Manic monday

I spent this past Labor Day weekend in California visiting friends. I admit this is a long post, so I'll give a short synopsis option also. As always, photos expand to full size when you click on them...

Short version:
Flew out to San Jose Thursday. Good coffee, good seafood, good music, good friends. Returned to Austin Monday. Exhausted.

Long version:
I've been in need of a vacation and a break from the heat, so I thought I'd spend the weekend visiting friends in California. I arrived late Thursday night in San Jose and was greeted by Mr. Meow. He gets up very early. Very, very early...


Friday, we loaded up the car and made our way towards the beach in Santa Cruz. A little detour first to Phil's Fish Market in Moss Landing for some excellent sea scallops. We were also in the middle of artichoke country, so I couldn't pass up the shrimp and crab stuffed artichoke.



Next up, a short stop in Pacific Grove to check out the Harbor seals in Monterey Bay. They have very expressive faces and just seem so darn happy.




Pacific Grove probably also has the nicest hike and bike path I've ever been on.


We arrived at the boardwalk in Santa Cruz around dusk. My family used to visit Santa Cruz when I was a kid growing up in San Jose. It really hasn't changed a whole lot since then - at least in my mind.



Had a surprisingly good halibut dinner at the Ideal Bar and Grill near the boardwalk. Surprising only because it was near the boardwalk, so I naturally figured it would be crappy tourist food. But it wasn't.

After dinner, we strolled over to the beach to catch The Tubes concert. The show was a bit surreal - a stage on the beach, with surf crashing behind the stage and the lights of amusement park rides dancing in front of the stage. Fee Waybill also sang a few songs in his Quay Lewd outfit.


Saturday, we took BART into the city (San Francisco) to catch a ferry from Embarcadero to Sausalito. The old streetcars along the pier always make me smile.


Had some amazing coffee from Blue Bottle Coffee while we were waiting on the next boat. I'm not sure when it happened, but the Ferry Building has gone very upscale. My favorite sign - "Tasty Salted Pig Parts"


A nice ferry boat ride and a short walk got us to the Sausalito Art Festival.




We were there mostly for the 80's flashback of bands: Modern English, The Fixx:


and The Bangles:


But the art was also pretty interesting. If I had a loft apartment, I totally would have come home with a crate of these life-size wire frame sculptures:


Dinner was in the city at Fog City Diner. I remember the food and service being better before, but the restaurant is still a nice one. And they make a decent vodka martini.

Sunday was a day of errands - including a requisite stop at In-N-Out Burger for a cheeseburger (animal style). Afterward, we headed into downtown San Jose for some decadent Philz Mint Mojito iced coffee. Downtown SJ sure has changed from when we lived there. The new city hall is pretty hip and the streets are nicely groomed.



Then it was over to the Japantown part of San Jose for my mochi / manju fix. I was told the Shuei-Do Manju Shop is one of only two places in NorCal to get fresh mochi. Thankfully, Japantown hasn't really gentrified.


Sunday night, we headed to Santa Clara to see Brandon for his birthday BBQ dinner. Brandon, Belinda, and I all worked together at MW Kellogg back in the day (1991-ish). Just a quiet gathering of a handful of people. But it was a typical gorgeous Calif evening outside, so we stayed much later than we should have - given that I had to be up at 4:30 to make my flight back to Austin. Got to sleep around midnight. Cat woke me up at 3:30AM. Arrgh.

And just what souvenirs did I bring back from California? Mochi, chocolate, and coffee. Only the necessities.