Scenic Sunday - Pacific Coast Hang Gliding - July 24, 2011

With nice weather these days, hang gliders are soaring from the cliffs over the Pacific in
record numbers.  It's fun to watch the brightly colored craft, with their human passengers,
fly overhead, catching the updrafts, though sometimes they end up in the ocean!

I am participating in Scenic Sunday - check out the site and add you scenic shot

to join in the fun!

Mellow Yellow Monday #110 - and More - Santa Cruz and Sony Holland, February 28, 2011

Our beautiful California coast with its yellow blooms - we saw this all the way down to Santa Cruz

When I got the news that my beloved Sony Holland and her equally talented songwriter,

guitar virtuoso husband, Jerry Holland, were headed north for a two night gig, first in

Santa Cruz, 60 miles south of Daly City, then at the Rrazz Room in San Francisco, I 

contacted two friends and we decided to make a weekend of it.  We knew Sony's local

fans would head to Santa Cruz and it would be a family reunion for all of us. A weekend

of beautiful music, Holland style, with dear friends, was just the medicine I needed

right now.

My nurse practitioner friend, Kris, drove to my house from San Francisco and we

picked up Edith on the way.  Our trip started with a delightful surprise when we spotted

this little deer in a yard as we head out to the highway.  I was amazed since we were

in a residential neighborhood!  She was so cute, posing very nicely for us!



Just as we got into Santa Cruz, we stopped for lunch at Vasili's, as I have every time

for about the last twenty years. Vasili's is a wonderful Greek restaurant and it was

packed - as always!

Edith, who is part Greek, had to be photographed, of course, with the Greek flag!

We had about a five minute wait for a table.  That gave us enough time to carefully

look at  what everyone else was eating and we already had our orders decided by the

time we sat down.  All of us chose the same thing - the lamb shish kebab.   I also had

taramasalata, a dip made from fish roe.  I love it although I'm sure my primary care

 physician would tell me I should avoid it because of my hypertension.

Edith and Kris

Edith says she's going to drive down to eat here once a week!

Outstanding lamb kebab

Award winning red Greek wine for $18!

Kris and me, too full for dessert!

It was delicious, though, and I've never had better lamb shish kebab.  We washed it all

down with a nice award winning bottle of non-retsina ( never could get attached

to the taste ) of Greek red wine that cost only $18!

After lunch, we checked in to our hotel for a little nap.  It was so cold but the predicted

snow didn't materialize the whole weekend.  It was wonderfully bright and sunny.

Puffy Santa Cruz clouds

I did try to get online from the Hampton Inn but they had to have the absolute worst wi-fi

connection I've ever encountered.  I finally gave up and packed away my computer. 

We headed out early to get to the Kumbawah Jazz Club in plenty of time.  It was a good

thing because it was hidden away in a remote alley and we had difficulty finding it.  A

kind college student guided us so we were able to see our Sony Holland buddies and

catch up on gossip long before the show started.

I can't begin to say enough about Sony and Jerry's performance.  They are absolutely

fabulous on a bad day ( on the rare occasion they might have one ) but they were super

stars on Saturday.  Jerry has a new guitar - Sony joked that he still has time to return it

but, if the tunes he played on it are any indication, that guitar is definitely a keeper. 

When he accompanies his beautiful wife, there is no other musical instrument needed.

Sony sings all kinds of music, songs from the Great America songbook, country, blues,

the whole gamut - but where she makes chills run down your spine are when she

sings the incredible lyrics her husband has penned for her.  This man, in my humble

opinion, rivals - and even surpasses, the greats like Cole Porter.  He is a genius with

his lyrics.

Sony Holland

Jerry Holland

Edith and Sony

Sony and Carmen

Sony and Jo



Before I left for San Francisco, I had dowloaded a list of all the bars in Santa

Cruz, figuring we would go out and celebrate after Sony's show.  Well, the first

two reinforced what we already suspected.  We were not up to the UC Santa Cruz

college scene.  A block away, we could hear the music blaring and, once the

door opened at the club, we were blasted out into the street,   I looked at the

young man sternly and said, "I know you are someone's son so where would you

send your mother for a drink and some nice music?"  Within five minutes, we

were settled at a lovely spot, 515 Kitchen and Cocktails, where I had a fabulous

blend of tequilas and Parma Liquor, Edith drank only a ginger ale, and Kris had

a champage cocktail with Elderflower Liquor ( that is the yummiest stuff ).  We

shared some appetizers and were in bed by 2AM.

We had a beautiful coastal drive back to San Francisco, had another geat Sony

and Jerry Holland performance at the Rrazz Room, dinner at American Sushi House,

and now it's back to reality, packing and facing the future.

Sony at the Rrazz Room

Sony Holland fans

I am participating in Mellow Yellow Monday - check out the site and join in the fun!



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. 

Pacific Coast Scenes, near and in Pacifica, CA - 5/2/10

Pacific Coast Scenes - near and in Pacifica, CA - 5/2/10