. On the way back, we decided to pick up a bottle of wine to take back to the hotel drink while playing a game of Bocce ball. What we got when we walked in was far from what we expected. The store owners and workers and a couple of locals were circled around the desk doing a wine-tasting with themselves. Our new friends started chatting it up with us, and placed a glass and six bottles of wine in front of us and offered us to help ourselves. They had clearly started their wine tasting quite some time ago. We made some friends and got some good tips about where to go tomorrow, but the best thing that came out of this stop can be seen in the video below.
We got a tip that the chefs at the French Laundry really appreciate it when a customer brings in a pack of cold beer for them, so Alyssa and I stopped in at a market on the walk home and got five 750ml bottles of really good beer. The unfortunate part of this story was that on the walk home, both handles of the paper bag they were nestled in broke off in my hand, and four of the bottles came crashing down on the sidewalk in front of a fine dining restaurant. Perhaps one of the saddest sights I’ve ever seen.
After some low-key time at our hotel resting up and playing a couple games of Bocce Ball, we suited up on our jackets and ties and walked back down the the
French Laundry for a meal like no other meal. This is a seriously classy joint, and although each plate is a tiny, perfectly plated piece of art, after nine or ten of them and a few glasses of wine, we were all in food coma.
1. Coffee and quiche in Carmel by the Sea.
2. Lunch at Nepenthe, up on the cliffs of Big Sur.
3. Racing the surf to get to Hidden Beach and losing=wet feet.
4. Hiking the cliffs at Pfeiffer State Park.
5. Listening to our playlists driving the cliffs of Big Sur-so beautiful!!!
