On the Dock of the Bay: Sausalito

I haven't told you about my trip to Sausalito earlier in the month. We were actually in San Francisco for the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in Golden Gate Park. I'm not quite ready to talk about all the shenanigans surrounding the concert. Quite honestly, I'm trying to block it all out, so that story will just have to wait. On our way home, though, we drove through Sausalito and had breakfast.

I've decided if I strike it rich I will be moving to Sausalito. That is, I will be buying a Monet and then moving to Sausalito. I don't even know if I can articulate why I love Sausalito so much, especially after only having driven through it and eating breakfast. I can say this: Sausalito is ridiculously beautiful. Sitting on the bay, the city offers views of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, city of San Francisco, and Golden Gate Bridge. Every day I'd be staring at scenery people come from all across the world to see. And it has such a quaint, small town feel.

And it has this cool breakfast place.

Where we sat at the counter and watched the cook kick-ass at breakfast making. I literally wanted to go behind the counter and hug him. 

Partly because he made me this banana pancake (and eggs, and bacon, and potatoes... oh and wheat toast, but who cares about toast when you have banana pancakes), but mostly because I wanted him to know he was appreciated. I am so, so weird. 

I'm going to have to go back to Sausalito to take some photos and really do it justice. For now, just know that it's got scenery, breakfast eateries, and a library.  That's right, I saw a sign for The Sausalito Public Library. You hear that, Job Creators? Create me a job there, please.   

Eating in Pismo

You all knew this was coming. My obsession with overeating while on vacation never ceases. 

SUNDAY

First stop: Mo's Smokehouse BBQ

Nick and I ordered the same thing, so this one's easy. Behold the Virginia BBQ shredded pork sandwich topped with fresh coleslaw and served with a side of BBQ beans and a special order of Kruk's homemade potato chips. Everything was ridiculously fantastic. Nick is a BBQ connoisseur and very critical of BBQ. If he says it's good, it's good. Mo's also has four different BBQ sauces: original, hot, philthy phils (Georgia style), and sweet carolinas (sweet southern style). My favorite was philthy phils and hot was a close second.      

Next up: Giuseppe's Deli, Pizza and Gelato (part of Giuseppe's Cucina Italiana)

Because we had a late lunch at Mo's, we were too full for dinner. At some point that evening, though, we wanted dessert. Gelato at Giuseppe's seemed like a good bet since we can both testify to its deliciousness and since nothing else was open Sunday night. So off we went and once we got there we saw there was no way we could ignore their pizza. We both had a slice of cheese pizza, and it was delightful. It was perfectly cheesy with great sauce and a thinish crust. For dessert, Nick ordered mint and chip gelato and I had mascarpone cheesecake. I highly recommend both. Their cheesecake is very rich, so if you can't hang with that then stick to the gelato or one of their other desserts like carrot cake.  

MONDAY
First stop: Penny's All American Cafe

Breakfast, dear breakfast, how I love you so. I could eat breakfast three times a day. Yes, I am one of those people who could eat bacon and eggs for dinner. What? When I was at Penny's I had me some biscuits and gravy with eggs over medium and bacon. I didn't even ask for my bacon crispy, but that's the way they serve it and that's exactly the way I like it. Nick ordered french toast and a side of biscuits and gravy. Please don't judge him for ordering a weird combination. He was very embarrassed, but I told him to go for it. And the orange juice was freshly squeezed or at least that's what my taste buds told me. It tasted like it was freshly squeezed and it looked like it too. Do you see that orange color? That is not enhanced, people.

Lunch: Splash Cafe

You've heard me talk about Splash Cafe before. That was about the murals, though, and this here is about the food. It's good. I had their thick (but not too thick) and creamy clam chowder in a bread bowl.  This is a sourdough bread bowl and it was toasted to perfection. Note: Nick says it was not sourdough, but I can't find anything to support his wild-ass claim. If someone can take a side, please do! Nick had just a cup of clam chowder, we each had a fish taco, and split an order of fried clam strips. The fish taco was ginormous, so I only had room for, like, 1 fried clam strip. They were OK. The fried clam strips, that is. The fish taco was very tasty. As you can see it has tomatoes, a green leafy lettuce of some sort, cheese, sauce, and delicious fried cod (I think).

Dessert: The Custom House

We had another late lunch, so we primarily wanted dessert for dinner. My hairstylist recommended The Custom House in Avila Beach and their dessert menu looked scrumptious, so it was easy to decide where to go. We split two desserts: chocolate lava cake and hot apple wrap. The chocolate lava cake was warm, moist, and chocolately. It had gooey fudge in the center and paired nicely with their vanilla ice cream. And then there was the hot apple wrap. This photo does not do it justice. The description on the menu states, "Homemade wraps of granny apples and cheesecake in a flour tortilla. Lightly deep fried, rolled in cinnamon and sugar..." It was so good; the cinnamon, the sugar, the apple mixture was like no other. You know how some apple pie can have a gelatinous filling? This wasn't like that at all. It was more like a chunky, blended mush - which doesn't sound appetizing, but I lack the proper culinary vocabulary to describe it - of apples and cheesecake. My point: not gelatinous.

TUESDAY
Lunch: Zorro's Cafe & Cantina

Our kayaking trip was scheduled so early in the morning we didn't have time for breakfast. So after we went kayaking we went back to the hotel, got fancied up, and then biked to Zorro's for lunch. Zorro's is in Shell Beach near Central Coast Kayaks and that is how we learned about it. I had a chicken tostada and ate every last bite of it. It's really hard for me to dislike Mexican food, so take my recommendation for what you will. You definitely can't go wrong with a heaping scoop of sour cream, though. Nick ordered a combo plate with a cheese enchilada, tamale, and chicken taco. I sampled his enchilada (good) and his beans and rice (also good). I'd be more than happy to visit Zorro's again if we ever go back to Pismo (almost certain).  

Afternoon delight (yes, I know what that really means, but this should be the real definition): Old West Cinnamon Rolls

Before frosting. After frosting. Fresh out the oven. Need I say more? 

Anniversary dinner: Cracked Crab

On the night of our anniversary Nick and I did something very romantic. We shared a Big Bucket for Two. Our bucket of romance came with opilio crab, dungeness crab, shrimp, sausage, red potatoes, and corn on the cob. It was good. Behold the before and after shots below. Anything dipped in melted butter is good, though. I even dipped my red potatoes in the butter. My arteries are still thanking me.

Eating at Cracked Crab brings back some memories. We ate here the night after we got married. There's a bit of a secret that goes along with this, so congratulations to you for reading this far into the post. You're in for a treat. 

The day after we got married I came down with a raging bladder infection. Like a peeing blood, feeling like you're going to give birth to your bladder type of bladder infection. Being a professional bladder infection getter, I knew I needed some antibiotics stat. Clearly I was far from my regular doctor, so I went to the ER. I ended up with some antibiotics and a prescription that numbs your nether regions and turns your pee bright orange. Fun!

Later that evening, Nick and I went to Cracked Crab with Nick's parents and some good friends. From the time I left the ER through dinner I was chugging water like a mad woman. At some point during dinner I excused myself to use the restroom only to find that someone had beat me to it. As I waited for the restroom door to open I tried to do a discreet pee-pee dance. I shifted my weight from one leg to the other, propped myself against a table, did an Irish jig... you know, the inconspicuous stuff. I did everything but contort my body into a pretzel to will my urge to pee all over the hallway in Cracked Crab away. You know if you've ever had a bladder infection that you MUST pee every two seconds and if you're pounding water then you're cutting that frequency in half. After eons had passed a lady exited the restroom. She was lucky because had she walked out a minute later she would have seen a 27-year old chick holding her inappropriates like a panic stricken kindergartner.

I sprinted into the bathroom and before I could pull down my jeans and unmentionables I started peeing! In my pants! At a restaurant! Damn that water and those numbing meds. I was able to get it together and empty the rest of my flourescent pee into the toilet, but I ended up with a nice, noticeable wet spot on the backside of my jeans. Luckily, LUCKILY, I was wearing a cardigan and you know it went right around my waist. I sat there for the rest of the dinner in my wet jeans with a sweater around my waist keeping a secret that I had just peed my pants.                    

Ocean Kayaking in Pismo

In addition to golfing in Pismo, we went kayaking in the ocean. This is something I've been wanting to do for a while now although I wasn't adamant that it had to be in the ocean. Kayaking any ol' place would have been fine with me. But getting to experience it in Pismo, the same place we got married, made it that much more special.

We signed up for a kayaking tour at Central Coast Kayaks because we knew we would have no clue what to do or where to go on our own. Our tour guide, John, was experienced and knowledgeable which added to my comfort level since I was incredibly nervous. When you're paddling in the ocean, you're thinking, holy shit... I'm in a kayak... in the ocean... far from the shore... water is dark... can't see the ground... holy shit... and so on. John asked us from the get-go what we were looking for from the tour. I said that I wanted the experience while Nick spouted off something about adventure. And let me tell you, we got both. 

After we launched our kayaks in Shell Beach we paddled out past the kelp where the ocean was a bit more quiet. This is where I liked it best because I am a scaredy-cat like that. As we traveled south, though, John led us on a tour of the caves spanning from Shell Beach to Pismo Beach. I realize when I say touring the caves I'm making it sound like it was some sort of leisurely stroll, like we're going wine tasting or something. But it's as laid back as you'd think paddling into a cave with the swell breaking and crashing against the rocks might be. I hit my head against the roof of a cave at one point (don't worry, mom, I had a helmet).  

One of my favorite parts of kayaking in the ocean was the marine life. We saw tons of birds including the California brown pelican, cormorant, and California gull. And while we didn't see any dolphins, we saw plenty of harbor seals. They were gorgeous and wonderful laying on their blubbery backs with their stomachs in the air. At one point, we looked over to see a harbor seal peek its head out of the water and look at us. John said that they are very curious and tend to follow people. Sure enough, this one did too. He stayed with us for a while peeking his head out of the water every now and again to see what we were up to. Cutest. Thing. Ever.  

Even though I was scared out of my mind the whole time, I had so much fun. Maybe next time I'll loosen up. I'm so glad we took the tour, too. We had a much more worthwhile experience with a tour guide than we would have had without one. And we got that adventure that Nick was looking for.

Golfing in Pismo

Golfing has always seemed very boring to me. It's a sport that appears to move at a snail's pace, and without motorized windmills and fake pagodas to maneuver your ball around, really, what's the point? But while we were in Pismo I wanted to plan things that Nick would enjoy. And for some reason, golf came to mind.

So I tried my hand at golf, real golf, not mini-golf, and I have to admit that I had a lot of fun. Driving the ball is the best part. You get to smack the golf ball, in a controlled fashion, as hard as you can down the fairway. I'm sure that's not the official strategy - to hit the ball as hard as you can - but that's essentially what I did and it was exhilarating.

I started out a little rocky. I think I had bad aim. Every time I would swing, I would miss my ball by a mile. Nick raised the tee up, though, and I quickly improved. Having never played before it was still slow going for me, so we ended up letting this nice couple go in front of us. Not only was it the courteous thing to do, but it also alleviated some of my nerves. I felt bad holding them up, so I would rush my swing and end up sucking even more than I really should have.

In the end, I wasn't good by any means, but I improved along the way and had a blast. It's definitely something I'll do again. Of course I'll have to find a cute golfing outfit first.

As an aside, did you know that women tee off in front of men? As in, the tee box for a man is several feet behind the woman's tee box? Because women "can't hit it as far as men." The inequality, I tell you.

The Poor Man's Hawaii

Pismo Beach, the poor man's Hawaii as I like to call it. That's where we just got back from. We couldn't justify going into debt for palm trees and pineapple glazed pig, so we opted to revisit the same place we got married. We needed a mini-vacay and, gosh darn it, we took one.

The weather was absolutely gorgeous the first day, but every day thereafter was foggy and overcast. Boo! It wasn't a cold fog, aka a San Francisco type fog as Nick puts it, and we weren't at work, so we can't complain. Despite the weather we did a lot of new and fun things like golfing (a first for me) and ocean kayaking (a first for both of us and on my life list). Of course, we also rode our beach cruisers, like we did in Monterey, and did our fair share of walking along the beautiful Pismo Beach.   

And what's a mini-vacation without eating delicious food? We grubbed on some pulled pork sandwiches at Mo's Smokehouse BBQ, delighted in some world famous clam chowder at Splash Cafe, dove into a bucket full of crab and shrimp at Cracked Crab, and polished off some rich desserts at Custom House in nearby Avila Beach.  

You know I have more details and photos to share, so consider this a teaser. I'll spill the beans next week. For now, have a great Friday and a glorious weekend!  

**UPDATE: Here's what we ate in Pismo and a little about what we did (here and here).** 

Lake, Don't Leave

We went camping at Webber Lake over the weekend with Nick's family. 

Our seven-year old niece, an up-and-coming singer/songwriter, performed an original piece around the campfire Friday night. It went something like this:

Stars, don't leave, don't leave, don't leave

Don't leave, don't leave, don't leave

Don't leave, don't leave, don't leave, stars

Stars, don't leave.

Clouds, don't leave, don't leave, don't leave

Don't leave, don't leave, don't leave

Don't leave, don't leave, don't leave, clouds

Clouds, don't leave...

On Sunday morning I told her she should make up a song about Webber Lake and perform it for everyone. She did and it went a little something like this:

Lake, don't leave, don't leave, don't leave

Don't leave, don't leave, don't leave

Because we like to eat fish

So don't take away our happi-ness

Lake, don't leave.

Waterfall, don't leave, don't leave, don't leave

Don't leave, don't leave, don't leave...

Someone, being a smart ass, then challenged her to write a song that incorporated everyone's name. As only a true competitor can, she rose to the challenge. She thought about her new lyrics for a second and sang:

Don't leave, don't leave, don't leave, Mer-yl

Don't leave, don't leave, don't leave, Mo-om

Don't leave, don't leave, don't leave, Dad

Don't leave, don't leave, don't leave, Jo-hn... 

Seven-year olds are so smart. 

On Saturday, Nick and I took the canoe out. We normally propel through the water in a motorized fishing boat, but since it was in use, the canoe seemed like the next best thing. Even with the wind pushing against us, it was fun. For an hour and a half, we explored areas of the lake we'd never seen.

Later that night my arms started burning. I was expecting as much. Whenever I pull out the big guns to, say, hold a baby for an extended period of time or vacuum the couch a little too vigorously, I get this painfully annoying burning in my arms. It's like when you're young and experience growing pains for the first time only there's more burning and debilitation involved here.  I lay there in the tent softly whimpering, "oooooohhhhhh," "noooooooooooo," "owwwwwwch," "whyyyyy???"

I resisted taking ibuprofen for a while. We're at the point in our cycle where pregnancy is a possibility (although unlikely, I'm sure), but we won't know for a few days. During this brief period of time, I generally like to refrain from using both over the counter and illicit street drugs. I finally caved, popping 400 mgs of ibuprofen to sooth my achy arms. I lay back down in the only semi-comfortable position I could manage, like a mummy with my arms folded across my chest, and whimpered some more until I fell asleep.  

All things considered, it was a good weekend. 

The Food We Ate

I tricked you guys, didn't I? You thought I wrote a whole vacation post without talking about food! That would be complete nonsense and very mean of me. After all, one of the best parts of vacation is the food, and I think it's an unwritten rule that you can throw all diets out the window when you travel. But enough blabber, here's what we ate:

After we biked down to Monterey on Saturday, we stumbled across Britannia Arms a couple blocks away from the Wharf. Britannia Arms is a pub and restaurant so it seemed only fitting for Nick to kick off our vacay with a frothy Guinness.      

Then he had a bowl of clam chowder. I'm kicking myself in the ass for not having a cup as well.  

Instead of clam chowder, I added a side of coleslaw to my fish and chips. Nick had the same, minus the coleslaw. 

The fish was scrumptious. It was fresh, and it melted in my mouth. I bathed mine in tarter sauce, but tarter sauce wasn't really necessary. I just love anything with mayonnaise, so that's my excuse.  

Later that evening, we went down to Cannery Row for dessert. It was never our intention to eat another hearty meal since we ate at Britannia Arms as 4:30PM. I'm not sure if the fish and chips counts as a late lunch or an early dinner, but I suppose it doesn't matter since we were apparently hungry enough (or gluttonous enough) to eat again. We found our way into Cannery Row Brewing Company and there was no turning back. 

Nick started with some sort of Sierra Nevada specialty draft. I had a glass of Pinot Grigio.    

The server talked Nick into trying a burger with brie and crispy onion ring strings. He also had garlic fries. I sampled the burger and had more than my fair share of the fries, so I can say with certainty that Nick's meal was delicious. Nick commented that he couldn't really taste the brie, though, but that the burger was juicy and "good."  

I was really cold (we were sitting next to an open door) and felt like soup would warm me up. Their soup choices didn't quite tickle my fancy at the time, so I opted for a heaping bowl of chili. I'm not quite sure that anyone would intentionally pair Pinot Grigio with chili, but I ordered the glass of wine well before I knew what I was going to eat. As it turns out, the chili wasn't anything to write home to mom about. I've definitely had better (Nick's chili, of course), but I still ate every last drop of it. It was covered in cheese and green onions, so you can't blame me for licking the bowl clean.  

This empty Schlitz can doesn't count as food or drink since our check came in it, but it reminded me of Iowa, so I had to snap a picture. I mean, Wisconsin is near Iowa, don't-cha-know? 

We knew we were going to have cinnamon rolls from Lilly Mae's for dessert, so when the waitress asked us if we wanted a dessert menu, Nick declined and said that we already had dessert picked out. The waitress quickly asked, "the liquid kind or each other?" Very witty that one, very witty.   

Cinnamon rolls are a top contender for the title of "Sara's Favorite Dessert."  These were good, too. The ratio of cinnamon to frosting was close to perfection. My mouth is watering just thinking about them... 

On Sunday we skipped breakfast. This is nuts considering I LOVE BREAKFAST. Being lazy felt more important at the time, so I ended up snagging - or rather Nick brought me - a breakfast sandwich from Starbucks. It doesn't really count for anything so no further explanation (egg, cheese, and bacon on a ciabatta roll) or photo is necessary. 

Later in the day, on our bike ride, we came across Papa Chevo's. It seemed like the perfect hole-in-the-wall for lunch. And it was. Nick had three tacos: carnitas, fish, and chicken.

I had a ground beef taco and a chicken taco.

I'll have you know that in addition to my tacos, I sampled Nick's fish taco. They were all muy bien. The chicken was better than the beef, but I think the fish taco was the winner of the day. Nick also liked the carnitas taco (which I didn't try, but should have). It looked quite tasty especially since it had a healthy helping of guacamole. Also, should you ever go to Papa Chevo's the customer service was fantastico, unheard of even. The guy at the counter was awesome and on top of everything, so big ups to Papa. 

After lunch, and midway through our bike ride, an ice cream cone started sounding really good. On our way back into town, we cruised by the Wharf in search of ice cream. We got lucky, and I ended up with rainbow sherbet on a sugar cone. Nick had vanilla bean gelato (not pictured).    

Nick and I had big plans for dinner. We went to Roy's at Pebble Beach based on a recommendation from Nick's friend.

We started at the lounge around 6:00PM. Our reservations were at 7:45PM, so we had plenty of time to kill. The lounge is outside overlooking the Pacific Ocean, so the scenery is gorgeous.  We had a couple of bowls of pretzels and smoked almonds while we watched the tail end of the resort's famous bagpipe production. We also sipped on scotch (Nick) and a Diet Coke (me). 

When it was our turn to get our grub on, we were seated at Roy's at a table with an ocean view. I should say that every table there pretty much has an ocean view. Nonetheless, we got to see the sunset, so I like to revel in the fact that we had a spectacular view. 

We devoured a bowl of edamame while we pondered the menu.

We ordered the lobster roll as an appetizer. The lobster roll was a special for the night. It was created as a play on lobster salad. I've never had lobster salad, but this thing was goo-ood. It had lobster, of course, and some other stuff inside the roll with prosciutto on top of it. Then, in the center, there was lettuce and croutons soaked in a balsamic vinaigrette dressing. The lobster roll was incredibly light, and, my-oh-my, it was scrumptious. 

Nick's friend, who recommended Roy's to us, also recommended the seared ahi. Nick never would have tried this otherwise, so I'm glad it came so highly recommended. The ahi was a part of a combo platter. It was served over white rice with a delicious wasabi infused sauce drizzled to the side of it.  The ahi was paired with roasted macadamia nut crusted mahi mahi which was served over black rice. You guys, Nick's dinner was amazing. Like, really delicious. I'm at a loss for words that will do it justice, so you'll just have to trust me or maybe next time you're in Monterey, you'll try it for yourself.     

I took a gamble and ordered one of their specials. I forget everything that was on it, but it was grouper covered in a jalapeno relish. I've never had grouper, but I love fish so I had no problem giving it a spin. And the jalapeno relish drew me right in. Again, this was spectacular. If I were a food critic I would be able to describe it better. Alas, I am not, so I'll stick with my "it was really good" review.   

We didn't have dessert at Roy's since we were stuffed to the gills (pun intended).  We did have leftover cinnamon rolls when we got back to the hotel, though.  

As an added bonus, feast your eyes on this: 

No trip to the ocean is complete without salt water taffy. We enjoyed salt water taffy all weekend. My favorites are peppermint, watermelon, and banana, but I love trying them all.