| This blog’s been quiet, along with the rest of my usual online haunts, because I went on a road trip. Now I’m back with exciting tales and pictures.
First we flew into Los Angeles, my first time on the west coast! LA was sprawling, the traffic was as awful as I’d heard it was, everything was crazy-expensive. I got to see my buddy Gary, who I don’t see nearly often enough, we ate amazing food, I got to see the Hollywood Hills, the Hollywood sign (I am such a tourist), Griffith Observatory (mmm… space stuff), and Venice Beach (glorious spectacle of crazy tourists, truckloads of marijuana, and muscle men in thongs!). We also went drinking at some fun bars and I caught sight of Adam Goldberg and Wilco’s Nels Cline (Yay obscure celebrity sightings! Better than A-list celeb sightings even.). I made out with my wife in a photo booth. |
 My wife in ridiculous shades on Venice Beach |
- View of LA Hills from Griffith Observatory
Because I’m a foodie, I have lots to report about the local eateries. We ate lunch at Vegan Glory, which serves up Thai vegan food, as well as vegan versions of typical southern Cali fare (tacos, burritos, avocado on EVERYTHING, etc). Yum! Everything was awesome, but the portions were mammoth, so we probably gained 20 lbs there. We also got vegan gelato at Scoops (coffee cardamom and banana oreo, mmm). The most impressive meals were at Madeline’s Bistro and Fatty’s and Co. Both were completely fantastic. Fatty’s had the most perfect kale I’ve ever eaten. I know kale sounds like an odd thing to rave about but trust me, this kale was perfect.
| Next we made our way up the PCH to San Francisco. Locals told me this was an eight hour undertaking. Try thirteen! If I were to do this again I’d get on the PCH north of San Luis Obispo. It’s less scenic south of there, and the traffic is just awful. It took 3 hours to get out of the LA area! Malibu was just a beach, I could have passed on it. All of this said, the trek was worth it. The views on PCH are totally not to be missed. Completely breathtaking. The coolest stop along the way (and there are lots of great scenic overlooks) is Ragged Point, where you are invited to hike down the side of a cliff! We gave that a go but gave up about halfway down; it was taking too long and falling and killing ourselves seemed likely. We were so much in awe of this drive that we’re already talking about when we can go back! |
 Totally insane cliff you can "hike" at Ragged Point. |
Spectacular views along PCH
Romance on the PCH
Unfortunately, the drive took so long that our original dinner plans got changed and we ended up eating at a pescatarian restaurant called Weird Fish. Ok, let me be the first to say that my new rule is no more eating in restaurants named after things that sound like they will make you sick. About an hour after a seemingly innocuous vegan taco and a more menacing plate of fried pickles, my wife got violently ill. I blame the fried pickles but she insisted we try them since it was the weirdest thing on the menu. Sometimes weird is not good.
San Francisco was grittier and dirtier than I expected it to be. There are only 2 bridges into the city and one was closed during our visit, making getting around a real pain in the ass. N.B.: driving around Oakland while lost late at night and trying to get back across the bay is every bit as terrifying as I’d always imagined. Everything was crazy-expensive, all the restaurants were closed for Labor Day, and I wanted to throw my GPS out the window. On the bright side, the weather was lovely and once we got out of the city we had an amazing time hiking to the top of redwood trees in Muir Woods! We also drove out to Napa and ate at Ubuntu. Ubuntu’s chef was in Food & Wine’s top 20 last year and for good reason. The entire meal was completely perfect. I can’t wait to get this guy’s cookbook!
Peak of Muir Woods
Beautiful Salad at Ubutu, garnished with "beet dirt". Dehydrated beets and hazelnuts ground into edible "dirt".
The restaurant we were most excited to visit was San Francisco’s Millennium. This all-vegan gourmet restaurant didn’t disappoint; we actually stayed in SF an extra day just to eat here. The food and cocktails were all spectacular. The pecan-crusted tempeh was perfection.
Millennium Black Bean Torte
Millennium Heirloom Tomato Salad
| One interesting and terrifying thing about San Francisco is that it is ridiculously hilly. When heading towards Golden Gate bridge you will find that the end of the street you’re driving on is not ahead of you, it’s underneath you! It looked like we were driving on a roller coaster. The streets are so steep you wonder how your car is actually going to stay affixed to them. This was the one time I didn’t miss my Yaris. I think it’s little engine might have burst. After San Francisco, we made our way up to Oregon and spent some time in Ashland, home of the Oregon Shakespeare festival. |
 Crazy steep San Francisco street. |
Ashland is this small-town Utopia full of friendly artsy people. The streets are lined with independent shops and picturesque cottages with vibrant gardens. In this town fresh herbs like sage and rosemary grow wild. The sidewalks are lined with wild blackberry bushes and adorable little deer walk right up to you on the street. The city is full of public parks and surrounded by a tapestry of mountains and forests. I’m totally jealous in case you can’t tell. I want to live in Ashland, Oregon! My wife’s friend from college works at the Shakespeare festival and scored free tickets for us to one of the shows. After that we got delicious wine at a wine bar called Liquid Assets.
Friendly wild deer in Ashland's Lithia Park
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Our last stop was Portland, Oregon. It was quite the vegan mecca, which was great for us. The best meal was at Portobello’s. We got truffle pate and really impressive vegan tiramisu. We also got to explore the International Rose Test Gardens. Roses galore! We had great fun at cocktail bar called Saucebox. A little too much fun really, the following morning was not so pretty. The cocktails were delicious though, I think our mistake was trying to drink all of them.
Although the trip was fun and action packed, we completely missed our cats. I think my wife missed them so much that it made her a little insane, because she said “we should get Oliver a phone. You know, so we can call him and see how he’s doing when we go out of town.” My darling, you have officially veered off into crazy cat lady territory. |
 Rose Garden |
