Archive for August, 2010
Holly's Lighthouse Cafe in Pacific Grove, California
Whenever we go on our travels I always do a search for somewhere to get breakfast on the way. Our destination on this trip is Big Sur so I started my search in Monterey. One thing I check is the reviews and one place place really caught my attention – Holly’s Lighthouse Cafe in Pacific Grove. The reason being their oatmeal is made with steel-cut oats. We just had to investigate.
Pacific Grove is a nice little town. It is on the coast between Monterey and Carmel but a lot less touristy than either. Holly’s Lighthouse Cafe is on Lighthouse Avenue, which is the main street. There are a lot of interesting shops along the way but they are all closed at 7 am.
Holly’s Lighthouse Cafe is a charming place with huge plant pots outside the door. We were the first customers so had the pick of all the tables. We chose the one in the window.
It is not your typical diner – no booths at all but two, four and one eight seater tables plus four seats at the counter. All the tables have blue checked plastic tablecloths. Every table has a small vase with fresh flowers.
The menu is extensive and there are two boards showing specials. Of course I had the steel-cut oatmeal with toast ($5.99). As usual I asked for wheat toast and was offered a choice. They have a walnut wholewheat toast so I had to try that. Tom went for one of the specials, an Eggs Benedict with Canadian bacon ($11.25). The coffee by the way was very good ($1.75).
With ‘lighthouse’ in the name of the cafe, that was the obvious theme for the decor. A couple of large pictures depicted lighthouses and a shelf, which ran the length of one wall, was crammed with all manner of model lighthouses. Right next to us was a 4 foot high wooden lighthouse with shelves cut into it. Of course each shelf sported a model of a lighthouse. There were several other photos, including an old one showing the Winston Hotel which originally stood on the site. Also a large photo of Holly’s and a black and white photo of a surfer.
A local radio station played softly in the background. It is amazing how fast the cafe filled up and muted chatter was going on all around. Along with the cheerful server, it all created pleasant ambience.
My oatmeal came in a round bowl and it looked the real deal. The brown sugar and raisins were served in small white ceramic bowls and the milk in a small white ceramic jug. The walnut toast came on a plate with the oatmeal. Tom’s Eggs Benedict looked very attractive. Such a pity one of the eggs was a little undercooked and Tom found a hair in it halfway through his meal. My oatmeal was good but it could have been a little warmer. The toast though was crispy and delicious.
The restroom (directions, turn left at the lighthouse) was different. It was small and narrow but it had been artistically painted. One wall depicted ivy. The wall by the sink had a geometric donut and coffee cup and saucer pattern. On another wall a small portrait in a frame had been painted and the end wall had a window painted on it with a beach view. Almost unnoticed at the top of the painting was a small plane advertising Holly’s Cafe.
Would we go there again? Probably. I guess we were unlucky to have a hair show up in our food and we probably should have mentioned it at the time.
Holly’s Lighthouse Cafe
602 Lighthouse Ave
Pacific Grove, CA 93950
August 29 2010 | Breakfast Log | No Comments »
Fillmore District, San Francisco
A day off. Where shall we go? We decided San Franciso needed another visit as we haven’t been there for a while.
We checked to see what was going on at both the de Young and the Legion of Honor museums but their combined website was very confusing. ‘The Birth of the Impressionists’ was due to open the next day but there were no details about what was on today. As it was a Tuesday, we wanted to know if either were even open but Tom couldn’t even find out that information.
In the end we set off with no clear idea where we would end up. For breakfast we stopped at the Lakeside Cafe on Ocean in the Merced Manor district. We have eaten here before so we know the food is good, if a little pricey. They have soothing classical music playing in the background and the surroundings are nice.
After breakfast we made our way in the general direction of the Fillmore district. We got a little lost because there were not too many allowable left turns but we eventually arrived on Fillmore Street. The only parking was at a meter where the limit was one hour at a cost of $2.
We walked up one side of Fillmore and down the other. There are some very nice shops; we passed small, high end dress and shoe shops, elegant furniture stores and loads of beauty parlors with exotic names. In just three blocks there are five coffee shops. Along with the ubiquitous Starbucks and Peet’s, there was Tully’s Coffee Shop, The Royal Ground Coffee and Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf.
I’ve had great trouble finding decent and stylish greeting cards and when I spotted Paper Source I made a beeline for it. Just inside a whole array of suitable cards so I bought four of them. One day I will write a list and make a special trip to a shop like Paper Source to buy a year’s supply. At the back of the shop you could purchase all kinds of paper, including blank cards and envelopes to make your own greetings cards. What particularly caught our eye on the way out were racks of beautiful Japanese paper but they were about $10 a sheet. The shop smelt of paper, which was very pleasant.
The next shop we wandered into was Browser Books. Neither of us can resist a bookshop and this one had lots of interesting reads. I’m reading Stieg Larsson’s ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ on my Kindle at the moment (who isn’t?) and Browser Books had it prominently displayed along with the next one called ‘The Girl who Played with Fire’. Another book which promises to be good is ‘Little Bee’ by Chris Cleave. Maybe that will be my next purchase closely followed by ‘Stones into Schools’ by Greg Mortenson, which is the sequel to ‘Three Cups of Tea’. Amazingly just up the road from the bookshop at The Clayton Theater they were advertising the film, ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ (we later saw that film and it’s very good).
All this meandering up and down Filmore brought us close to running out of time at the meter so we popped a few more coins in as we passed.
Fillmore Street heading down towards San Francisco Bay
Tom wanted to walk up a little further to take some shots of the Bay where Fillmore suddenly dips downhill. I remember the first time Tom brought me to that point and my stomach just plummeted and now we always bring first time visitors to San Francisco to give them a thrill as we crest the hill and plunge down the other side.
At the junction of Broadway and Fillmore though there was road construction going on. A massive backhoe was making light work of picking up large slabs of tarmac and dumping them into the back of a truck. At the same time, concrete was being pumped in to fill the hole and two guys were busy spreading it. If was an efficiently coordinated effort while traffic was being directed around the construction site. A Muni inspector was on duty to lower the arms of the trolleys as they approached the junction so they could maneuver around the operation. It was fascinating to watch.
Our last stop was at Peet’s coffee house. We sat for ten minutes enjoying a cup of coffee (Tom) and a hot chocolate (me) before getting back to the car just as the expired flag popped up.
Our journey home did not take too long at all and we noticed the thermometer rise from 60 – 80 degrees. It’s true what they say about how much colder San Francisco is in the summer so if you are visiting during June to September don’t forget to bring some warmer clothing.
August 20 2010 | Neighborhoods and Special Places | No Comments »
Java House Restaurant, San Francisco
The Java House Restaurant is somewhere not to miss if you are ever near AT&T Park in San Francisco. For one thing, according to the plaque outside, it has been around since 1912 and is the oldest eatery on the Embarcadero. Constructed entirely of wood, it is more like a shack. The outside is covered in posters, mostly to do with baseball, but also a poster for the movie ‘I Love You Man’. If it is good enough for Herb Caen and Willie Mays, then it is good enough for me.
Inside you order at the counter. The menu is very basic and I warn you in advance, it is a greasy spoon. All the egg dishes have three eggs so high doses of the wrong kind of cholesterol. Obviously no oatmeal. There were some specials on the board but they didn’t appeal to us. We both ordered the cheese omelet with hash browns and toast ($7.50).
Seating is in three areas, a couple of tables near the counter, a side room and six tables outside on the sidewalk. We chose the side room where there were three sorts of chairs. All the furniture was a bit tacky to say the least. One thing I noticed was the sticky floor (and the table top was almost as sticky). Can’t complain about the view though, as we looked out over a marina with a collection of desirable small boats.
What about the decor? It can only be called a hodgepodge. Beer adverts were everywhere including a Coors frieze going round the walls and across the ceiling. Lots of signed photos of Giants baseball players. One outstanding feature in the side room was a large cut out sculpture on the wall of a cartoon couple jiving, dressed in clothes of the fifties. I wonder if it has been there since then?
After a false alarm when we thought Tom’s name was called, we collected our food from the counter. It came on a pink plastic oval plate. The hash browns were more like country potatoes and the omelet didn’t look like it was big enough to have three eggs in it but what do I know? The toast was buttered and placed on the same plate. We had to go get some jam from a side counter. The selection was not great.
My omelet was a tad undercooked but it tasted fine. Tom really liked the potatoes and the coffee was OK. We cleared our plates though, with just a greasy film remaining.
I made the trip to the restroom with great trepidation, which turned out to be fully justified. It was not the worst but, in the recent past, I can only think of one other which was worse. Would we go there again? Not to eat I don’t think but maybe for the coffee.
Java House Restaurant
Pier 40, The Embarcadero, San Francisco CA 94107
August 13 2010 | Breakfast Log | 2 Comments »
Motorcycles lined up at The 19th Hole in Tres Pinos
We spent the weekend in San Juan Bautista and it certainly was a hot one. Thank goodness the temperatures in San Juan were at least ten degrees cooler than in San Jose.
As we spent the weekend with Don and Arlene, Tom’s Dad and his wife, and they were not arriving until midday, we didn’t leave home until 11 am. Of course we encountered a lot of traffic at that time of the day and ended up taking a detour down Monterey Road – which is a more scenic route compared to 101. Eventually Monterey Road ran out and we were back on 101. We ran into really heavy traffic again just one mile from the San Juan turn off. Lots of people were heading for the Monterey Peninsula.
Arlene had a good idea for lunch. The 19th Hole in Tres Pinos had been featured in the local paper and it sounded like it would be a good place to eat. None of us had ever been there so it would be an adventure. We found the place easily as it is right on Highway 25, but we were in for a surprise. Parked outside were about 100 gleaming Harley Davidsons, with more arriving by the second. They were lined up on both sides of the road in neat rows. They were all different, which I found amazing. The predominant colors were back and silver chrome of course but there were some red and blues scattered amongst them.
The bikers and their passengers were thronged outside on the deck and in the bar, all holding bottles of beer and chatting loudly. Most of them were dressed in black jeans with studded belts and black tops. Some of them sported colorful bandanas; lots of them – including the women – had tattoos and the majority of the men were bearded. They looked intimidating but were a friendly bunch. We admired their bikes and asked questions and they were only too happy to show off how they had customized their prized possessions.
Catching the eye of someone behind the bar didn’t take too long and we were shown into the restaurant. What a difference. Here was all peace and tranquility as it was completely empty of customers. We took a table by the window where we could look onto the desk and watch the bikes passing. Even though it was quiet where we were sitting, the level of excitement vibrated all around.
Our server was very sweet and when we asked why there were so many bikers, he told us all about The Poker Run. Poker runs are a favorite pastime of bikers. The object is to stop at 5-7 several points along a route – most of the stops are at bars – and collect a card. The highest hand at the end receives a prize. There is an entry fee and the event is held to raise money for a particular charity.
Of course I looked online when I got home. This poker run was organized by the Top Hatters, who are based in Hollister. Now Hollister has been a magnet for bikers for many years. Back in 1947, on July 4th, an estimated 3,000 bikers descended on Hollister and things got a little out of hand. From what I have read they didn’t cause much damage but they partied all weekend. The media got wind of the event and turned up. Two weeks later Life Magazine ran a full page photo of a drunk biker sitting on a bike surrounded by empty beer bottles. An eye witness said it was a set up:
“‘I saw two guys scraping all these bottles together, that had been lying in the street. Then they positioned a motorcycle in the middle of the pile. After a while this drunk guy comes staggering out of the bar, and they got him to sit on the motorcycle, and started to take his picture.”
To read more, go here. Of course “The Wild Ones”, made in 1954 starring Marlon Brando, was based on that weekend and the reputation of bikers has been tarnished from that point on. I have always found bikers to be courteous and think they are much maligned. Apart from anything else, they raise a lot of money for charity.
Meanwhile, back at the 19th Hole, we all ordered beer – what else could we possibly drink? Tom and I shared a tri-tip sandwich, which was served in a basket with French fries. Mmmm.. it was good.
Back in San Juan we stopped off at the newly opened Vertigo Coffee Shop . We wrote about Vertigo in this post. We found Dimitri was busy painting the
The beautiful San Juan Bautista Mission
trellis outside and Kitty in the shop. Inside the place had been transformed. The first thing you see when you walk in is the pastry cabinet displaying goodies from La Boulanger – and very good they looked too. On the wall was a blackboard displaying all the different drinks available. On the counter a coffee machine and young boy and girl taking orders and making the drinks. Don and Arlene had an iced coffee, Tom a Macchiato – which is an expresso with a tiny bit of milk or foam – and I had a hot chocolate, which came in a large cup and saucer. Of course they only serve coffee roasted by Dimitri. [Update: Vertigo Coffee Shop has its Grand Opening on August 14-15]
Kitty came and over to talk to us and recounted some of the challenges they faced with getting the coffee shop up and running. Before the could open, the concrete floor had to be replaced because a former tenant used chemicals which had dissolved some the the concrete and made it unstable. Dimitri and Kitty had both learned that a lot of hard work, agony and frustration is involved in running a business but there is also a lot of satisfaction. The shop used to open at 6 in the morning but now it opens at 5. There had been a huge demand by potential customers for the shop to open earlier so they could get coffee on their way into work. It’s a longday for Kitty because it is late in the evening before she makes it home.
It has been beautifully decorated and, on the walls, original paintings were displayed. They were all done by the same artist and were available for sale. Kitty was telling us some of their plans. Soon they will have some squishy sofas in and in the near future they hope to get their coffee roaster installed, which will be fantastic. We all enjoyed our visit, and the coffee of course, and we wish them well in the future.
In the evening we walked into town and had dinner at Jardines de San Juan. It is a Mexican restaurant and has a lovely garden. Tables are set in shady spots and little nooks. The sound of live music wafted around the garden. Arlene and I wandered around until we found the source, a solo guy playing a Peruvian harp. He made wonderful music. We selected a table on the veranda. The service was a bit erratic and the menu didn’t look very exciting. The setting though was perfect and we thoroughly enjoyed sitting there watching the world go by. Pity the food was not memorable.
The next morning we had breakfast in the Mission Cafe on 3rd Street. We have had many breakfasts here and will undoubtedly have many more in the future. After breakfast we had a little walk around the town and found a very small farmers market on Washington Street. It hasn’t been running long and they only had six stalls. We bought some white nectarines which tasted really good.
Afterwards we went for a drive south of San Juan and found ourselves on Mission Vineyard Road. We drove a little way through farmland and then turned down a road which lead to St Francis Retreat. Boldly we drove through the gate and ventured up the drive. It was very pleasant inside but we did not see a soul around. There were cars about so presumed that, as it was a Sunday, everybody would be attending church. We left the way we came, driving out slowly so as not to disturb anyone.
The view from Fremont Peak
At the end of Mission Vineyard Road, we turned left onto what eventually became San Juan Canyon Road. We were on our way to Fremont Peak, which is the highest point around. It was a scenic drive and the higher we climbed the more distant panoramas we could see. Eventually we reached a car park. The sun was shining down and it felt like the hottest day of the year so far.
I strolled over to an information board which explained how Fremont Peak obtained its name. It was originally called Gavilan Peak after the Spanish name for hawk but renamed after the American soldier, Captain John Charles Fremont. In 1846, when the area was part of Mexican province of Alta California, Fremont, along with a small group of soldiers and accompanied by his guide, Kit Carson, planted the American flag on the top of the peak and built a small fort nearby. His action nearly provoked a battle but Fremont saw that he would be greatly outnumbered if the Mexicans attacked and he escaped with his men.
There was a trail nearby to the top of the peak so decided to walk along it for a bit, leaving Tom, Arlene and Don in the car park. The peak did not look that far but it was deceiving. Nevertheless I kept going for a while, being amazed how far I could see the nearer I got to the top. I did not have any water with me and the climb was steep. Unfortunately I did not quite make it to the to because I had brought no water with me. I realized how stupid I was to attempt to climb in such hot weather without any water, so turned round and walked back down. No doubt we will make the trip again and I will make sure I am better prepared.
Our day rounded off nicely by cooking up hot dogs and enjoying a nice salad in Don and Arlene’s backyard.
August 09 2010 | Special Places | No Comments »
Duxbury Reef
Neither Tom nor I had ever heard of Duxbury Reef so we were intrigued when we saw mention of it. Once we found out where it was – Bolinas, and there were some wonderful tide pools there, we just knew we had to check it out.
If you are going to explore tide pools, then the best time to visit is when there is a low tide. A minus low tide is even better. To find out about tides, you have to consult the time tables. An online timetable is here. Consulting the tide tables can be a bit confusing. First you need to know where the nearest tide readings are taken. For Duxbury Reef it is either Point Reyes or Bolinas Lagoon (both of the links will open up in Bolinas Lagoon). Then you look for the date. As we have to visit on a Saturday or Sunday, it narrows our choices considerably. Then you check for time of day you will be visiting and look for a minus sign which denotes a minus tide. One other thing to check, make sure the year is correct. First time around on another site, it was for the year 2006 so I had to search to see how to change the year. The Saturday of our visit the tide was -0.7 at 7.29 a.m. – the lowest early morning weekend tide for the rest of the year.
Saturday morning we were up at 4.15 and on the road by 5. Tom checked the weather so knew we would probably encounter fog. And we certainly did. San Francisco was shrouded with the stuff. Driving across the Golden Gate Bridge the towers were lost to view with only the merest hint of Alcatraz off the the right. Negotiating Highway 1 in the Marin Headlands was a challenge and as we zig-zagged our way along the coast we were aware that the ocean was nearby but only caught odd glimpses of the water through breaks in the fog. The steep drop-offs were passed without my stomach plummeting.
It was gratifying to see that indeed there was a very low tide, especially when we drove past Bolinas Lagoon. Vast mud flats were visible out in the middle. Lots of egrets were paddling in the mud searching for their breakfast.
Just past the end of the lagoon, we turned left towards Bolinas. There aren’t any signs, you have to know that Bolinas is there. At the next junction, where we turned left again, there was a sign which simply said – ‘Entering a socially acknowledged nature-loving town’. This sums up Bolinas.
Of course we checked out where Duxbury Reef was and even looked at a map. It seemed easy enough to find but, you’ve guessed right,
Heading down to Duxbury Reef
we became a little lost. We took a few wrong turns and ended up a couple of times in a cul-de-sac and once the road was completely closed off due to a landslide. Eventually we returned to Mesa Road and somehow found our way to Elm Road. At the end of Elm Road we turned left onto Ocean Parkway and ran into a fairly large car park at the end of the road. Success, we had reached the right place.
There was just one other car there. I did expect there to be more people around. After all it is the weekend and a minus tide so why weren’t there more people? I can only assume that it is a combination of not many people having heard of Duxbury Reef and it being difficult to find.
A short trail led down to the beach and there in front of us was a large area of exposed tide pools. Only one other person and his dog were in sight. It was a bit chilly on the beach and visibility out to sea was not good but with my hooded sweatshirt on it wasn’t too bad.
Duxbury Reef tide pool
I started out to explore the reef. The rocks were covered with slippery seaweed so walking and clambering over them was a slow process. It didn’t matter though as I was not in a great hurry. There were lots of lots of tide pools ranging from tiny crevices to larger expanses of clear water. Negotiating a route to the edge of the ocean was not in a straight line. Some of the inlets were quite large and finding an easy way across at a narrower point or by using stepping stones took time. Of course each tide pool had to be scrutinized as I passed. To get the most out of them, you have to stand very quietly for about five minutes as minute fish swim under cover and tiny crabs scuttle out of sight as you approach. By not moving for a while, they all venture out again and you can then study them.
At first I thought some of molluscs were attached to the rock but then noticed that some of them were moving very, very slowly. Then a tiny leg would appear and then another and I realized that they were hermit crabs. I read a fascinating fact about hermit crabs. As they grow larger they need to move into a bigger shell and a sort of line develops around an empty shell so when one hermit crab exits its too small shell for a larger one, there is already another hermit crab waiting to inhabit the one that had just been vacated. I wonder how they communicate to each other?
I noticed that there were a lot of one sort of mollusk which I couldn’t identify. When writing this post I tried to find out what they were. I can tell you what they weren’t – cockles, mussels, whelks, barnacles or limpets. Comparing our photographs with images online, we think they were sea snails but if anybody out there disagrees, please send a comment. We saw a lot of sea anemones clustered together on the rocks. When they are closed they look very nondescript and uninteresting. Brush against them with your shoe and they tighten up even further. But when they open up they are beautiful. We saw several large green sea anemones waving their tentacles. Don’t be tempted to touch them because they sting.
Bicycle and stuff in the charming little village of Bolinas
For most of our time there we had the place to ourselves, then a couple and their four children arrived and were busily exploring the tide pools. The children were fascinated by everything they saw. Not that they were close enough for us to hear what they were saying but could tell by the way they were crouching and pointing excitedly. It was a pleasure to watch them.
While Tom continued to take photos, I walked back up to the beach and wandered further along the sand. As it was called Agate State Beach Park, I was on the lookout for agate. I wasn’t quite sure what agate looked like but that didn’t stop me looking. I don’t think I found any agate but I may have seen a small piece of amethyst in a piece of honeycomb rock. Just wish I’d taken a photo of it. Tom caught up with me and I showed him the rock. He didn’t know whether it was anything to get excited about.
On the way back to the car we took a little detour along a trail that led to the top of the bluffs. We couldn’t see down to the beach very well but we think the reef extends some way down the coast. Perhaps we did not explore all the tide pools. Maybe if we had walked south along the beach we would have discovered more. The trail took us back to the car park.
Time to go and find something to eat . We drove into Bolinas and went into Coast Cafe. We have eaten several times there and like the food. Even though it is a little pricey, the quality of the food and the ambiance is well worth it.
August 04 2010 | Special Places | 2 Comments »
