Sunny SoCal

We had a great time visiting Tulin in Santa Monica/LA. Got to visit some places I'd always wanted to go to - Griffith Park Observatory, Venice along the canals, walk Venice and Santa Monica beaches. Tulin was a great tour guide and made sure the Turk and I saw lots of things and ate well. You can see the Monster Burrito below. 

I noticed a new trend in California that didnt yet exist when we left the state 3 years ago - tea menus.  I had a meeting in Palo Alto at a coffee shop, and I ordered green tea which I thought was specific enough. Not! I was presented a tea menu. MENU!!!  Listed like fine wines were pages of loose teas, complete with country of origin, ingredients and flavor descriptions including undertones and essences.  When the tea arrived, it came in a pot, with a cup, on a tray.     Then, when I ordered green tea in a small Santa Monica diner, I was shown a tea menu on the wall.  I was presented with a cute tea pot with loose tea leaves and my cup.  I just dont see that happening here in Dunedin...but ya never know.

Another food finding - in 'food cities' like NYC, SF, Santa Monica there are traveling food trucks - those silver trucks that have been popular at lunch time to construction workers, serving cheap eats. Well, now they serve gourmet foods in well healed neighborhoods.  The one we saw, Cool Haus, created customized ice cream sandwiches.  You pick the cookie flavor (oatmeal, ginger, chocolate chip, etc) and then the ice cream (cinnamon, lemon, strawberry, mint chip, etc). Now THIS i could see making it big in Dunedin!!

Bikers in San Francisco

A sunny, warm day in San Francisco...and its not even September!  The Turk and I wanted to take advantage of all of this, so we rented bikes and rode around the city staying close to the water.

Of course, the Turk finds fishermen where ever he goes these days, and San Francisco was no exception.  He learned that catching crab near Crissy Field will cost you $40 each.  Apparently, crabs spawn in the area so you have to wait for them to go out to sea to catch them.

We loved the changes to Crissy Field. Gone are the acres of cement and blacktop pavement (where Tulin learned to ride her bike many years ago). the old wooden barracks (which i remember they destroyed for a Nash Bridges episode), the rusting warehouses (that I used to skate by). Now there are dunes with local plants, small lakes, trails and wooden bridges, and lots of beach front. it was beautiful, and fun to ride around.

We decided to ride into the Presidio to say 'hi' to Yoda and check out the changes to the area. The buildings are being renovated, people are living in the homes, the grounds are groomed, and the old Officers Club is now the visitors center.

The night before, we met friends for dinner on Russian Hill. After a wonderful time, we walked outside to see a clear night sky with a full moon lighting up Coit Tower. It was stunning.  Mark and I jumped in the car and off to Coit Tower we went. We walked around the tower to see the sparkling lights of the city and bridges with the full moon shining down.  What a site!