Jonathan's Big Three Zero

30 is a big year, so I decided to do it up for Jonathan's birthday and planned a surprise trip to San Diego. Due to work schedule conflicts, our trip had to be scheduled for the weekend after his birthday, but somehow, after the hop of a flight to CA, we found away to make due.

Thankfully, the wild taxi ride was brief from the airport to our small boutique hotel in Little Italy, cleverly named, Urban Boutique. Realtor terms like quaint and cozy came to mind when checking in, but seeing that our plan was to be out and about for a majority of our visit, the room more than met our needs.  The one drawback, to our stay was the fact that they apparently ran out of conditioner, and never bothered to restock for the entire weekend.  My hair's saving graces included soft water, a seemingly perfect moisture level in the air and a healthy helping of anti-friz serum. 

Saturday morning we walked to the end of our street to check out one of the most fabulous farmer's markets I've ever experienced. The floral stands boasted exceptionally fragrant varieties of flowers, each displaying vibrant colors proving too seductive for merely a furtive glance. Right on par, the produce stands were bountiful in their offerings, exploding with indulgently ripe, varied produce.  The whole experience proved so alluring that we decided the next time we drove to San Diego, we would surely be packing a cooler. At one point during our drifting we witnessed someone spooning out the edible contents of a fresh Sea Urchin from one of the stands, a first for us for sure!

Near the end of the loop Jonathan picked up some exceptionally tasty french toast from one of the food trucks, and I purchased a cupcake made with a Stone ale, promised to taste like a Samoa cookie, for later.  P.S. They nailed this flavor profile. We tried a few more samples, purchased a surprising flavorful, and beyond hot ghost pepper hot sauce and corresponding salt, and eventually split a delicious fresh Samosa filled with lamb, potatoes and peas. We figured we would be walking all day, so why not indulge in the cornucopia surrounding us?


After the market we walked down the the gas lamp district and serpentined through the streets, stopping in random stores.  We finished our walk at the Levi store where we mentioned to the cashier that we were planning to check out some local breweries. Enter friendly micro beer stranger.  We left the store discussing our options when he approached and, back-ally style, mentioned he overheard our appreciation for craft brews. Check out Monkey Paw, he told us, it's not too far away. How awesome is that, even if he was a smidge off on the vicinity.  Bag in hand we walked just over 16 blocks, made longer by hunger, through a slightly rougher than ideal area, to arrive at a true gem of a brewery/bar.  The scene was perfectly San Diego, the beers and unique twist on a Moscow mule were beyond terrific and their pulled pork waffle fries were out of this world! We tell everyone we can about this place and know we will be back in the future.

                                                                                                                                                         




 From Monkey Paw we sauntered, with focus (still not in the greatest of areas) to Mission brewery just behind PetCo park stadium, where the Padres play.  Here we sat on tall stools surrounding a creatively crafted table made from a retired barrel, with perfect cut outs designed to accommodate dangling feet.  Jonathan enjoyed a few brews while I had a go at their malt beverage concoctions.  They didn't have wine, nor spirits but brewed a flavorless malt mixed with a few other ingredients that created tasty albeit pretty sweet beverages.  Deciding a nap was in order before our evening adventures we walked past the ever bustling  stadium (Padres game that afternoon) and tried our first go on the light rail system. Having walked most of the day, a ride on the light rail was much appreciated.

Saturday evening we light-railed, then cabbed our way to the Stone Brewing tasting room on the old Navy Base.  The food was ok, albeit a bit built up in reviews than deserved, but the beers we had there were beyond amazing.  Jonathan ordered a Mikhail's Odd, a 2013 Imperial Russian Stout aged in bourbon barrels, that exuded a flavor so complex and amazing words will not do it justice. If you ever come across this beer, steady yourself for the price, but give it a try because its beyond fabulous. Happy birthday indeed!

Sunday we dined on overpriced, yet delicious breakfast sandwiches on decadent croissants before light-railling, then walking a considerable uphill distance to reach Balboa Park.  We walked past the International Village, enjoyed the robust palm groves, then started our tour in the Japanese Friends Garden.  Jonathan wasn't too happy with the garden, that included a lovely koi pond, and requisite bonsai trees, but I was simply content to observe the well cared for, bountiful fauna. From the garden we walked towards the massive outside organ and gave pause to admire what we assumed was a warm up for the evening's performance. 

 Walking on, we found the arboretum.   Housed inside the sky bound greenhouse were a plethora of orchids, succulents and even these strangle plants that grow from a seemingly random point in the wall, perhaps 10 feet from the ground.  Not clear on exactly what they were, but they sure were fascinating.  Before exiting the park we passed a large fountain, where a handful of dogs were enjoying a quick cool down, and stopped to observed the massive, 100 year old Morten's Bay Fig tree.  For its own good the tree was fenced off, but we were still able to appreciate its majesty from afar.

                                                                         
                                
   

Legs weak from our travels we cabbed back to Little Italy where we ate lunch and re-hydrated with some unique brews at the Ballast Point tasting room.  I was bummed over the fact that, unlike their site had suggested, the tasting room did not carry their craft spirits, however, seeing that this was the only disappointment of the trip, I'd say we made out quite well.  Recharged and with a few more hours until our flight we walked down to the waterfront and meandered along the path, observing two submarines and an unbelievably massive aircraft carrier, the USS Midway.  Seeing that ticket prices to tour the ship were somewhere around $25 a pop, we opted to check it out from the port with the possibility of visiting during our next trip.

The historic Santa Fe train depot happened to be on our route back to the hotel, so we made a quick pass through before heading to the airport for a thankfully uneventful flight home.  We had a great time during our travels, and will certainly be back in the near future; but having nearly walked our legs off, we were equally delighted to be welcomed home by a very happy pack of animals.  

AZ Strong Beer Festival 2014

 Tires pumped and helmets on, we departed our house around 12:30 (quite a few Saturdays ago) and cruised to midtown to attend our first ever AZ Strong Beer Festival.  The weather couldn't have been better.  Sunny, but with a few passing, wispy clouds to provide a break from the sun's intensity.  We parked our bikes: got our wrist bands: and entered beertopia.

Not being the beer aficionado between the two of us, I simply followed Jonathan's lead.  We started at Dragoon, with a delicious red IPA ale, then drifted from stand to stand trying red IPAs, cappuccino stouts, and various other ales and IPAS.  Surprisingly, we also tried a mead that knocked our non-existent socks off.  Since our samples were small in proportion we both wondered if the handful of tickets we received would last through the day, turns out we had far more than expected left over by the end of the event.

We tried brews from a few favorites including, Dragoon (Tucson, AZ), Borderlands (Tucsosn, AZ), Sierra (Chico, CA), Stone (San Diego, CA), Big Daddy (San Fran, CA.), Lagunitas (Petaluma, CA) and also shared a delicious piece of pizza from, believe it or not, a mobile Pizza truck named The Rocket.  I don't know quite how they worked in the truck with actual Pizza ovens blasting away, but the design of the interior was rather amazing.



As the event was nearing its end, we sat on a grassy hill near the exit and watched the departing crowd filter past security. This was some good people watching.  At one point two guys started approaching an atm stand near the bottom of the hill. One, noticeably obliterated, started to very clumsily unzip his pants. Thankfully his less than, but still drunk buddy figured out, the blurry structure he was headed towards was not a port-a-potty.  I was interested to see the police reaction, but think it was best for everyone that he zipped up and staggered to the actual port-a-potties.

Our next source of entertainment turned out to be one of the main, if not the, beer purchaser for the swanky Whole Foods in Scottsdale.  He was stagger-drifting towards the ATM and started staring in our direction.  In true buzzed heckler fashion I asked if he was going to get us money from the ATM.  What turned into casual banter resulted in our buddy taking a seat with us on the knoll discussing his fiancee (not in attendance), his love of beer and his job.  We had quite a fun conversation with the guy and will eventually take him up on his offer of drastically price reduced beer the next time we are in his store.

 Our ride home was safe and thankfully uneventful.  I was glad we didn't have to wait for a taxi or try to light rail it half way home. Needless to say, we will definitely attend this event next year!!

CA wine infusion

Just like last year, the Friday of MLK weekend I boarded a flight from PHX to OAK very much looking forward to a couple of carefree days spent in Sonoma catching up with my girlies and enjoying some fabulous wine tasting.  We would be spending our weekend in a different region than last year and I never could have imagined how different the wine would taste from the previous area we toured.We drove about most of the day tasting wines here and there and of course, posing for a few photos.

Silly Alicia...

After a short, ill prepared for Alameda's chilly weather, run on Saturday morning, I awaited Laura and Lindy's arrival to officially start our wine tasting weekend. We stopped in Oakland to pick up Meghan before heading North to meet up with Alicia at the Fairmont hotel in Sonoma.  Alicia had graciously offered to be our DD for our tasting adventures and traveling about in her kick ass mustang surely added some spice to the weekend. Before officially hitting the wine tasting road, we drove from the parking area to the front of the hotel with the Mustang's top down, gaining the vocal envy of a few passersby. Young, sassy, and very giddy to be reunited, what's not to envy!

Had the day been a bit warmer we would have pulled out all the stops and toured wine country in a mustang with its top down, but with all the driving and a lingering chill in the air we opted for top up cruising.   We started at a vineyard with an amazing, love inspired view (look close among the trees). Can't say their wines were my favorite, but with so many more places to try, no need to rush the taste buds. Like most places they provided a snack, which turned out to be a fabulous gumbo, complete with a recipe card.  I finally made their gumbo the other night, with a few minor modifications, and it turned out quite delicious!
















One of Saturday's vineyards that sticks out in my mind is named Old World Winery. They had this of a full bodied red called Abourious, which is unique to this winery due to the fact that Old World is the only Vineyard in the United States to grow the specific grape.  It just so happens that their US acreage is a portion of the last remaining 1,000 acres in the world where this special grape still grows. Needless to say, this isn't a wine you asked for a second taste of, if you had no intention of purchasing. 


 At one point we took the tour off road when we accidentally turned down the road for the vineyard property vs. where the tasting room was located. Again, always an adventure with 5 giggly ladies packed into a car. Near the early afternoon we managed to arrive at one winery where, unbeknownst to me, a wasp who I must have known is a past life, was very much looking forward to reuniting.  I tried to maintain my cool for as long as possible, but after the second time it had unbeknownst to me landed on my body (only knew when I was alerted by a friend standing mighty far way), I could no longer maintain composure.  After returning inside with Lindy and Alicia, both got a kick out of the fact that my reaction was "an improvement" from bug reactions in years past.  Moving on...

 Our final stop on Saturday included not only the expected tasting options but also a barrel tasting event complete with all sorts of new-to-me wines. I appreciated the fact that the people providing the tastes were more intoxicated than we were, and despite my inability to taste the "pepper" in a certain wine, my novice red wine tastes were not judged or berated.Instead of dancing our tails off like last year we enjoyed a tasty dinner complete with some unintentional, comical screaming at a waiter, and plenty of girly gab. 

Smart

Blurry pictures... bound to happen on wine tours...

More wine, press faster!

Delicious barrel tasting

Dawn at The Fairmont

 Meghan, Lindy and I started off the next morning with some yoga and a few chuckles at our occasional inflexibility.  Back in the Mustang we made our way back out to the tasting rooms before finding a fun bar/restaurant for the final playoff game between the 49ers and the Seahawks. Since its way past when I should have posted this you'll know the Seahawks won that game leaving the city we were visiting in a quiet, defeated slump. We finished our day at the Bear Republic brewery before returning to our hotel (complete with creepy lamp) and partaking in a little more chit chatting.  

Lindy and I on game day

Meghan and I with the
Bear Republic Bear.(kindly
excuse the harshly cold flash)

 We parted ways on Monday morning, Alicia heading back home, Meghan, Laura and Lindy heading back to the bay area and me heading to LA for a quick work trip.  I had a fabulous time hanging out with my ladies and hope to make these adventures a more frequent occurrence. Life has a way of speeding past us all, but its unbelievably refreshing to reconnect and spend time with close friends as if we had never been apart.

Dirty South for New Years Eve

Before our Atlanta trip Jonathan made New Year's Eve dinner reservations at a restaurant named Top FLR (http://www.topflr.com/).  Yet again Jonathan's talent for finding a terrific, unique dinning experience was spot on, Top FLR was absolutely fantastic! 

We cabbed from our hotel through a nice residential area, then upon arrival were seated, fittingly, on the top floor.  The menu was unique for the special evening, but not restricted or up-charged for the occasion.  Feeling bold and adventurous I ordered the steak tar tare and oh...my...goodness, it was AMAZING!  The steak was so unbelievably tender, flavorful and had a consistency to die for.  My fears of a raw hamburger vanished immediately upon its gorgeous presentation and initial taste.  Jonathan ordered a pork belly pho, which was also quite delicious, with just enough spice to awaken the taste buds, but not overpower the other ingredients. 

After dinner we headed to Ri Ra's.  Sure, Ri Ra's is an Irish pub chain, but its consistent, and the last time we ushered in the new years at one in Arlington, we had a blast. This Ri Ra's was quite massive,  and included three levels, each offering different music with different atmospheres.  We stayed in the less packed third level for most of the night, then made our way to the second level where we danced to a live band, and eventually counted down to midnight with our fellow east coast time zoners.  Both having had bit of a long day and me needing to work the next day, we called it a pretty early evening and returned back to the hotel shortly after midnight.

While I toiled about in the office on New Years day Jonathan enjoyed some of what Atlanta has to offer.Yes, I know that sounds bitter, but it sincerely isn't! I am genuinely glad that Jonathan got to see a few sites while in town. 

 

After touring a few hotels designed by John C. Portman, a renown architect credited with popularizing "hotels and office buildings with multi-storied interior atria "(which is the plural version of atrium, go figure). He took many a dizzying photo seen here. I thought a few even looked like alien skeletal structures.

 

After his hotel exploring Jonathan made his way downtown to the very hyped Georgia Aquarium.  As much as he enjoyed the aquarium, the slight over commercialization, and at times questionable animal acquiring practices affected his overall experience.

   

 

 

 

 Jonathan headed back home on the second and I joined him back in the desert that Friday evening. Although my Atlanta experience was all work and very little play, I enjoy the fact that we were fortunate enough to spend the new year together.