I had grandiose plans for my second week in Pleasanton. Plans which involved me catching a ride on the BART train into San Francisco while Bogdan was at work and me spending the day enjoying the city. However, things worked out rather differently. Tuesday morning I dropped Bogdan off at work after we drove up from San Francisco, and I spent the rest of the day photoshopping and editing down our 500+ pictures. The next morning I dropped Bogdan off at work and... went back to the hotel and ended up sleeping for 3 more hours (?!). Instead of forcing myself to get on the BART train, I opted to spend a lot of time at the pool, working on my freestyle stroke and the uneven tan lines that the extra powerful shining California sun had graced me with over the past week or so. I also got a head start on writing and blogging.
During this chill period I had the chance to try some of California's "finest" (I don't know how else to put it, but the stuff everyone says you have to try when you visit). I might be banned from ever entering the state again (is that twice already?) but the In n' Out burger was... just a burger... (and yes, I got it animal style). Pinkberry frozen yogurt? Also, just tangy frozen yogurt. California strawberries were not even a fraction as sweet as my Ponchatoula strawberries (although we didn't try too many). The clam chowder we had back in Sausalito was good, but their fried oysters? Embarrassing. Sourdough bread was tasty, although Bogdan discovered (realized?) that he's not a fan.
It was surprisingly difficult to find a reasonably priced and good bottle of wine (what with all the hullabaloo about California wines). When the wine store bottles start at $35 and the Safeway had the exact same uninspired wine selection as every grocery store and liquor store in the USA, we realized just how lucky we are to have Bob and Viniferous where the bottles start at $7 and go all the way up to things we can't imagine paying, and they are all wines that he's tried and liked (if not loved) and he'll be happy to tell you why he loves it.
I'm sure there are California things we didn't get to try - so what am I missing?
Heaven to me is still a grilled cheese sandwich on homemade sourdough bread that we had at a cliffside diner out there. Most simple and amazing meal ever.
ReplyDeleteAnd the best thing about In-n-Out is the fact that you can ask for a hat.
I was not aware of the hats! That might have persuaded my opinion of their burgers. ;) That grilled cheese sounds wonderful!
ReplyDeleteIt's funny that you mention clam chowder... when we did a similar trip, I got clam chowder in every town where we ate. We started in Astoria, OR and ended in San Fra, and I have to say that the chowder got less awesome as we made our was down the coast.
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