What Weddings Await the Wandering Ones

     So I haven't written in a few months. I'm sure you must be on the edge of your seat wondering, Have they found any new hiking trails? A great, cheap date we must try? A new culinary experience to embark on? An awesome little town, exciting day trip or quiet camping spots? I apologize profusely for keeping you waiting. While I'm glad to report that we have indeed found new hikes, camping spots, interesting foods and little towns, they haven't been "Adventures" so much as "Wedding Weekends".

     An interesting thing has happened - although we usually have a few weddings to attend here and there, this year we will have attended 8 weddings, from San Diego to the Central Coast, in the span of 9 months! Who needs vacation plans when you get a built-in weekend away per month for a whole year? In fact, I'm thinking of starting a Calendar. It will feature Jordi and I in our wedding attire, each month. Here's a preview:

August

October

November

December

August saw Jordi's youngest brother get married, the event being held in his grandparents awesome backyard in the hills of Encinitas (north county San Diego). Our culinary experience here was taco carts. I don't know exactly where they found them, perhaps off the street in Michoacan, because they were incredibly authentic and soooo delicious! If you have yet to experience street food or food trucks, I highly recommend finding some. 

As for San Clemente, street food comes in the form of a grocery truck that pulls up on our street every evening at 6. You can get produce, roasted corn with mayo, cheese and chile, or fried pork skins. And our little town even has food trucks! Every Monday night at the San Clemente High School, as a fundraiser for the band, you can find 4-6 food trucks ranging from lobster to BBQ or crepes. Check out  the schedule here.

From 9-2 every Saturday at the OC Mart Mix in Costa Mesa, not only can you enjoy the Farmer's Market, but also a selection of awesome food trucks. Definitely worth the drive one of these weekends! Plus check out the OC Mart Mix while you're there! Portola Coffee Lab is worth the drive itself, and Local Fare sells Roney Macaroni cards! :) 

(And the taco carts mentioned earlier are actually from the catering company in San Diego, Taquizas El Unico)

In October we attended a wedding in Paso Robles. On our way home we stopped through Los Olivos, north of Santa Barbara off the gorgeous 154 pass. If you've never been here, you definitely owe it to yourself to stop next time you drive past. Even if you only have an hour to spare, you can have a truly romantic date. Park anywhere, walk through the quaint town, taste wine at one of the many small and friendly tasting rooms, get a giant sandwich at the Deli, lay in the park, poke around the shops, and there you have it! We always love a little stop here - feels like spending a weekend when it's just an afternoon. 

In November, we were honored to be a part of a gorgeous wedding in Balboa Park, San Diego. Beautiful architecture and stunning gardens made for quite the experience. If you've never been to Balboa Park, I wrote about it here on a trip we took there last year.

December we attended a winter wedding in Morro Bay. The rain didn't keep anyone from enjoying some homemade brews and steaming Mexican food. We stayed in Cayucos, one of our favorite little enclaves on the whole coast of California.

I wrote about Cayucos on my blog a while ago, entitled Small Town Bliss and mentioned it once again about a year ago, called Taste of the Central Coast.

And then, to top it all off, we got to meet our new nephew this winter as well. Here we are with precious Zachary. He loves drinking water out of glasses, and is eying that one on the table very intently....

Cheers to 2013 and all the adventures it will bring!

(On that note, we actually already went on our first adventure of the year, up to Big Bear, so a new blog post is SOON to come!!) 

Brews and Views

     Food and activities just GO together!  Whether it's surfing and breakfast, rock climbing and espresso, yoga and sushi, or even hiking and…beer tasting! Many of us  like to eat or drink a special something following some physical exertion.  For example, after an early morning surf with my dad, I love to get breakfast and a hot cup of tea. My brother-in-law owns two bouldering gyms which geniusly supply excellent  espresso to the die-hard climbers (they say they’re addicted to ‘rock climbing’…) And this weekend we found out that beer tasting goes perfectly well with hiking! 

     We planned on visiting Stone Brewery for my mother-law's birthday, an establishment just as famous for their gardens and family friendly atmosphere as for their strong IPA’s. While we were in the area (Escondido) we also wanted to hike around Lake Hodges, which I had never been to before. The plan was to stop by Stone and get passes to their brewery tour (which fill up quickly), then head out for a hike, returning later to take the tour and taste the beers.

     However, a trip to Stone cannot be taken lightly, especially on a weekend. After barely getting a parking space, we walked into the large and impressively architectured building with rock, stone and wood components in every aspect. But we didn't let the huge beams of wood, concrete countertops or lulling garden loops seduce us - we were there only to pick up our passes! As it turned out, getting a brewery tour on a Saturday is next to impossible - it's first come first serve and requires waiting in line for a very long time! We decided on a change of plans** - enjoy the sun and the last open table, forget the brewery tour, and hike afterwards. 

Jordi's mom & sis on the patio 

So that being settled, the five of us (me, husband, his parents and sister) snagged a sunny table, and our extremely friendly and knowledgeable waiter brought us our beers - ranging from light to dark, crispy to hoppy. Did you know that light colored beer does not mean light tasting? Coloring and taste depend on the way they roast the barley and hops. Anyways, we ordered appetizers which were fantastic although definitely expensive. Going to Stone, with families and strollers, young and old couples, groups of girls or guys, is truly something you can do with anyone. There are lots of paths and garden areas for kids to play, and plenty of outside and inside seating. It's the closest thing we have here to a garden pub we would have gone to in Cambidge, England - a place to come eat, drink and relax outside for the entire afternoon with all your friends or family! (Only the waiters here are way more cheerful...)

As the sun started to get low we headed out to the lake for an evening hike. It's about a 10 or 15 minute drive from the brewery to the trailhead at Lake Hodges. Lake Hodges is a reservoir, created in 1918 and supplying water to most of North County San Diego. Since it used to be a river, it's now a pretty long and windy lake. You aren't allowed to swim in it, although boating and fishing is allowed, and there are abundant trails and loops around the lake.
We parked at a trailhead at the corner of the parking lot and immediately started a little climb uphill. If you want something different, there are also flat trails along the edge of the lake, single track mountain biking trails or hiking trails in the hills. We did a little loop that went up a hill, along the ridge and down near the waters edge, before dumping us back in the parking lot. There are definitely more trails to explore and I would love to go back again! (Click here to see a map from the brewery to the lake,

Do rattlesnakes like port-o-potties? 

 where we parked, and the loop we hiked.
Either follow our path or be a trailblazer! )
Open spaces in Southern California are hard to come by, and compared to our hikes in San Clemente, we felt like we were in the wilderness. After being around so many people, it was relaxing to be out on the quiet hills by ourselves.   
 Lake Hodges gets hot in the summertime, so now is the time to go! But even if you do get sweaty while hiking, there's always Stone, a stone's throw away, to get cooled off...

**Flexibility is a key ingredient to successful wandering! 

Balboa Park, San Diego

     8:30 on a gloomy Saturday morning found us bouncing along in the back of my parents car. Coming from their house in north Orange County to pick us up in San Clemente, we all made our way down the coast to the Spanish Artists exhibit at the San Diego Museum of Art in Balboa Park. But first we must stop for breakfast. I'll take any excuse I can get to eat at Claire's on Cedros, a cafe in downtown Solana Beach. It would be a perfect resting point between our house in San Clemente and Balboa Park (of course a one-hour car trip requires a rest stop), not to mention Jordi's parents live in nearby Encinitas and agreed to meet us for a morning cup of organic coffee at the scrumptious and eco-stylish cafe.

     Cedros Street in Solana Beach sits a few blocks back from the ocean; this downtown district is where shops, restaurants and even the train station conglomerate, and of course, it's where Claires on Cedros is located. 

Back Patio at Claire's

     Going to Claire's is an experience, and I think this is why I like coming here for a leisurely breakfast. Walk up the steps and through the front door of this house-turned-cafe, and a kind hostess will put you down for the inevitable wait. But waiting is fine because you can order your cup of coffee early and enjoy it on the porch or walk around the front garden. Once seated, either outside on the back patio or inside the cozy clattering front of the "house", you are presented with a seasonal menu, replete with local food from local farmers, humanely treated animals cooked to tasty perfection, homemade breads, muffins and jams. But the homey building of Claire's itself is as conscious as it's food in regards to "being green". Claire's is Platinum LEED certified (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design - an internationally recognized green building certification system), but you would hardly know it because it just feels cute and comfy. While not obvious, the quirky touches all have their reasons - from the recycled glass in the floor design to the fruit and herbs all over their gardens, every whimsical touch is a conscious decision. With all the eco friendliness, humane animal treating, bike racks in front and recycled everything, you would think it would be crazy hippies serving us in a solar paneled green house, but all this deliberate green translates seamlessly to a welcoming, fun, and most importantly, delicious place to relax with friends and family. 

     After an incredible breakfast, stimulating conversation, and oggling over the treats behind the counter on our way out, we finally were on the road to Balboa Park, ready to be impressed with the Impressionists. 

     An unintentional detour through downtown San Diego and Hillcrest eventually led us to the park. Balboa Park is huge, and there are many entrances and exits on all sides, so it's definitely a good idea to bring a map.  

As we drove towards the Museum of Art, we passed a riveting game of lawn bowling, ladies doing lunges on the grass with their dogs on leashes looking bored, a swarm of teenaged girls dressed up in gold sequined dresses, tour groups and all the other families and people there for a myriad of reasons. If you're ever bored, go people watch at Balboa Park. 

     We found the museum and were able to park about a 5 or 10 minute walk away. Most of the museums at Balboa Park are in one area, the Museum of Art being very prominent at the front of the line-up. The rest of the museums are down a wide and leafy pedestrian walk way, with a fountain at the end. Here you will find the Science Center, Natural History Museum, Museum of Photographic Arts, Casa del Prado, and Casa del Prado Theatre - buildings from the 1915 Pan American Exposition. Throughout the park there is also an aerospace museum, the San Diego Zoo, Japanese gardens, and much much more.

Valencia Beach - Morning Sun

Joaquin Sorolla

Oxen - Study for the Afternoon Sun
Joaquin Sorolla

     We entered the museum - $12 each for an adult ticket - and spent a few hours looking at the paintings. Near the entrance is a coat-check to check your bag (but keep your jacket as it can get cool in the rooms), a fun gift shop, and bathrooms towards the back. There were no water fountains, so I would definitely recommend bringing water and snacks, as walking around a museum for a few hours can be tiring (Jordi was starving by the time we left).
     The main exhibit advertised the works of El Greco to Dali, although I didn't see as much Salvador Dali as I hoped. However, I really enjoyed the Spanish artist Sorolla's work, and posted my and Jordi's favorite (guess which is which ;)). Aside from the special exhibit, they had the usual rooms of Eastern, American and European Art; it was fun to see Monet and Cassatt as well.
    Wandering by a few other museums and gardens on the way back to the car, we then drove somewhere quieter to have a picnic on the grass. However, in this effort we first found ourselves being chuted onto the freeway before we knew it, but we u-turned back into the park. Then we found ourselves in the parking lot of the zoo. This was actually dejavu of a dozen years ago when our family had tried to have a picnic before going to this same exact zoo, and ended up on a patch of grass on the side of the highway across from the zoo. Before that could happen again, I highly suggested we leave the zoo area. After driving all around the park, we finally found the grassy area where we had seen the lunging ladies with bored dogs earlier, and here we unpacked our picnic and relaxed on grass.

With our bellies full of veggie pitas and fresh peaches, we finally set out for the trek home. A great opportunity to see some amazing paintings turned into a fun-filled day with our family, and a chance to do something and go somewhere new. I'll take that chance any day! :)