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SF Bay Area Day Trip: Los Jardines to Pinnacles Nat’l Park to Phill’s Fish Market & Eatery

Thursday, January 12th, 2012

SF Bay Area Day Trip:

EAT, hike, EAT

I love figuring out great San Francisco Bay Area Day Trips.  This makes planning for when guests are in town much easier.  We also love to go out exploring, find a good spot to eat and then a beautiful place to walk it off and another unique eatery on the way home, if possible.  The first time we went to Pinnacles we drove through Hollister, CA and I realized that I was going to need a locals opinion on the best place to eat lunch in the area.  When I got home I talked to a friend whose parents live in Hollister and found out about Los Jardines Restaurant in San Juan Bautista.  Los Jardines is a Mexican restaurant with live musicians playing mandolin at lunchtime on the weekends.  This is a place you can sit outside and drink a local Hollister Apricot Margarita with chickens hopping around outdoors (we have not been there yet, sounds awesome though) which when we were there we didn’t see any chickens, but my friend claims they are usually there.

When we got to Pinnacles it was about 1:45pm and it was a nice day in January, perfect temperature for a hike because I can see that Pinnacles gets VERY HOT in the summer.  We did a five mile hike to the top and back down in a loop and the place is stunningly beautiful with expansive views (we did not do the caves hike this time).  Up top there are amazing rock climbing spots that hang right over the side of the mountain (intense). I’ve heard in the Spring that there are beautiful wildflowers.  On our way out it was about 5pm and the sun was setting.  The scenery was gorgeous as we drove past cattle in the fields with pink skies in the background (see the photographs above).

We headed to Phil’s at Moss Landing and if you haven’t been to Phill’s Fish Market and Eatery, you are missing out.  It is a great restaurant with tons of local seafood.  If you aren’t sure what to get, order the Award Winning Cioppino, Fish Tacos, or Dungeness Crab. Oh, you HAVE to get the Fire-roasted Artichokes for an appetizer to share, it so good.

Jardines de San Juan Restaurant (or Los Jardines)
115 Third Street
San Juan Bautista, Ca
Phone: (831) 623-4466

Open 7 days a week: Sunday-Thursday: 11:30 – 9:00pm | Friday-Saturday: 11:30 – 10:00pm

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Pinnacles Nat’l Park

Pinnacles National Monument
5000 Highway 146
Paicines, CA 95043-9762

Park Headquarters
(831) 389-4486

Visitor Information
(831) 389-4485

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Phil’s Fish Market & Eatery
7600 Sandholdt Rd.
Moss Landing, CA 95039

Phone: 831.633.2152

Posted in Around California, Out of Town, SF Bay Area Day Trips | 2 Comments »
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Ladies’ who Lunch? The Restaurant at Wente Vineyards, Livermore, CA: SF Bay Area Day Trip

Friday, May 27th, 2011

Do you need to pretend you are among the ladies who lunch, even though you have to head out on the one day of the weekend that you don’t actually have to work? This is California right … everyone works.  The Restaurant at Wente Vineyards is your spot for a ladies who lunch outing.  Wente is also a good place for dates with your honey, hubby, or daddy too (we saw all of the above).  The complimentary lunch valet also makes you feel like your out-for-lunch, aka on vaca.  You even get to head out of town a bit for a nice drive in the country to get there, a true San Francisco Bay Area Day Trip for sure, without having to go all the way to Napa or Paso Robles.  It is about a 45 minute drive from Mountain View and from Oakland to get out to Livermore, CA.  As you get closer to Livermore you will find fruit stands along the road.  We bought cherries along the way and had a cherry spitting contest, FYI, not at Wente (don’t get yourself kicked out).

We liked snacking on: Cayenne Spiced Roasted Nuts, Maple, Garden Herbs & Warmed Nicolau Farms Goat Cheese, Herbed Bread Crumbs.

We liked sipping on: SEASONAL COCKTAILS such as the Lavender Martini and local wines at Wente.

Posted in Around California, Eating Out, Out of Town, SF Bay Area Day Trips, South Bay - Silicon Valley | 1 Response »
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Squash Risotto with Buttered Apples & Sage: Ardenwood Historic Farms • Fall SF Bay Area Day Trip

Thursday, November 4th, 2010

Ardenwood Farms is like Colonial Williamsburg Lite. And not having a large family to pile out of a mini-van at Ardenwood Farms made us feel a bit like adults without kids at Disney Land.  We decided next time that we needed to rent some children for this colonial fall farm excursion on our SF Bay Area Fall Day Trip (or maybe parents would rent us, aka babysitters).  The reason we probably felt this awkward was because we still joined in all of the family activities without a family in tow.  I swear we didn’t jump ahead in line to make an herb sachet, or hop onto a pump-car on the train tracks, eat fruit off the trees, or take more than our share of popcorn from the sampling station or anything. However, jumping from one step of the kid filled straw bale pyramid to another step, while holding my husband’s hand instead of a small child’s hand, was kind of cute, I guess, like a first date or something.  After that initial experience, I was a bit underwhelmed and ready to go after just viewing the pumpkin patch.  Then, I was glad we stayed and paid to enter the historic farm with actors and everything.  We did opt out of the family filled spooky railroad ride and walked ahead to the historic farm re-enactment portion and watched the blacksmith and kids making herb filled sachets.   Then we wandered around the farm eating walnuts  from one tree and an apple from another and then checked out the animals and picked our own popcorn cobs from the cornfield.   From a mom visitor we found out that the weekend before there was a huge harvest event for families that attracted thousands of people.  We were then relieved that we hit the farm on a rainy Sunday, free from the crowds.

On the way out we stopped at the Perry’s organic farm market and bought a winter squash and a kabocha squash for our fall cooking tradition.  This year’s recipe happens to be a Gluten-Free Recipe.  Check out last year’s SF Bay Area Fall Day Trip yummy recipe Pumpkin Tagliatelle Recipe from baking pumpkins we bought at a pumpkin patch on HWY 1.

Squash Risotto with Buttered Apples, Creme Fraiche & Sage Recipe Click to continue »

Posted in Home Cookin', Main Dishes, SF Bay Area Day Trips, Salad | 2 Comments »
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SF Bay Area Day Trip: Larry’s Favorite Chai Tea in Felton + Touristy Fun!

Sunday, June 27th, 2010

If you are looking for a nice afternoon day trip with a foodie touch in the SF Bay Area hop in your car and head towards Santa Cruz but don’t go all the way to Santa Cruz.  You are going to exit in Scotts Valley at Mt. Hermon Road and drive towards Felton for your first stops.

San Francisco Bay Area Day Trip:

•This is an all-ages day trip folks!  So bring the fam or your friends along for the ride!

1st Stop: White Raven Coffee & Tea House in Felton for a cup of their Famous Larry’s Favorite Chai Tea!

  • They use vanilla soy milk to create their masterpiece.  Make sure you stir it constantly to limit the scalding as it heats to 160-180F but do not let it boil.  Also make sure you let your tea bag drip and press the rest of the liquid out after it steeps for 5 minutes to get all of the great flavors.  For Iced Chai brew it hot with vanilla soy milk and then let it cool down before you put it in the fridge. Watch this Larry’s Favorite Chai Brewing Video.
  • Iced Chai Mocha – add a scoop of Ghirardelli chocolate cocoa powder and stir.  They will make it for you at White Raven and it is a really nice combination of spices.
  • Cinnamon Chai Pudding Recipe – from Kellie’s Belly – would be great with this Chai Tea blend.

2nd Stop: Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park

3rd Stop: The Mystery Spot

Notes on the Trip:        ->

Click to continue »

Posted in Eating Out, SF Bay Area Day Trips, Santa Cruz | No Comments »
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More Than Just a Good Rolling Stones’ Song; Brown Sugar, SF Bay Area Day Trip to Oakland

Friday, November 27th, 2009

Brown Sugar Oakland, CA & An Oakland Day-Trip Itinerary

• A Creative Soul Food breakfast joint so good that your old-school grandmother and your hipster cousin from LA can come together and love every minute of it.  A bonus is also the fact that you won’t feel greasy or smell like the fryer when you leave.  The décor is very modern and has an updated tasteful diner feeling with a brown sugar color palette all around you.

Brown Sugar offers such specialties as Cornmeal Waffles and Fried Chicken, Pulled Pork Sandwich with Lime Slaw, Black-Eyed Pea Salad, Roast Pork Hash, and the Mac & Cheese.  You WILL wait in line to get a table at Brown Sugar because it is that popular even though it sits nearly by itself (at this point … hint, hint) in West Oakland.  You can watch the chef, Tanya Holland, prepare your food with precision alongside her other cooks in the kitchen.  I look forward to seeing the cook/chef who sports a green mohawk rockin’ out on the cooking channel with his own punk-rock palate show.

An Oakland Day Trip Itinerary – SF Bay Area Day Trip:

(Must go on a first Sunday of the month)

1st Stop Eat breakfast at Brown Sugar @ 8-10am

2nd Stop First Sunday of every month go to the Alameda Flea Market @ 10am-12pm

3rd Stop Go on a tour at Hangar One Distillery Tasting & Tour in Alameda @ 12noon – 6pm

  • Get Directions: http://www.hangarone.com/visit.html
  • Taste Creatively-Crafted Flavored Vodkas, Absinthe, & Whiskey
  • Take a tour with the Vodka Vixen
  • You can bring a picnic lunch or snacks to eat out front on the picnic table and admire the view of SF from across the bay

4th Stop (if you have time and feel up for it) Oakland Museum of California Sunday, 11 am–5 pm

  • Get Directions: http://www.museumca.org/directions
  • Get an overview of CA history in this interactive exhibit
  • See artwork made by CA artists (historical to contemporary)
  • Great Dorothea Lange Archives of photographs from the 1930’s

    Posted in Eating Out, Oakland, SF Bay Area Day Trips | No Comments »
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    Pumpkin Tagliatelle • From HWY 1 Pumpkin Patch to the Dinner Table: SF Bay Area Day Trip

    Tuesday, October 20th, 2009

    You have to start your own seasonal traditions and this is our new fall tradition.  For the past few years we have headed to the beautiful Rodoni Farms Pumpkin Patch on HWY 1 just north of Santa Cruz to grab a pumpkin for an “all pumpkin” dinner.

    The cute girls that sell the pumpkins at Rodoni Farms eyeball the size of your pumpkins and calculate the price as you walk up to pay.  Not only do they have a way with judging size, but they know a thing or two about their produce and always advise us to buy the Jarrahdale Pumpkin, light green in color, for making any pumpkin foods.  Last year we bought one that was so huge that it took about four Tupperware containers to store all of the puree.  So this year we chose a smaller pumpkin, which made a huge difference in our prep and clean-up time.  We were able to make the entire dish and a batch of chocolate chip pumpkin cookies with the smaller size pumpkin ($4 pumpkin) and still have leftovers for another dish and second batch of cookies.

    Recipe after the jump… Click to continue »

    Posted in Home Cookin', Main Dishes, SF Bay Area Day Trips | 2 Comments »
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