Thursday, April 2, 2015

Second Week San Diego

 

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I’m sure it comes as no surprise that we continued our quest for the best beer in San Diego during our second week here at Mission Bay. We did slow it down a bit but only because we grew weary of the traffic. The good thing is many of the breweries do sell bottles so we picked up a few to enjoy at home.

One evening we did a repeat of Pizza Port with Hector and Brenda (check out his great moon shots on their latest post). Jim and Brenda were craving another Suavecito, but much to their disappointment they were out of it, which gave us a chance to try something new.

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We’ve been doing a lot of biking to keep out of the traffic, but it’s challenging trying to avoid all the other bikers, walkers, skateboarders and inline skaters on some parts of the trails. Keeps you on your toes! On Sunday morning we decided to take a ride to the beaches of La Jolla. It was crowded but the coastline is just lovely along there, with all of the multimillion dollar homes along the bluffs. Mitt Romney has a house somewhere along here.

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Another day we drove to Escondido for a 4 mile hike in the Elfin Forest Recreational Reserve. We had a good workout hiking the Way-Up Trail to a couple of overlooks. Elfin forest is the term for the vegetation that covers most of the mountains in the southern half of California. It is also known as coastal shrub or chaparral, but elfin forest certainly has a nice ring to it. The beginning of the trail crosses Escondido Creek, then starts climbing for some nice views.

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It wasn’t the best trail we’ve ever hiked, but it just so happened to be 4 miles from Stone Brewing Company, so after our workout we stopped by for the tour and tasting. It was an informative and interesting tour, and we were surprisingly impressed with their beers. The Black IPA and Imperial Russian Stout were especially good.

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Yesterday afternoon Brenda came along with us to the Ocean Beach Farmer’s Market, while Hector stayed home tackling some computer problems. Ocean Beach is a funky little beach community, and that vibe is reflected in the market. There was not a huge selection of produce, but there were all kinds of other things, including lots of prepared foods, much of it vegan, which came as a nice surprise to us.

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We ended up taking home a couple of vegan tamales for dinner and they were quite tasty.

Brenda and I checking out the tamale stand. She decided to try some empanadas from another vendor.

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Since we found a parking space right in front of Culture Brewing Company we had to give it a try. Jim and Brenda had the Milk Stout, which was good but not as good as some others we’ve tried. I had a 3 ounce taster glass of the 3X IPA, which was really good, but at 11% alcohol a little goes a long way.

It’s hard to believe we are halfway through our month-long stay in San Diego already. On Saturday we are being joined by several friends, so we look forward to more adventures, and probably a little more beer tasting.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that our Panasonic camera finally completed its journey. We had been tracking its progress back to Texas from Yuma, and then on to San Diego, which took a couple weeks. It was scheduled for delivery Tuesday, and we saw the Fed Ex truck driving around the RV park but it didn’t stop at our site. A couple hours later we were heading off for a bike ride when the truck was coming back in. Jim stopped the driver and asked if they had a package for us. He said they found it in the back of the truck after they had already made their deliveries here, so it nearly escaped without being delivered to us once again. So we finally have it back and it seems to be working fine. Only time will tell.

9 comments:

  1. Oh, be still my beating heart! That picture of Jim along the bike path overlooking the ocean...I can hear and smell the ocean from here!

    Too bad the Panasonic didn't come with its own frequent flyer miles. GEESH!

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  2. Love the coastal shots, but what really got my attention was that tamale stand. Can you show me how you do the photo collages?

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  3. Elfin forest looks like a lovely place for a hike. And of course....you need to replenish those fluids you lost during the hike...hehe

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  4. Gorgeous coastal shots. With so many people everywhere I don't know how you kept them out of your pictures. Love the term Elfin Forest. Conjures up a whole different image from Chaparral. Sure hope your camera never has to leave home again given what a hard time it had getting back.

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  5. I've always preferred Elfin forest to scrub brush! If that camera could talk.........what an adventure!

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  6. Rebecca and I love San Diego and your posts are making it obvious we need to carve out some time to visit next winter. Jealous!

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  7. Hope all your patience with that panasonic proves to be worth it. You deserve some good photos from it after all this.

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  8. I'd like that coastline better without all the big houses. Love the name Elfin Forest to describe chaparral, that's what Yarnell is. Glad your wayward camera finally caught up to you.

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  9. Yes, one takes their life in their hands as you try to get around the area whether by bike or car. The bike path was mobbed on the weekends but usually we were pretty much alone on the weekdays. It's a great ride up to La Jolla isn't it as long as the cars their distance.

    Glad to see that you are having some fun time with Hector and Brenda. They are great people.

    Happy beer travels. Sounds like you are doing great job finding them all:)

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