The Best Laid Plans..... Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Some things, I guess, are just not meant to be!  I picked up my friend, Silvia, about noon on Monday and we headed south on scenic CA Highway 1.  Our goal was to, belatedly, celebrate her birthday at the two famous northern CA lighthouse hostels, one at Pigeon Point and the other at Montara.  The day was a bit overcast but it was still a beautiful drive.  At Pescadero, we turned off, bound for lunch at Duarte's Tavern, founded in 1894 and serving customers by the fourth generation of this local family.

At Duarte's, Silvia and I both ordered a bowl of their cream of artichoke soup which had come highly recommended I was not at all disappointed in this, especially since it tasted strongly of artichokes, one of my favorite vegetables.

The rest of the meal was, frankly, disappointing.  I ordered a calamari steak sandwich which was served on a sourdough roll.  The bread was so thick, I could hardly taste the calamari and, even when I took it off the bread and ate the calamari alone, it wasn't very flavorful.  Silvia had a hamburber which she felt was only mediocre.  For dessert, we shared a straberry - rhubarb pie.  I wasn't overjoyed with that.

The wine list, however, was excellent.  I did see Treana's Mer de Soleil, one of my favorites, a blend of Marsanne and Viognier which was wonderful

After leaving Duarte's, we stopped in the next block at Arcangeli Grocery Company and Bakery to pick up several loaves of their garlic herb artichoke bread.  That is never a disappointment!
Their breads and other specialty items are available by mail order at http://www.normsmarket.com/.

Once back out on Highway 1, we could not resist stopping at one of the nearly deserted, pristine beaches to take a few photographs.  That is when I met with disaster.  Somehow, when stepping down from the curb onto the sand, I slipped and went sprawling.  I am sure my fall must have registered on the Richter scale as a small seismic earthquake.  Silvia, who had gone to the back of my van, unaware of my misstep, was chatting away.  When she rounded the corner and saw me sprawled out, holding my camera above my head, she was dumbfouned.  It took me a few minutes to get up, I was in so much pain.

We did go ahead to Pigeon Point and registered for the night.  As the hours passed, though, the pain became more and more intense and my right tibial area began to swell to about twice the size of my other leg.  I finally decided we should drive back over to Moss Beach, to the small hospital there and get myself checked at their small emergency room.  While I didn't have a fracture, there was a lot of soft tissue trauma and swelling and the doctor recommended I ice my leg and keep it elevated for a couple of days.  Knowing full well I would kill myself on crutches, I declined those when the doctor suggested crutches.  After chile rellenos and tamales at Tres Amigos, we went back to Pigeon Point where I spent a pretty uncomfortable night, in spite of my pain medication.

The Pillar Point Light Station began service in November 1872.  It is one of the tallest lighthouses in the United States and its light continues to guide sailors safely through Pacific waters.  While the lighthouse is no longer open to the public, the grounds are open and the hostel provides overnight stays in its facilities, complete with a shared kitchen, bathrooms and a large living room, all for a very nominal fee.

Talk about being a klutz!!!

Pigeon Point Lighthouse and Hostel

Hostel living room

Hostel dining area

Kitchen area

Yellow lupine

Ground cover

This morning, we decided to forego our stay at the hostel in Montara since we checked out of Pigeon Point at 10AM and couldn't check into Montara until 3PM.  My leg was throbbing like crazy and I really needed to keep it elevated.  The staff there were so nice and did not penalize me a night's stay as indicated in their brochure.  Silvia and I will definitely return at another time.