Life in the Emerald City

Saturday we woke up to a wonderful breakfast at the B & B…rosemary eggs and harvest potatoes…yum!  We decided to check out the bay area, scoping out the outskirts of town along the way!

First stop: Morro Bay!

Skyline-view of Morro Bay: pacific ocean on the left, bay waters on the right

We drove through an enchanted forest of eucalyptus trees on our way to the ocean!

The waves crashing between the rocks…so. pretty.

Morro Rock…not quite sure where it came from or why it’s cool, but hey…I don’t argue with the landmarks!

Sean just had to get some clam chowder on his taste buds, so we went to lunch at a little hole-in-the-wall in Pismo Beach.  We were told they had the best clam chowder in all the land.  They. Lied.  It was the best clam chowder in all the WORLD!  I was jealous. Seriously!

After lunch we checked out the Avila Barn in Avila Beach.  Cutest little farm ever!  They had pumpkin patches, an apple orchard, a homemade ice cream and fudge shop, and a little market with all the fresh fruits and veggies you could imagine.

They had wine grapes on the vine (truthfully they looked like they were almost raisins, but you know.)  I found this view of a classic-shaped grape vine…classic!

We took a fun ride on a tractor-pull out to the apple orchard where you pick up to 2 pounds of fresh apples right. off. the. tree!  They were the best tasting apples…ever!

Can you see a pattern here?  Saturday night we went to dinner at the apple farm, enjoying comfort food in a quaint setting.  We split a yummy cheeseburger and an apple pie (of course).

Sunday we woke up to a power outage at the B & B, so we got to sleep in a bit.  Yay rest!  Then we had a late breakfast of Sante Fe eggs…very good!  As we left the ranch, we noticed a commotion going on at the wine vineyard along the main road.  Turns out they were celebrating the harvest with a wine tasting party.  Of course we joined in…and enjoyed ourselves!  After a reasonable period of rest, we drove home!  We got to drive through a bunch of canyon, over a river or two…and back to concrete city.  It was really nice to enjoy the countryside!

Since Sunday was our actual anniversary, my dad mailed us our cake from the wedding…to keep up with traditions and all.  Unfortunately, since we live on a sailboat with a very small freezer, we didn’t take our cake home.  Actually my mom took it home, then shipped it in my brother’s suitcase the next time he visited my dad, who kept it in his freezer until he mailed it to us in San Luis Obispo.  Isn’t family great??  The cake didn’t look as glamorous as it did at the reception, but it tasted great.  We both had a bite, crossed-arm style, and even smudged some on each other’s cheeks.  According to the wedding fairies that means we’ll be together FOREVER!

Albert was super excited to see us come home, and we brought him a special ‘Albert-sized’  apple…which he devoured!

The weekend was really very special…a relaxing trip for us to enjoy each other.  Can’t wait for another great year babe!  Love you!

Yesterday Sean and I celebrated our 4 year anniversary as a couple.  We chose to sleep in on a lazy Sunday morning as we don’t get many opportunities to sleep in.  After noon, we got up, showered and dressed for a fun day of good food, drink and friends!

We started the day at the Ambrosia Cafe for their Champagne Brunch. 

All in all, I’d say the food was about average and the outside patio had little air circulation, so it was very HOT!  However, it wasn’t overly expensive and Sean and I left with satisfied tummies.  From there we headed to Ed Cox’s house for an afternoon Bar-B-Que.  A very charming little beach cottage make-over in beautiful Santa Monica.  Ed Cox is a former roommate and now very good friend of Sean (and me).

We started with the Fantasy football draft, which turned out to be a lot more exciting than I had expected.  Basically there are ten people in our league (most of them former Gators) who’ve formed teams (i.e. chosen names) and we each get to choose a player one at a time for 14 rounds.  Then every week we choose 9 of our players to play against one of the nine other ‘fantasy’ teams.  Based on how the players do in real life (which means we of course have to watch all of our ‘fantasy’ players’ performances) determines how well our fantasy team does.  It is all very confusing to me, but it gives me a reason to watch more than just Gator games and root for other players than just Tim Tebow and Percy Harvin (a.k.a. The Greatest Players of ALL Time!).

So, after the draft is finished, Sean and I take a think break.  We headed over to West Marine for some window shopping and Ralph’s for some much needed chocolate bites!  Then, on to the party…

Sean and I pose for a close-up.  The flower in my hair is from the BEAUTIFUL bouquet of roses Sean bought me this week!

Our party hosts, Ed Cox and his girlfriend, Jessica.  I caught them in an awkward hugging motion, but you can see we were all having fun!

Party guests…sorry, there were too many great conversations and laughs going on for me to remember everyone’s names, but they were all very nice and it was very nive to meet all of them!

The Bar-B-Que was very laid back with great food and awesome wine!  Thank you Ed and Jessica for helping us have a wonderful celebration and for the great atmopshere and conversations.  As for me, I’m off to bed to get a new week started of right!