Monday, November 23, 2009

Our trip north

A bit late, but sometimes it just feels like too much to go through all the photos and post them. See our honeymoon. Wait you can't see it, because I never posted it. Because I took like 1,000 photos and can't get it together to go through them. BUT honeymoon album is on the pre-baby list so maybe I'll end up posting them before February. I did post some lovely Australian seed pods...

Now on to the trip where we eat our way through the bay area and take pictures of menus to prove it.


First stop, dinner at Full of Life Flatbread for our first anniversary dinner. Man, it was good. And beautiful on the porch with the sun going down.








Then up the coast in the winding dark to Big Sur, where we stayed here (SO CUTE) and ate our wedding cake my mom had be saving in her freezer since last year. She packed in into a cooler for us to take on our trip because she's such a good mom and I have to say, it was pretty darn delicious. Some traditions are kind of cute.




Had breakfast at Big Sur Bakery as planned...





And saw a flock of wild turkeys in the early morning.




Then we drove north on the coast through Carmel and Pacific Grove and stopped in Monterrey.









The jellyfish are clearly the coolest thing at the aquarium.


And made it to San Francisco where we proceeded to eat and walk around the city.



Seriously enormous sandwiches at Tartine. Why is this not a published fact??





Chanterelles and eggs at Boulette's Larder.





And some of their lovely cookies and spices.






As you can see, the taking of photos has started to slow. In Napa I barely took any. But I do have a few to PROVE that we were there.









Ubuntu was completely deliciously amazing. I would consider flying up to Napa for the weekend just to eat there.

The French Laundry, if I'm being honest, was a great experience but I'm not sure it's worth it if you're eating vegetarian. It was delicious, especially the desserts. My god, the desserts. But when the table next to you is eating lobster poached white truffle infused filet mignon, and you're delicately savoring 7 mushrooms (delicious mushrooms to be sure), it's hard not to feel like one menu should perhaps cost less than the other? Now I'm going to culinary hell, but I think honesty is best. And I'd have appreciated reading such a review before we went. So there you have it. I'm glad we went, but we could have also had a lovely new coffee table instead.

I do have to make special note of the butter cookies they pack up and send home with you. OMG. omg. Perhaps the most delicious little morsels I have ever tasted.

Also of note: Solage. It was such a perfect place to stay and relax and do nothing. We swam laps in their huge pool in the morning, took spin class, dipped in their mineral pools, had a spa treatment, and read in the sun. Definitely worth the splurge and they were so so nice.

Kay, that's it. Our trip. It was great and now we're in full on nesting mode.

15 comments:

Caught the Light said...

lovely photos of what looks like a lovely trip. i take photos of good food when i'm on holiday too and really good coffee.

Meg said...

Thants why we haven't gone to French Laundry. David can't get over the fact that he has to pay the same price for vegitarian food.

But Ubuntu *is* amazing, agreed.

kristina said...

Seriously Meg. He (being Señor Practical, after all) is kind of right. I would say it might be worth it if you go with a group of foodie friends so it's a big celebration of ooohs and ahhhs and wine and such.

But my inner practical side (which is often in hiding) *might* have rather had the coffee table. Or 3 big dinners at our favorite restaurants in LA. Or a killer pair of shoes. Or about 100 other things I'm currently obsessing about in preparation for baby.

Also, it kills me that the veg menu USED to be less. If only we'd gone 7 years ago...

kristina said...

egads. that looks tremendously fun, but i can't get over how fantastic your photos are. what kind of camera are you using? a magic camera?

betty said...

I second the camera question - it is the holiday season after all. What do you use (so I can add one to my list?)

Looks like a lovely trip!

Sallie said...

Love the pictures. VERY jealous of the food adventures. Still dreaming of going to French Laundry...and now I have to add Ubuntu on the list! Thanks for sharing.

Simply Mel {Reverie} said...

Agree with you and your take on French Laundry, so we can discuss in more detail while heating up in culinary hell!

And I love that you had carrot cake as your wedding cake! I've been asked to bake/create my first wedding cake in May 2010, and this is exactly what I will be doing!

east side bride said...

wait, you're a vegetarian?

sara said...

ugh this would be a dream trip for me! so much good food!

Amy@OldSweetSong said...

These are so beautiful. What an amazing trip! I am so jealous.

Jane Flanagan said...

What a beautiful trip and amazing photographs! I especially love all those spice jars - amazing!!

Anonymous said...

I always enjoy visiting aquariums. It is staggering how complex and varied aquatic life is, and there is still so much for us to still discover.

Celia said...

these photos are GORGEOUS!

joly said...

I like toffee very much. But to make it is so difficult.

joly said...

I like toffee very much but I never thinking about to make it.Ed hardy