Date night in San Francisco

The following notable things happened today:

1. It rained. I am pretty sure this is the first time it has rained in San Jose since April or May. People on the East coast -- you really don't know what that's like. It's weird. This is definitely my first rain experience since Alaska.

2. We drove into San Francisco to go to a play. On the way, we decided to visit Bi-Rite Creamery, due to a) extremely positive reviews from friends and b) a gift card wedding gift from one of those friends. After spending about twenty minutes trying to find parking (grrrr), we finally made it. Salted caramel ice cream. Yummy.

3. On the way from Bi-Rite to the American Conservatory Theater, we almost got in a car accident. I had a slo-mo moment of watching the front of the car get closer and closer to the idiot who decided to pull out of their parking space on a major street without looking. Thank you, Subaru brakes. No damage done.

4. We got to the theater just in time to make it into our seats (we were literally running up the stairs) for the opening act of Rock 'n' Roll by Tom Stoppard. It was excellent.

5. We had dinner reservations at Canteen, and it was everything I had hoped. Canteen is this tiny restaurant in a diner space that was opened several years ago by a chef who'd been working at high-end Rubicon and decided to open his own space. There are four first courses, four second courses, three desserts, and three seating times -- that's it. There are maybe 19 seats. We sat at the counter. They sent out an amuse bouche of thinned goat cheese -- sort of a goat cheese soup -- with chopped raw apple. Then we got amazing fresh-baked melt-in-your-mouth brioche rolls (and by "fresh" I mean we had watched them pull them out of the oven about five minutes earlier). I had a salad of raw fall vegetables (wild mushrooms, celery, fennel, celeriac with pomegranate seeds, herbs and vinaigrette), and Stacey had pork tenderloin with figs. I had sole with tarragon; Stacey had steak tartare with a poached egg. I had their signature vanilla bean souffle, and it was perfect. Stacey had a pear and roquefort tart, which was perfect for her, since she always wants a cheese course for dessert (fool).

6. It is a Saturday night at 9:15 PM, and we are going to bed. Yes, we are that lame.

September

Yesterday, Stacey and I celebrated the end of the summer with a trip to Santa Cruz.  Our first stop was Bonny Doon Winery.  We have been buying their excellent wines for a while, so we were excited to finally make it to their tasting room in the mountains above Santa Cruz.  We tasted, among other things, a very interesting dry Orange Muscat and an amazing dessert wine called Le Vol des Anges.  Our visit might have been perfect had a bus full of screaming drunk winery-hoppers not arrived while we were there.  One woman stumbled across the floor, lost her shoe, and then ran out of the tasting room, stealing a bottle of Viognier Doux on the way.  Classy.

Next stop: Santa Cruz Boardwalk, which just celebrated its 100th birthday.  Santa Cruz has plenty to offer, including some great beaches and the beautiful campus of the University of California at Santa Cruz, but my wife is from the Jersey Shore, after all, so she does enjoy a good boardwalk.  We had fun riding the Logger's Revenge and playing pinball.  We also thought it would be fun to ride the Sky Gliders, below.  They moved slowly and looked tame.  Too bad we are both afraid of heights!  I think we hyperventilated the whole way.  They're higher than they look.

We also attempted a round of mini golf in the pirate-themed Neptune's Kingdom, which is delightfully tacky (see below.  That volcano "erupts" periodically, and cannons shoot smoke rings into the course).  But it was incredibly busy, and after waiting...and waiting...after the first two holes, we finally cut our losses and went to dinner.  Aaarrr!

Two weeks ago, I helped Loa, my cousin Jeff's wife, throw a baby shower for Jessica, my cousin Rick's wife.  Their daughter is due on October 20th.  I'm looking forward to meeting her!

At work, we are participating in a department-wide photo journal this month.  Since we work in seven different offices across the country, it gives us a chance to see what everyone else's work life looks like.  I thought I'd include a picture of the view from our library, below.  That's the Ferry Building and the Bay Bridge in the distance.

Labor Day in Marin County

For Stacey and me, Marin County has served mostly as a gateway to Sonoma County, its neighbor to the north and oenological superior. However, for our Labor Day outing, we wanted something slightly closer to home. So we headed up to San Francisco, over the Golden Gate Bridge and into Marin, with its million-dollar views and multi-million-dollar homes.

Our first stop was Muir Woods National Monument, so Stacey could finally see some redwood trees. I have been to Muir Woods before, and as I recalled, the drive there is as good as the destination. From the peninsula, you drive through San Francisco and over the bridge. On a clear day like today, the view is stunning. Once in Marin, the road winds through eucalyptus trees, the scent of which finds its way into your car even with the windows closed. Eventually, you are driving along the edge of a valley with views of the Pacific Ocean (you can barely see it in the picture below).

Muir Woods is lovely but tends to be crowded. Of course, today was no exception -- but it was a nice walk nonetheless.

And we saw deer! Three of them were eating along the banks of a stream with no concern for the hoard of tourists snapping photos a few feet away from them.

When we'd had our fill of nature, we drove into the town of Sausalito. Sausalito, with its ferry from San Francisco, its views of the city, and its downtown shopping, is a major tourist destination. Somehow we managed to spend the afternoon there without getting anywhere near the crowds -- even though the Sausalito Art Festival was going on this weekend.

Our primary destination was Fish., a small restaurant on the docks that's run by a former fine-dining chef with a staunch commitment to sustainable seafood. It was worth the wait in line for our food: a Miyagi oyster po' boy with a spicy chili-lime slaw, and a crab roll with fresh-cut shoestring fries. The po' boy was delicious, but the crab roll, below, stole the show. This may be the West coast's best answer to New England's lobster rolls: a buttered and grilled roll (from local bakery Acme Bread Company) filled with a pile of Dungeness crab, dressed in just a bit of butter and some chives. Better than a lobster roll? I'm not telling.

After lunch, our path back to the parking lot just happened to lead past the Heath Ceramics Factory Store. Heath is a local ceramics manufacturer that's been making simple, beautiful tableware for sixty years. They aren't cheap, but the pieces are timeless and sturdy -- and luckily, you can buy discounted seconds and discontinued items at the factory store. I picked out the vases below. I love them.

Happy fall, everyone! OK, I know it doesn't start until September 22nd, but it might as well be fall once we're past Labor Day. My first week of school went well: one down, fourteen to go!

Ketchikan, Alaska and Victoria, British Columbia

Ketchikan was our last Alaskan stop on the cruise. Despite being one of the rainiest towns in Alaska, it was ultimately our sunniest destination.

The picture above is of Ketchikan's harbor. Below is a picture of Creek Street, which used to be Ketchikan's Red Light District. Now it is made up of tourist shops selling t-shirts, reindeer sausage, Native art and salmon. You can't see it in the picture, but the creek is literally teeming with salmon swimming upstream to spawn.

We took an early morning boat ride to the Misty Fjords National Monument, which is pretty much what it sounds like. It was beautiful.

I've included our trip to Victoria, British Columbia on this post because -- well, it just wasn't interesting enough to merit its own. For a while, I have wanted to travel to Vancouver Island (where Victoria is located) to visit Sooke Harbour House, an inn about an hour from Victoria whose restaurant is internationally renowned both for the quality of its food and its commitment to local ingredients. Almost all of the food served there is grown on Vancouver Island (much of it in Sooke Harbour House's kitchen garden), or caught in the waters nearby. Alas, our ship was only docked in Victoria for a short time, and a two-hour round-trip drive plus four-course meal was not in the cards. Instead, we took a leisurely horse-drawn trolley tour of the city. That's the legislative building, below.

We have now been back in California for a week and have settled back into real life. My fall semester begins tomorrow, so I am trying to get myself organized and mentally prepared for the new school year, which will be my last. I hope you've all enjoyed your summers and have interesting plans for the fall. We probably won't be up to much beyond work and school, but we'll try to keep you posted.

Glacier Bay National Park

On Thursday, we cruised through Glacier Bay National Park. It was pretty mind-blowing. First of all, glaciers. Big, blue, jagged glaciers making spooky creaking noises and sending showers of ice down into the water now and then. That's Margerie Glacier, above, behind me, and below, in all her glory. She puts Mendenhall -- or at least the view of him I had -- to shame.

Second of all, the air smelled amazing -- the way it smells when you've just walked outside after a big snow. I guess I miss that smell! New Englanders probably got sick of it this winter, but I'm deprived.

There were snow-capped mountains everywhere, dark clouds and light breaking through dramatically. Ice floating in the water, just in case you forgot where you were. The best part? Since we had balcony rooms on the ship, we could see everything drift by from the comfort of our bed, if so desired. Laziness without missing a single scenic view. Perfect!

Skagway, Alaska

Our next port was Skagway, Alaska (pop. 850, I think I heard).  Supposedly the little town hasn't changed much since the Gold Rush.  It might look the same on the outside, but the shops in Skagway are mostly tourist junk: Eskimo ornaments, t-shirts, knick-knacks, fudge.  I might have enjoyed it more had it not been pouring rain.  Or maybe not.

However, it was in Skagway that we boarded the White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad, which climbs almost 3,000 feet to the border of British Columbia, along the same route thousands of gold-seekers traveled on foot in the 1890's (the tracks would eventually lead you into the Yukon).  I was a little worried that the train trip would be lame.  I was wrong.

Photographs (my photographs, anyway) cannot quite capture the experience of being in a train on the side of a mountain, with the Class 6 rapids of the Skagway River churning in the bottom of the ravine far below you and an even taller mountain rising out of the fog on the either side of the chasm.  It was beautiful.

At one point, we could see the actual trail on which the miners walked.  It was probably not more than two feet wide. 

Becky spent most of the train ride out in the platform, taking pictures.  Hers are better than mine -- oh well.  

Juneau, Alaska

After sailing out of Seattle, we spent the first full day of our cruise at sea, occupying ourselves with spa treatments, cocktails, hot tubs, bowling, naps, and, of course, food (it was also Stacey's and my one-year anniversary!).  It was nice to offset our outdoorsy plans and the rainy forecast with some total relaxation.

Our ship pulled into Juneau on Tuesday afternoon.  It was a little surreal -- for almost two days, we'd seen nothing but open ocean and distant islands, and then suddenly we opened the door to our balcony and we were in a little harbor.  The mountains rise right up out of the ocean, and since the weather in southeastern Alaska is usually very rainy, everything was misty and foggy.  But we could smell pine trees and rain, which we miss after almost a year in dry, sunny California.

Susy disembarked for her Mendenhall Glacier hike, and Becky for her photography tour.  Stacey and I had booked a sea kayak trip, but it was cancelled due to white caps.  Instead, we went to Mendenhall Lake for a raft trip down the Mendenhall River.  Although it was a pretty tame raft trip, we had a good time.  It was particularly exciting because Mendenhall Lake is home to -- you guessed it -- Mendenhall Glacier, and at this point we had never seen a glacier before (more on that later).  You can see Mendenhall Glacier below -- it's the blue thing to the left of the big mountain.  The blue color has something to do with the ice reflecting every color except blue -- or something like that.

Below, the view from the raft looking back toward the glacier.

Further down the Mendenhall River:

We saw a bald eagle in a tree and a few Arctic terns, but other than that, not much in the way of wildlife.  The trip down the river confirmed the fact that Alaska smells amazing!  Maybe an affinity for crisp weather and pine forests (not to mention 37 degree water, which is VERY cold when it splashes into the raft and onto your hand) is ingrained in me by my New England childhood, but it felt somehow familiar -- something like Maine, writ very, very large.