Turkey Trottings

Man, it's been awhile since a post. And so much has been happening...in summary:

Thanksigiving was really nice. Mike and I took two extra days off besides the holiday to drive up to my parents and spend it with them. Mike had never seen northern California, and it felt good to show him that it's not at all like L.A. We spent a few days with my folks relaxing and enjoying the cold weather and good eats. My mom always seems to outdo herself on the cooking. Yum! We also did the "Grand Tour" of Sac for Mike by driving through downtown, old sac, then out to the house I grew up in, and last but not least- the indian casino on the outskirts of town. I did very poorly at the slots this time around, but Mike won 100 bucks from blackjack, and my mom and dad were up some too. Sigh, Luck was not my lady...

After Sacramento, we drove west to San Francisco. We spent the night on Lombard St. in one of the scarier places I've ever stayed. Nothing happened thankfully, but it just had that seedy motel, Sketchy Mc Sketcherson quality to it. Holes in the wall, strange stains on the floor, a body in the tub. No, I'm joking. OR AM I???
The city was GORGEOUS the day we arrived-- beautiful blue sky, nice and crisp. We walked everywhere...literally. From Lombard St (near the Presidio) through Fort Mason, Fisherman's Wharf, Pier 39, then took a bus into downtown where we walked the financial district, union square, through chinatown and ate dinner in Little Italy. I still miss the city now and again. It has such a different feel compared to Los Angeles-- Mike caught that right away too.
The next day was a pretty normal day in SF, rainy and foggy. We drove around the perimeter of the city so I could show Mike where I used to live in SOMA with the AT&T Park across the street. Next we went to Golden Gate Park where it really started pouring. Mike wanted to see the new DeYoung museum designed by Herzog and DeMeuron, so we checked that out. Very impressive addition to the park-- it has a huge rust colored tower that juts out over the building. We had great views all around the city from there. Next we drove to the Presidio to see the new LucasArts center. It's funny, it doesn't look all that impressive from the otuside, because the Presidio trust made him keep to the style of the military base. I can only imagine it's state of the artness inside though, and how awesome it would be to work there.
We sped out of SF to make the trek to Carmel before dark. Got in later than expected in town, and decided to just enjoy the late afternoon with a stroll in the nearby Barnyard Village shops. Nothing was open, so we just ambled around taking pictures and messing with settings on our camera and goofing off. There's this place called Sherlock Holmes Pub that I always remembered liking as a kid. It has lots of British comfort food like Shepherd's Pie and Bangers and Mash. Amazingly, I DIDN'T remember the weirdest thing about the place-- the owner. She must have been 105 y.o. if she was a day, upturned pug-like nose, huge bulbous eyes, and a voice that a drinking, smoking truck driver would envy. Mike and I aptly deemed her Yoda. She also seemed to have a strange desire to talk about "Grey Poupon" mustard. But with her heavy gravelly accent it kept coming out more like she was saying, "POOP-on". At one point she eyed my sandwich, and uttered, "D'ye want some POOP-on it, dearie?" I declined the offer.
Next morning we woke up to another beautiful day, and I knew we had to venture out to Point Lobos. It's a state park just a couple of miles further south down the 1. It was just as stunning as I remembered it- definitely one of my "Happy Places". We hiked a few trails, taking lots of pictures and just staring off at the ocean. We went on a Monday, and it was so quiet with all the tourists gone. We didn't spot any sea otters, but did see a large amount of sea lions and seals, as well as cormorants, egrets, and one deer. When the weather started getting cloudy, we took off to take a quick drive through Pacific Grove and the shops of Carmel, as well as Cannery Row in Monterey. These places are so much a part of my childhood, it felt good to get back in touch with environments as familiar to me as family.

We got home late on Monday and just crashed the minute we did. Having to go to work the next day was exhausting, and unfortunately I think all the running around we did finally got Mike sick. He came down with a cold for about a week and then just as he got better, he gave it to me. I was out for a couple of days feeling pretty sluggish and slimy. Finally in the past couple of days though, I've gotten a spurt of renewed energy to be able to make it through the holidays.
I've already been to two birthdays and three Christmas parties since returning from Thanskigving. Another one tonight, and I'm hosting one this weekend as well, plus baking, freelance work, and gift buying....Wish me luck!