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Here's Elena contemplating the view from the deck of the Bed
& Breakfast we stayed at -- the Blom House. There was a fake seagull
mounted on the rail (perhaps to scare off other birds?) that I thought was
real, till it was pointed out it hadn't moved in 24 hours. |
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Elena strikes a pose for me before we head out for the day's
adventures... |
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...starting with a trip to the San
Diego House in Old Town. This is a fun place to visit, chock full of
various teas, coffees, brewing implements and other culinary goodies.
Elena's showing me how to grind Turkish coffee. She says you have to have
a sour look on your face, and it helps if you grumble a bit. Stop by the
San Diego House. It's hosted by an effusive guy who'll brew you a cup of
tea in a wink of an eye. |
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Elena's finding some more things to put in our shopping
cart. |
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Eieeee! The woman has found a bead store. Actually, we were
still in Old Town and found a gemological store. They had every kind of
mineral and gemstone you'd want to see, as well as butterfly and beetle
displays (yuch!). Elena was in heaven for about an hour and a half,
browsing here, picking there, and generally losing herself in the process
("What'd you say, dear?"). |
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We sat down to read and rest our feet during a brief rain
shower. Elena read me the tea pamphlets she picked up earlier, and found
something funny to chuckle about. |
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We stopped for lunch at Boudin's,
a bakery I'm familiar with from my travels to San Francisco. Whenever I've
been there with my kids we always stop at Boudin's and get one of their
sourdough loafs filled with beef stew, clam chowder, or chili and beans...mmmm,
delicious and belly-warmin'. Elena had the chowder and I had the stew --
yummy! |
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Here's a shot of the outside. They had a nice patio with
little tables, but it was rather cold and rainy, so we sat inside an
enjoyed our fare. They had a chicken pizza that looked splendid, but our
tummies couldn't hold any more and we decided to leave that delectable
dish for our next visit to Boudin's. |
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While we were looking out from the deck of our B&B
earlier in the day, we saw a store down in the mall, kind of set to one
side, with "The Container Store" on the side of the building.
Intrigued, we included this stop in our day's itinerary and found one of
the highlights of the trip. This store was fascinating. They have every
kind of container you can think of...containers for: liquid soap, shampoo,
spritzers, food jars, closet aids, pantry shelfs, under-the-bed boxes,
plastic, glass, cardboard, wood, and on and on. We spent a hundred bucks
without even trying. Great fun and highly recommended. |
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I remember going to Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor when I was a
kid. We enjoyed this in my church's youth group in Junior High, and later
in High School after Friday football games and such. We ate things like
"The Zoo" and "The Pig's Trough", which were
concoctions of mounds of ice cream, enough to feed an army. The serving of
the Zoo was always accompanied by a banging bass drum and a parade of
several of the serving staff...quite an event. |
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Elena and I found a Farrell's just to the north of San Diego
in Mira Mesa. You can see the festive atmosphere and just image a gang
load of kids pushing and shoving, joking and brawling, eating like there's
no tomorrow. |
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It was pretty quiet when we stopped by (Monday afternoon).
Here's some of the games and amusements they have in the lobby up front. |
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I remember the player piano at every Farrell's I've ever
been to. Though they all have a slot on the side, I never saw anybody drop
a quarter, so have never heard them play...perhaps they're more for show. |
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Elena was thrilled to get some ice cream, and was so delirious
with hunger she started cutting up with the hat she bought earlier in the
day. Elena had a scoop of Rocky Road and I had a Banana Royale (kind of
like a banana split, two scoops of vanilla topped with whipped cream and
nuts, with a load of hot fudge on the side. |
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...after the sugar hit her blood stream Elena exhibited some
odd behavior. I think she was drunk on chocolate. |
