beaches, and food, and red woods, oh my.

It's been a little more than a month since we got back from our trip. We had a totally wonderful time. We rented a Prius in Seattle, and managed to only dole out $70 on gas during our trip to San Fran. That was nice.

I was a little lazy with photo taking, and mainly used my camera on our treks down the coast, not much in the cities. I also neglected to take pictures of what we ate, which was a big component of what we did. In case you're looking for some tasty places to eat on the west coast, here's a list of the DELICIOUS places where we dined.

Seattle

Il Corvo - delicious handmade pasta, with a small menu of daily specials. It was clearly a popular place for locals.

Sitka and Spruce - amazing local seasonal food

The Walrus and the Carpenter - hello oyster bar and cocktails! Erick's favourite place I think

The Harbour Public House on Bainbridge Island - just had drinks here, but super cute and lovely spot

Portland

(we were only here for a day)

¿Por Que No? Taqueria - TACOS! delicious tacos.

Broder - I love this restaurant. Swedish food! Went for brunch and it was amazing. Last time we were in Portland we came here for dinner, and it was also the best. 

Places between Portland and San Francisco, as we drove down the coast:

Pizza Research Institute in Eugene, OR - tasty creative pizzas!

Sweet Life Patisserie in Eugene - delicious baked goods + coffee etc. Owned by the air bnb people we stayed with, who were super nice.

Scopa - an amazing little Italian restaurant in Healdsburg, CA, which is in Sonoma County

San Francisco

The Grove - around the corner from where we were staying, we had breakfast here every day in SF

The Heirloom Cafe - in the Mission District, this was one of the best dinners we had

Blue Bottle Coffee - BEST LATTES EVER

California Academy of Science - went for their Night Life event, and the food was AMAZING, all local, organic, and sustainable. Hey Canadian galleries/museums: take note of this. 

Magnolia Gastropub and Brewery - popped in for a quick lunch and were duly impressed! Delish.

Mission Beach Cafe - grabbed brunch here on our last day in San Fran. Super busy, and yum.

This might seem like we went out of the way to eat at good restaurants, and that is indeed the case. I like planning where to eat in advance for the most part when I'm on vacation. I hate accidentally eating at a subpar restaurant when I know great ones are out there, and I really dislike hunting for a good place to eat when I'm hungry. Plus I find that good restaurants tend to be in interesting neighbourhoods, so it sort of guides what sections of a city we'll explore. Which is nice. 

Driving down highway one was amazing. Non-stop gorgeous views, gorgeous beaches. We went through the Red Woods, where we saw trees that were 12 feet wide, 300 feet tall, and over 2000 years old. COOOOL. Loved Seattle and San Fran. I've been asked which I liked better, and I can't even say. I really do adore the West coast. If I lived in the states, I'd probably move to either Portland, or somewhere in California. Did you know that in San Fran it rarely goes below 8°C or above 23°C? That's my kind of weather. 

vacation

You know what's great? Vacation. Especially one that involves 2 nights at the cottage, 3 nights camping, 3 nights at Jenna and Jeff's new country home, 1 night back in Hamilton, then a day in Niagara on the Lake and a night at the Inn on the Twenty to celebrate our wedding anniversary. So much outdoor time, so much lounging, so much delicious food.



We camped on an island on Second Depot Lake in the Quinte Conservation Area.




Steak and beans.





Jenna and Jeff's beautiful new home near Perth, where Jeff is making his own cheese (Back Forty Artisan Cheese) and Jenna has her amazing new studio (previously a sheep shed). Every meal we had with them was so delicious! And we played croquet a lot. I think it's Erick's new favourite lawn game. We had such a good time, even if Peggy and Beau didn't become BFFs.



Jeff burning cheese. It's the Bonnechere, and it's delicious.



Prepping cheese to sell at the Carp Farmer's Market. Bonus aspect of this job: the crumbly bits of cheese that fell off and we ate. Nom nom. Back Forty Cheese is REALLY GOOD! Also, I thought that their blue cheese smelled like cake.



Old barn nails, handmade many years ago.



Then we went to Niagara, which was great, but I only took pictures with my phone, so maybe I'll post those later.

Now back to life in Hamilton!

p.s. don't think I've introduced Peggy on this blog yet. We adopted her a couple of months ago and she's the best. Clearly I'm a fan of white dogs with brown spots.