The next morning we slept in a bit and then visited one of our favorite breakfast places in Campbell. It's called Stacks and is known for its pancakes. But we really love their eggs Benedict. I got the Florentine version and J got the crab ones.
We ended up driving out to Modesto to visit with our friend and godson...not originally in the plan, but it worked out. We had a nice visit complete with a homemade Mexican lunch followed by a visit to the local Coldstone Creamery. I tried a new mix...cookie dough! YUM! Not really on my meal plan, but hey! We were on vacation.
After a full day with an 8 month old baby and his exhausted mother (how does she do it?) we headed back to San Jose for a late dinner with my younger brother. We met up at our favorite place...a little Moroccan restaurant run by two brothers. We had just discovered this restaurant right before we moved out here and have been dreaming of their beef tagine ever since we left! We stayed for hours, eating yummy food and catching up with my brother.
The next day we were up early and headed to get bagels and coffee. That made me realize that I don't know of any bagel shops in Tulsa. We have Panera, but that's not really a bagel shop. Isn't that weird? But for years a weekly visit to our local bagel shop was the norm for us. Now I am obsessed with trying to find one. Again, not that it's really on my meal plan. But I do love a good bagel with lox every once in a while.
We had a nice visit with a widowed friend of ours who is in her 80's and was married 63 years. She lost her husband two summers ago. She is a lovely lady full of life and stories. We met her through the opera, she and her husband had sponsored J's residency. We call and write from time to time, but this is the first visit we've had since relocating to Tulsa.
Afterwards we drove to San Francisco. What glorious weather! It was nearly 80 degrees and clear! After finding a parking place (the bane of city living!) we met up with our friend who lives on Upper Market. We were decided to have a celebratory birthday lunch at a great hamburger place called Barney's. They had amazing options...I got a fantastic BBQ turkey burger with a side of sweet potato fries and rootbeer. Delicious! Definitely a do not miss. Our friend had to get ready for his birthday party (we opted out) so we drove up to Twin Peaks to get a view of the city on such a clear day. It was packed so we didn't park and decided to head down to Ocean Beach. We drove past my old childhood haunts...the pizza place we went as kids, the corner store where we spent our loose change on penny candy and the house I grew up in from age 4 until 12.
The beach was packed! Like SoCal packed! Hundreds and hundreds of people taking advantage of the wonderful weather! We slipped off our shoes and walked along the water. Childhood memories flooded back to me and it kind of made me sad that our future children won't have memories of growing up at the beach. I know they'll have different memories, but for me, the sights and smells of the beach are so intertwined with my childhood. After about an hour or so we got back in the car and drove down to North Beach where my baby cousin (now 25!) and her beau live in a cute apartment on Green Street. Parking was insane and we ended up having to use a parking garage several blocks away for the night!
After hanging out for a bit, we were hungry and walked down to Colombus, the heart of Little Italy. We found a seat at Pinocchio's and ordered up some yummy pasta and red wine. Afterwards we walked up to an Italian bakery that is family run for some fresh cannoli and puff pastry. The next morning we drove down to the upper Sunset for brunch with a high school friend and her 2 year old daughter. She made a wonderful orange french toast and we spent a couple of hours just catching up. Then we drove back to San Jose to drop off the truck we had borrowed from our friends. My brother picked us up and we drove up to Newark for our niece's 7th birthday.
It was hot! Nealy 90 degrees! We hung out by the pool, watching the kids play while we caught up with my twin brother, his wife and her family. After cake and ice cream and opening gifts it was time to leave. We hitched a ride with my twin brother to his house in Tracy, where we stayed the last night in CA. We played Rockband for a bit (sort of a tradition for us in that house) and then fell into bed around midnight. The next morning we were up early for our final goodbyes before the kids headed off to school and then rode into Dublin to catch BART to SFO.
Ninety minutes on BART, 4.5 hours in the air to Dallas, dinner at TGIFridays and an hour flight home to Tulsa later we climbed into our own beds around 11 p.m. Whew! What a whirlwind! We need a vacation from our vacation! Luckily the nice weather seems to have followed us back to OK. It's warm and clear and sunny. It's good to be home.
1 comments:
Hello. I've recently started reading your blog, after finding it through Blog Oklahoma. I just noticed this weekend that a bagel shop is going in at about 37th-38th and Peoria. Don't know the opening date, but looks like it could be soon. Just thought I'd mention it.
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