ML Going Places

Some more ghost encounters

2011-12-14T12:52:00.000-08:00

A few more of our experiences.

Click on link below:

Captains Anchorage Oct. 2011

2011-10-31T08:53:00.000-07:00

This is the third year we've investigated Captains Anchorage in October. Here are the videos:

One of the photos shows an orb in the spot where George's body was believed to have been found. We got one there last year, too. Also there's an EVP saying "yes" when I asked if George is there. Got one like that last year, too. I think he's there and has something to say.

There were a couple really loud thumps and a couple of "bang" sounds for which we found no explanation - they were not heard at all downstairs. There were also some barely-audible whispers which I won't include since they're just too hard to hear. I have removed some of the background noises.

so...

Here are the photos that have orbs. The first two have fairly clear small orbs hovering above the booths. The last two are larger and harder to see. Didn't notice any bugs flying around or dust kicking up, as this is a very clean restaurant where you're unlikely to find those.
I took a lot of photos and most didn't have anything unusual, so it's not a spot on my lens.

To hear the sounds, click on these links below, and be sure to wear headphones to hear the ones with faint whispers:

Asking if George is here, and there is a faint "yes" answer.

George here yes

There were several loud thumping sounds only when I went upstairs alone. This one was so hard that it rattled the bottles in the bar.

Loud thump

I got a strange feeling of being drawn to a particular spot, and "saw" sort of a mist. When we went over there and asked questions, I believe we got an "answer" of some sort.

Pop

Before we leave, I always ask that nothing follows me home. I didn't hear a voice telling me to follow it somewhere, until i heard this. It's just before I start talking after the pause.

Follow me to hh

This one, also when I was alone, was so loud I could almost feel it. I was explaining how to speak into the recorder, but apparently someone had other ideas. Almost sounds like a gun shot. I tried not to react to it.

Bang

Although it was too dark for our video camera to see anything, its audio picked up some more interesting sounds!

You might hear Lorraine and I talking downstairs, but that's in the background. The whispers are right by the camera, when nobody was in the room.

And you really do need headphones to hear these!

Asking about anyone who lived or visited here, and someone whispered "singer" following the pause after "live here or work here" and just before "who is".. Could be a singer who worked there?

Singer

These sound to me like "Carmen" or "Carlin", one followed by the word "itself".. what do you think?

Carlin.. itself

Carmen

Then these.. Remember, nobody (living) was in the room at the time:

Give it.. up

What

Unknown whispering

For some reason, this image has been stuck in my head since our visit.

.

Tombstone, Arizona

2011-10-06T17:33:00.000-07:00

"The Town Too Tough To Die"

CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO

Our most recent trip was to Tombstone, Arizona. We traveled across the Arizona desert in temperatures over 100, with no air conditioning. On the way back we used a swamp cooler which helped a little but the temperature was just too high. We stopped to visit Yuma Prison on the way, and took a few pictures. They even have their own cute little cemetery. I forgot my voice recorder in the car and it was too hot to walk back across the parking lot to get it. I sort of regret that now, but oh well.

Just for the heck of it, here's an odd flower encountered on the way

We stayed in the Wells Fargo RV Park in the last space in a corner looking out at the real site of the historic OK Corral shootout (not the tourist one). Here's the view from our camper.

There is a lot of history packed into that little town, and back in the day its reputation wasn't about Sunday school. A silver mining town, it was packed with saloons and bordellos. A couple times there were fires, but some of the buildings and things were saved, and a lot rebuilt. The famous Birdcage Theater is an original building. Although named a "theater" it was a high-priced bordello as well as a spot for gambling and drinking.
We ventured into the "Good Enough" silver mine,..took tourist tours on streetcar and horse-drawn wagon, walked around in Boothill Graveyard, shopped, ate and drank, and did a whole lot of exploring. (And of course, our digital cameras and voice recorders accompanied us). The weather ranged from really hot (in the 90's) to a tiny bit cooler with rain accompanied by awesome thunder and lightning. One huge lightning bolt even knocked out the town's power for a few seconds. At night after the cowboy music stopped at the nearby bar, the hoot owls and bats came out to play. Oh yeah, and we saw the World's Largest Rosebush.

I'm including a few photos of our adventures. Many of the photos have orbs in them, although they appear pretty dark. These orbs can be either dust, bugs, or balls of energy which might have something to do with spirits. I believe we got some of each. Also I'll add some short audio recordings which appear to be of a paranormal nature - actual voices, whispering, and footsteps where nobody was there to make them. Unfortunately the Birdcage Theater does not allow photos to be posted anywhere on the internet at all, and I have to respect that. But I'll share some audio. We had an after-dark tour of only six people, including a lights-out session where we sat around a table in total darkness. When our "hostess" wasn't explaining history and past paranormal activity, we had periods of silence during which we heard various sounds including boot steps on wood floors, voices mumbling and various thumps. Nobody else was there in or around the building.They're all very faint, so listen hard and be sure you're using some good headphones!

Sounds from the Birdcage Theater.
Footsteps sounded like boots on wood flooring and at one time they walked around us, as the host mentions. A couple places you'll hear our
gasps - even when you expect something, it still is startling!(again, click on the green words)footsteps

walking around us

soft whispers
(wasn't us!)

dessert?

(faint woman's or child's voice, two separate times)
help

help2

(either female grunting sound or old-time car horn?)
grunting

(Mumbling sounds as if from downstairs or next room)
mumbling

talking

(other things that went bump in the night)
crash downstairs

thump (then a gasp of ours because it was startling)

click then mumbling

Some VERY interesting EVP's were whispers in Boothill Graveyard. The miners, cowboys and outlaws seemed to respond more to me than to my husband, but in ways they shouldn't speak to a respectable lady! A lot of the graves were just marked "unknown" and many state that the resident had been hanged, murdered or shot.

Here's one of my favorite EVP. It's very faint (you must have headphones to hear it) but clearly states "..didn't do anything".
Could it have been one of the people who was hanged for something he didn't do?

(click on the green words to hear it, and be sure to wear headphones)

EVP Boothill Graveyard

More possible EVP from Boothill:
(again, click on the green words to hear them)

(First one appears to be a response to my feeling sad)

FeelingSad

Know what

(naughty!)
Shit

whispering

more whispering

(Joe said this sounds like a car, but to me it sounds more like someone
saying "give that bone to me" or something like that. I like mine better)
whisper with a groan

(someone whispers "black" just before I say "China Mary")
black

Many of the saloons and other nearby buildings are known to be haunted, including the city hall and the courthouse (which has gallows in the back).
The courthouse is a museum now with some pretty cool old stuff in it.

The creepiest-yet-cool thing that happened to us was late at night walking down the deserted main street of Tombstone, I was walking on the wood walkway in front of the Wells Fargo building while my husband was taking pictures from the middle of the street. I had walked a few feet past it and stopped to read a sign. Then I heard someone stepping behind me in front of the Wells Fargo building, like footsteps and the wood creaking a little. I turned around to see nothing there, and my husband was also looking from the street and said the double front doors had moved in and out. It was dark inside, and nobody even uses that particular building currently. It was eerie. Once the goosebumps calmed down, I tried walking there again and realized my weight isn't even enough to cause the floor to creak like that. And in trying the doors, we found they don't move at all. So it couldn't have been wind (even though there was none that night). The next day we inquired in the shop across the street and they assured us that nobody is in that building. Cool, huh? Nothing showed up in photos or audio that we took later, but in researching it apparently people have seen cowboys and stage drivers wandering in front of the old bank. Could that have been a residual ghost just going to do his banking, or even someone trying to rob the bank?
Big Nose Kate's Saloon has a haunted mineshaft downstairs in the basement where a reclusive miner used to live. (look, on the wall.. naked!)

Tombstone Motel supposedly has spirits hanging around since, like a lot of the places, it had murders.

Schieffelin Hall, the Tombstone Epitaph (newspaper), Fly's Photo Studio... all supposedly have their... uh.. "residents".

The Buford house rivals the Birdcage as Tombstone's most haunted buildings. It was a private residence which after a murder and suicide occurred was turned into a bed and breakfast. It went out of business because nobody could stay there due to some evil presence. Day or night, it's spooky-looking. Nobody's allowed inside.
I loved wandering the main streets at night when everything was closed.
There was this guy who walked around with spurs jingling, and a drunk guy named Bobby who kept complaining that they took his horses. Choruses of coyotes surrounded the town from all sides while owls hooted from overhead.

Really sorry the Birdcage wouldn't allow pictures to be posted. We have some cool ones. Oh well.

Beach

2011-07-17T23:41:00.000-07:00

Went to the beach and relaxed while Joe played frisbee.

Cemetery at Julian, CA

2011-05-30T18:15:00.000-07:00

(Click on the picture to read)

A really big mushroom growing in the cemetery (no, not a skull)

On a hill overlooking Julian.. nice place for a long rest

Calico Ghost Town

2011-01-13T09:22:00.000-08:00

Calico was named Calico because of the multiple colors of the hills and rocks. Somebody thought they resemble calico cloth.

Hard to see in a picture, but there are shades of reds, greens, lavender, orange, white, yellow, tan and brown.

Approach abandoned mines with caution. No telling what might be sleeping in there.. a fierce coyote?

On the way home we went through Big Bear. This was the first time I've ever seen icicles! I was impressed.

I'll add more pictures later....

Restaurant reviews

2011-01-13T09:18:00.000-08:00

Sorry I've gotten lazy about my restaurant reviews. If I don't write it very soon after the meal, I forget the details.

Actually, I've done very little writing at all lately.
Must be writer's block.
Dang.

Beach Camping at San Clemente

2010-11-08T20:09:00.000-08:00

The Ocean:

The Sunrise (yes, I actually got up at 5 am):

The sunset:

The campers, the people:

-

Captain's Anchorage at Big Bear, CA

2010-10-26T08:06:00.001-07:00

We recently returned for another visit to Captain's Anchorage in Big Bear, California. This is a restaurant that is known to have several spirits (or ghosts) in residence.

Brief background:

Ghosts at Captain's Anchorage

Others have seen and heard paranormal activity there, so we decided to take pictures and record sounds as we explored the upstairs dining rooms in the dark. We captured a few images that have orbs in them!

(Orbs are balls of light that show up in photographs and occasional to the naked eye. I've only experienced the latter once - at the Harvey House in Barstow, CA - but have gotten images of them in photos.)

Remember, it was almost totally dark except the lights from our cameras, a sign outside and a computer monitor in one of the dining rooms. Click on the images and get the full-size pictures to see them well. These photos are untouched except for brightening them slightly and adding arrows to point out the orbs.

(I'll begin with the best orb photo I've ever taken)

(This last picture is the spot that used to be an office and the bookkeeper is believed to have committed suicide by hanging himself. Could that orb be some energy that George left behind?)

Even more exciting (to me) are the EVP's we captured on our digital and analog recorders. They are heard as whispers, and appeared to be intelligent spirits (interactive, as opposed to residual which just do their own thing). After the first night when I got an amazing orb photo, I listened to the voice recorder. All I can say is OMG! To think that while walking around alone in the dark there was something right there trying to speak... well that's kinda scary even for me. Especially the whispers following us down the really creepy dark hallway (shown in a couple of the photos). Both of us felt chills walking down that hallway alone.

So I just HAD to go back the next night. This time, instead of my husband and I going upstairs individually, we went together. As I walked across the dining room I heard a brief whistle and turned to my husband, but he said it wasn't him. We figured out which booth it seemed to come from.

Later we separated into the two dining rooms. I returned alone to the booth where we heard the whistle. I began to notice an odor that wasn't there just a few minutes ago. It smelled like urine (and it wasn't me!). It got stronger until I had to leave the booth. The very next booth smelled like delicious hot food, even though there had been no food there for days, as the upstairs only opens on weekends. I felt offended and upset and went crying like a baby to the room where my husband was.

Later, listening to his recording, there was a point where his EMF meter was beeping and an unfriendly voice whispered an obscenity. I don't know if they were trying to tell us something, or it was just time to leave. We left.

Below, I will include some of our best EVP's as soon as I can figure out how to post sound files here. My husband and I have argued about what some of them seem to be saying. For some reason, he picks up on certain sounds I can't hear, and I hear some that he doesn't. Maybe you'll hear something in these, or maybe you'll hear nothing at all.

Keep in mind that we don't hold these recorders up to our mouths, yet it sounds like some of the whispers are directly into the mic. We are asking questions, making comments, etc. but those are distinctly our voices, speaking and not whispering. We used a program called "Audacity" to study these.

These are heard best with headphones, since most are whispers. I apologize that some are louder than others, especially where we living folks are speaking, so be careful.

The first, and my favorite, was when my husband was alone in the dark scary hallway.

Look At Me (not enhanced)
Look At Me (noise reduced)

The following sounds to me like someone's whispering "I don't care".
It follows when I had asked the ghost(s) "Is it ok if we sit in this booth?"

I Don't Care (not enhanced)
I Don't Care (slowed, noise reduced)

And this one is interesting. It was obviously a whisper, but I couldn't make out what it was saying.... until I reversed it.

Whisper (original, not enhanced)
Whisper (reversed) (sounds like "I am dead" to me)

At the beginning of this was a whistle, that both of us heard. I thought my husband whistled at me, but apparently it was someone (or something) else. Again, we were the only people in the whole building except for a bartender downstairs (who hadn't whistled).

Whistle

This one was when I was walking down the dark hallway. Sounds to me like "Duke" followed by more whispers ("this one's for me", maybe?)

Duke (not enhanced)

The following was the first night, when I felt a strange urge to sit in one particular booth. I didn't hear the whisper until the next morning on the voice recorder.

Back Booth, No

The following whisper sounds like it begins with "Hey!" but I can't make out the rest. Any ideas?

Hey (not enhanced)
Hey (noise reduced)

There were more that I'll share as we further study the recordings we have.
Interesting, but I detected several different voices, one with somewhat of a northeast US or Canadian dialect. Another sounded unusually throaty, or like maybe with a mouthful of food.

Well, here are a few more. My son asked me if I just sit here and listen to static until I find them. Well, yeah, that's about it.

We were told that in the past, people have heard a sound like glasses clinking together - when nobody was there. Seems we picked up a few of those:

Our names, clink
Join me, clink (noise reduced, really hard to hear)
Anyone here?

(After we went back downstairs, my husband heard several more of these clinking sounds coming from upstairs, but nobody was up there.)

This one, after I ask what's behind a door it says something that sounds to me like "pressure":

Pressure?

Here, I asked if George if he's there (the bookkeeper who is believed to have hanged himself in the same spot in which I was sitting):

George are you here (not enhanced)
George are you here (noise reduced)

Here, at the beginning of recording, somebody seems to be whispering "Captain":

Captain (not enhanced)
Captain (enhanced)

This one wanted us to leave?

Get Out!

And then there's this. Whispering while the EMF meter was going nuts. You decide:

Unfriendly Phrase?
Unfriendly Phrase (Noise Reduced)

A couple more we found:

Appearing to be in response to my mentioning the long hallway, and then another possible response to my talking about opening a door (and I didn't do that!)

That's Right
That's Right (noise reduced)

Don't do that
Don't do that (noise reduced)

Come to the night club? (noise reduced)

Here is the description from last year's trip:

2009 Captain's Anchorage visit

Here is our video:

Captains Anchorage investigation

---

Burning Man, Virginia City and Bodie

2010-09-09T20:30:00.000-07:00

Awesome trip to Burning Man and back. Sometimes, the journey is actually better than the destination.

Lots of sights and stops along the way, including Lone Pine, Alabama Hills, Virginia City (my favorite part of the trip!) and Bodie. Here are just a few of the pictures I took:

Alabama Hills, and I think that's Mt. Whitney in the background:

Mono Lake where nothing but brine shrimp live:

Virginia City

The Washoe Club (it's haunted)

In the Washoe Club: The Crypt

Still in the Washoe: The Spiral Staircase
(it was on Ripley's Believe it or Not and now I believe it)

And no 1800's haunted saloon is complete without......
A haunted bordello upstairs!

Virginia City has a lot of history (and haunts) going on. That's why
it was featured by the ghost hunting guys:
They got to stay in the cemetery at night.
We were only allowed in during the day.

Looking from our camp towards the cemeteries, which seem to go on and on from one hill to the next:

And then looking at our camp and the city from the cemetery:

Then we went to Burning Man. I didn't take any pictures
but Joe took this one of me.
(I got sick from the alkaline dust but we made it through a couple days)
Am I not lovely?

Bodie

Lots of little abandoned buildings... an entire city, actually.
Complete with a post office and saloon in the same room,
which I thought was strange.

They had a cemetery and morgue, too.
Here are some kind of creepy sights taken through the morgue windows (note the scary wallpaper):

The bathrooms were romantic:

THE END

Bellus Academy

2010-06-24T15:32:00.000-07:00

Today I had my first-ever Swedish massage at the Bellus Academy school in Poway. I parked right in front of the place. From the outside, I have to admit the building isn't very attractive at all (but then few of the buildings on Poway Rd are much to look at). But I was very impressed when I walked in the door. There were people getting their hair done and friendly, neat students everywhere. It was bright, clean and busy, but I didn't have to wait since I had an appointment.

I was directed to a dimly-lit "relaxation area" that had comfortable chairs, candles, soft music, and a dispenser full of ice-cold lemon water to enjoy before and after a massage or facial. I made sure to use the bathroom, and was as impressed with the cleanliness of that as much as the rest of the place.

Then I was called (by name, "Mary Lou" which i seldom hear spoken) and escorted to the massage area which was also dimly-lit and had meditation-type gentle music playing in the background. I had filled out paperwork detailing any health and pain issues or other concerns.

Then I received a delicious (GENTLE as requested) massage that helped relax some of my parts that ache from fibromyalgia and osteoarthritis. All very dignified, respectful, and an overall pleasant experience.

A full 50-minutes for $30. I'll be going back soon.

We went to the fair!

2010-06-18T20:07:00.000-07:00

There were pink flowers, and chickens!

Agua Caliente and Vallecito

2010-04-20T13:48:00.001-07:00

A couple of people hiking on a trail. They look familiar for some reason.

There were still quite a few flowers out there growing near this natural spring in the middle of the desert.

The Toyota RV rally at Agua Caliente.

We also stopped at the old Vallecito stage stop, and I was rather impressed by the old building... but especially the cute window shutters.

There was a rock that looked like a butt...

And I picked up what I thought was one frog, and realized it was two... doing whatever... Turn on sound for this one:

Anza Borrego Desert 2010

2010-03-24T21:32:00.000-07:00

A few flowers and a lizard...

Mom Visit

2010-03-21T10:44:00.000-07:00

Brought her a little lime from my special lime tree. It barely shows in the vase, but it's there.

Surf Brothers Teriyaki

2010-02-27T09:54:00.000-08:00

It was dinnertime on a Friday, and we were hungry. My husband and I wandered over to the nearby shopping center and decided to try the new Surf Brothers Teriyaki restaurant. Since it's brand new and offering coupons, it was quite a busy place; but there was still some seating.

It's order-at-the-counter style, and the atmosphere was unique. The walls were all painted blue with ocean and seaside scenes painted on them. The high ceilings were also blue. Seagulls were suspended overhead, and my husband mentioned that it was fortunate we weren't seated directly under one (I prefer to add the sauce to my food myself!). There were colorful parrots perched here and there, and on the walls. I used to collect anything to do with parrots, so this was a bit of nostalgia for me. Also, having grown up near the ocean and spending my spare time at the beach bodysurfing, I appreciated the seaside decor.

There aren't a lot of choices on the menu, which is a positive thing. Makes deciding and ordering quicker. All meals are served in black styrofoam boxes, which make it handy to take home leftovers and also saves on water usage.

We got chicken and beef impaled by sharp wooden sticks. (Food impaled by sharp wooden sticks is always fun.) It came with rice (choice of brown or white) and salad. The salad was more of a coleslaw sort of thing than a standard green salad, except without the usual mayo-based dressing. It was tasty, and I ate it all. There was a side of teriyaki sauce for dipping or pouring (thus, I don't need the seagull).

I pulled the meat off the sticks in chunks and dipped them in the sauce. I preferred the beef over the chicken, although both were tender and full of flavor. The rice was rice. Nice side dish, and huge portion of it. I ate all the meat and salad but had some rice left over for breakfast today.

The meals seemed to be healthy, without a bunch of deep-fried grease. I liked having the rice and salad sides, instead of the usual french fries that make us fat. I was pleasantly full, and didn't feel the need to eat a bunch of junk in front of the television that night. Bravo.

When we got home, the dogs seemed to enjoy the smell of meat on my fingers. But no leftovers for them this time.

Go there and eat. It's yummy. With the theater nearby, it's a perfect before-movie treat (but bring some dental floss). Or for older folks like us who prefer to watch movies at home when we can check them out for free at the library, it's a nice spot for a casual and quick "dinner date".

Poway Coco's

2010-02-26T08:23:00.000-08:00

I took myself out to dinner, this time to Coco's. Without a dinner companion, it's nice to have something to look at so I asked for a seat by the window. There I could watch the crazy traffic on Poway Road. It's better than pretending to write or read to avoid looking pitiful sitting there alone. Drawing faces on your thumbs and making them talk to one another is also a good thing to do when dining solo.

I'm still not old enough to order from the senior menu, so I ordered a chopped steak dinner and a cup of decaf. Not bad that the entire bill came to under $10, considering how much food there was.

I had a choice of either an appetizer or a dessert. I should have ordered dessert, and had it before the meal. But I went with the cream of broccoli soup. Now, just because it has broccoli in it (freaks me out that that word ends with "coli") doesn't mean it's low fat. I don't even want to know, all that cream and butter...

The "steak" was as expected, basically a hamburger covered with grilled onions and gravy. Nothing to get excited about, but not bad.

There was a lettuce salad on the side, and gobs of garlic mashed 'taters.
A couple wedges of cheesy bread balanced it all out.

Not a diet meal at all, although there were plenty of healthy choices available. (My weight tends to drop if I don't make the effort to eat enough, so this was fine.) I drooled over the shrimp items on the menu, but maybe next time.. Shrimp, the cockroach of the sea.... love it!

I only ate less than half the meal, as usual, and brought the rest home. That's the beauty of eating in a restaurant! You can get a whole meal and take half home for another whole meal. For one or two people, that can be more economical than buying all the stuff and cooking it at home (and way more fun). "Doggie Bag" my ass, this food's for ME!!

The waitress was very sweet and she called me "Miss". ahhh.. ."Miss"... I like that, makes me sound young and beautiful. I hate "ma'am"... That feels so old.. ick. So Danielle would get my recommendation for Coco's employee of the month.

Thank you for reading my insane babblings here.

Lake Morena Fishing

2010-02-04T10:27:00.000-08:00

We went camping overnight at Lake Morena. We didn't freeze - thanks to our Toyota Dolphin, an electric hookup, electric blanket and my nifty little heating pad. We got up early in the morning to head down to the lake and catch a big ol' mess o' trout (or bass or catfish or carp or whatever might bite my hook).

I got a fishing license this year, first time in over a decade. Amazing how much can be forgotten. Damn those knots! I hate tying knots, with all that fussy little plastic fishing line. I remember back in the olden days when lines were more fabric-y or something, and the knots held much easier. But also the reels stayed wet a long time and probably wore the line out faster.

Anyway, I brought night crawlers. Why they are called "crawlers" I do not know, as they have no legs with which to crawl. If I were in charge of naming all creatures, I would have named these "night wigglers" or "squishy little worms" or "cute little worms who eat dirt". A little research taught me that no, you can't cut them in half and grow them into two new worms. So I didn't try that. I felt kind of bad impaling the poor little guys two or three times with a sharp hook. OUCH! They squirmed a lot when I did that. I repeated "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Oh God I'm sorry.." the whole time I was baiting my hooks. Also I tried some bright green and orange Power Bait, which comes in a little jar and looks almost like something yummy to spread on a cracker... except it had glitter in it. (That would be strange the next morning, in the bathroom, if we ate glitter.)
It didn't smell yummy, and I swear I didn't taste it!

Didn't catch a damned thing, but didn't see anybody else catching anything either so that made me feel better. I did get a nibble though. Something was ALIVE out there in the water!!!

It was a relaxing, worthwhile day. And I got to practice using my new Banjo Minnows! They're so cute, they look like real fishies swimming in the water. And they feel like gummy fish (candy). But, alas, they don't TASTE like candy. bleah!

Big Bear Haunts? Captains Anchorage

2009-10-26T23:11:00.000-07:00

There's a restaurant called Captains Anchorage that's been there since the 1940's. Originally it was owned by the actor Andy Devine, but then it was sold and was a fun little place to gamble, drink, and mess around with ladies of the night. Locals tell us there are at least four spirits that abide there (confirmed by psychics), making themselves known occasionally. Some of the real "ghost-hunter" people have been through the place and found weird stuff. So we went there for a drink about an hour before closing. I snapped lots of pictures discreetly without flash, until the bartender told me about the ghosts and said to go ahead and take all the pictures I want. Apparently a lot of the ghostly action goes on upstairs, but nobody was up there at the time and it was pitch dark. So I asked if I could go up and look around (no, i'm not really afraid of supernatural stuff since i've been around it as long as i can remember).

This was probably one of the biggest adrenaline rushes of my life! All alone upstairs in an old building known to have several resident spirits, fumbling in the dark with no light except the flash of my camera. With each flash, i anticipated that i might see something real interesting show up. I walked around the dining room (it was rather large) taking pictures of the booths and tables. Then I discovered a kitchen and held myself back from imagining boiling pots of body parts and eyeballs... There were none, by the way. But the scariest thing was a long oddly-shaped hallway, darker and darker, with a freaky dining room behind that, with big red booths.
I was intrigued by a short little door on one side of the hallway, but felt uneasy at the thought of opening it so i didn't. Note that it was totally dark in between my camera flashes, that's the fun part.

This experience was the highlight of the vacation for me. Although I didn't hear or see anything otherworldly, two of my photos (see below) had something interesting. In one of the upstairs pictures there is an orb hovering over one of the dining tables. In another taken from downstairs looking up at the staircase, there's a white mist. Nothing else in any of the other pictures of even the same spots. (by the way, the demon and devil faces and stuff are Halloween decorations)

Click on the following picture to get the bigger version where it's easier to see the orb.

Big Bear haunts? Cemetery at Doble

2009-10-26T22:56:00.000-07:00

Everywhere we go, I like to check out cemeteries and also find out a little history of buildings and places that we could visit... HAUNTED history!

There was a little graveyard in Doble, near a mine. It was from the 1800's when they actually did the mining, and buried about 20 dead guys in graves covered with rocks and a crude cross for a marker. We climbed under some barbed wire fence and hiked a little way off the road, and there it was. I took a lot of pictures and found only one with a very interesting feature. That excited me so much that we had to go back again and take more. Again, out of many photos, I got only one with this same colorful misty-looking thing. What is it? I don't know. My camera works fine, and of the several hundred pictures I took during the trip only these two from this graveyard came out like this. (I'll spare you all the "regular" pictures)

Big Bear Lake

2009-10-26T15:30:00.000-07:00

We had a peaceful getaway week at Big Bear Lake.
This is the view from our balcony. We had sunny days and a couple of rainy ones too.

I'm not sure why blogspot wants to show this one so small when I indicated "large", yet the next one that I indicated "small" is shown bigger. But whatever.
Click on the following to get the BIG picture (supposedly!)

_____________________________________________________________________________________

I didn't see any real live Big Bears running around.
(I guess my ugly face scared them all away)
But below is a dead one that couldn't run away from me, so he had no choice but to stand there and smile. Poor guy.

____________________________________________________________________

Mom

2009-08-22T15:51:00.000-07:00

We went to visit my mom's grave. This was the first time I've been there since the service in March. I miss her.

Cabrillo National Monument

2009-08-22T15:34:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went out to the end of Point Loma (my old stomping grounds). Above is the old lighthouse.

And then there's this thing that fascinated me because it was so sparkly!
I was mesmerized by all the colors it made as it rotated.

The weather was kind of gray, but that's my favorite weather for visiting the ocean.
This seagull seemed to be enjoying it, too.

Muppet in tree stump

2009-08-15T17:00:00.000-07:00

(I couldn't resist)

Bees with Bacon

2009-08-09T12:32:00.000-07:00

The bees wanted our bacon really really bad.
So we let them have the drippings.

That'll teach 'em!

Dos Picos

2009-08-09T12:17:00.001-07:00

We went camping in Brian (our RV's name) at Dos Picos.
Not very far from home, but except for the people with the wide-screen tv set up outdoors in their campsite making noise and the large families of people who were speaking really loud in a foreign language and using tons of water to wash their dishes in the sink by the restroom in spite of drought conditions, it was peaceful. We were away from the central noisy part of the park.

Nothing like Bacon, eggs, hashbrowns and coffee.. mmmmm..

San Luis Rey Mission

2009-07-30T15:16:00.000-07:00

The mission

Hey, everybody gets thirsty!

Arch - look at the flowers!
And in the background is the oldest pepper tree in California, brought here in 1830 from Peru... mmmm... peppery!

No it's not the pirates ride at Disneyland!
This was over the gate to the cemetery.

Camping at Guajome

2009-07-30T15:06:00.000-07:00

We only spent one night there, but took in a lot of scenery.

Look! Two bugs doing it!

Tuscan Sunrise Coffee in Old Poway

2009-07-18T23:45:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we stopped in an adorable little coffee shop that just opened in Old Poway.
Tuscan Sunrise Coffee reminds me of a one of those sweet country cafes one might encounter in a small town way out in the country. The tables were decorated with giant sunflowers (and they were real!) in glass vases. The coffee menu was extensive, with all the flavors you could imagine. They also had various types of tea. All these were available either hot or cold.

The drinks were excellent. My husband had a cup of the house coffee (the blend of the day) and it was fresh-brewed and not like it had been sitting in the pot all day. All the usual sugars and sweeteners are available.

I decided to live it up a little more and ordered a large coffee smoothie. I requested decaf, since my belly doesn't care for a lot of caffeine. It was basically a coffee-flavored milkshake, topped with gobs of fresh whipped cream. Icy cold and creamy, this was perfect on these hot days we've been having lately. Generous portion, reasonable price, and a big thick straw that I felt inclined to save (and yes, i wash and reuse plastic spoons, what of it?). Look out, chain-coffee-place-with-green-logo, you have competition!

There were a variety of fresh homemade pastries and sandwiches. They didn't look like the usual prepackaged breakfast rolls, or the sandwiches one might find in a vending machine at a hospital cafeteria. They looked like something Mom (God rest her soul) would have fixed me for lunch. Kinda like they were infused with tender loving care or something. Next time I stop in maybe I'll try one of those sammiches!

The service was excellent (and easy on the eyes, if I may say that).
This is the sort of place I'd go to sit and talk with a friend, or grab a quick something-to-go to take to Old Poway Park across the street.

Visit their website for a few photos of the place, the food, and the menu.
You know how to find it, Google is your friend. :-)

Shop Poway - Candles & Scents

2009-07-16T10:33:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I decided to wander over to "Old Poway". Across from the Hamburger Factory and the park, there are some cute little shops. Being a rather hot day, when I stepped into the shop called
"Candles & Scents" I experienced a refreshing rush of cool, air-conditioned, pine-scented air. Beautiful candles in every color of the rainbow surrounded me. The scents were absolutely fantastic!

Tapers, votives, assorted sizes of jar candles, candle holders of glass or metal that sit on the table or attach to the wall, tart burners, bath salts... Perfect place to stop and pick up a gift for someone you care about (including you!). If you love to soak in a scented bath surrounded by colorful candles, this is your shop.

I was greeted by Ralph, who knows a heck of a lot about candles. Chatting with him, he makes you feel like an old friend already. He offers a special service to Poway - he will personally deliver any order, absolutely free! These days, how often do you come across that?

As an old hippie, instinctively I picked up a Nag Champa scented votive to sniff. Groovy! I could almost see neon daisies and tie-dye, what a trip! Then there were delicious foody scents... Butterscotch Pie, Banana Nut Bread, Georgia Peach, Black Cherry, Hot Apple Pie... and on and on... Hungry yet? I almost wanted to take a bite! Scrumptious! There was a virtual bouquet of floral scents... Honeysuckle, Lavender, Lily of the Valley, Lilac... Then there were others like Christmas Memories, Cool Water (to me smelled just like a fresh load of laundry from the dryer that i like to bury my face in), Harmony, Midsummer's Eve, and on and on... Oh, Key Lime Pie! There's even Southern Comfort!

I purchased a soft pink Blushing Dreams votive to try out...
I'll be back for more.

Grab a cup of coffee next door, and also check out the stamp store nearby.

Enjoy!

P&V Thai Cafe, Poway

2009-07-11T19:37:00.000-07:00

We enjoyed an interesting lunch. I had something called "Beef pad phet" for $6.50. Good thing the items were numbered, so I could just ask for a "Number 35". My husband had "Fish rad prik" for $8.00. Again, much easier to say "Number 32" than figure out how to say "rad prik". I'd feel funny saying "rad prick". We were given a choice of hotness, from mild to extra-spicy. I ordered mild, while my husband ordered medium.

The cafe is tiny, with a few tables inside and outside. It wasn't crowded. The atmosphere was comfy, and they have free wi-fi. The two ladies who served us were friendly, and easy on the eyes.

Anyway, both meals were very attractive on the plate, like a little work of art. They even had a purple orchid on them, I thought for decoration (but wait, more about the flowers later). These meals reminded me of some of the fancy stuff I've seen on cooking shows on tv.
We also were served a generous bowl of steamed rice.

The beef dish had strips of beef, onions, cool little corn thingies, leaves (basil, i guess) and pepper slices. The sauce was sort of creamy yellow, and although "mild" i found it somewhat spicy... deliciously so. (my GERD didn't act up that night so it apparently agreed with me)

The fish dish (haha, rhymes!) had a tender tilapia filet with bell pepper and crunchy little leaf things. The sauce was sort of orange colored and tasted like sweet and sour, but with a kick that creeps up on you and makes you go "woohoo!".

Although this cafe has all sorts of fancy coffee drinks at reasonable prices, none were made with decaf so I had water. My husband had Thai lemon tea for $2.50. I had a few sips of it and it was fabulous, since I love things that are super-sweet. I would have ordered it but again, the GERD can be unpredictable and I can't drink pre-sweetened anything with fruit flavor.

The portions were not huge, but just right to satisfy the two of us without having extra to take home.

When we were getting ready to leave, I commented to our server about the flowers on the plates.She told us we could eat them.

Ewwww...?

Anyway, she gave us an interesting treat. She took a couple orchids and deep-fried them in batter, all crunchy and greasy-yummy, with some sauce to dip them in. It was an experience. Not bad, not wonderful, but cool that we were eating flowers.

Would I go back again? You betcha.

Mt. Palomar

2009-07-06T16:34:00.000-07:00

We spent the night at Mt. Palomar. There's a big telescope there, but I was more excited about the birds. They're called Steller's Jays.

Del Mar fair

2009-06-27T23:50:00.000-07:00

There were boobs at the fair!

Del Mar Fair

2009-06-27T23:45:00.000-07:00

There was a smiling goat, and a horse with a face coming out of it's butt.

I like the fair.

In the desert, you don't remember your name...

2009-03-12T09:56:00.000-07:00

We went to the Anza-Borrego Desert yesterday.
A giant desert tortoise tried to eat my foot.
One cactus appeared to be very 'Happy To See Me',
and a worm waved at me.

Supper in Chinatown

2009-02-12T23:12:00.000-08:00

To Hell with the drumsticks and wings..... I GET THE HEAD!!!

Roadside Grill

2009-01-11T10:41:00.000-08:00

Last night we celebrated my son's birthday at the Roadside Grill in Santee.

The atmosphere was fun, and as I would have guessed it would be. Quite casual, actually. I've never been to a restaurant where you could make you self at home by eating peanuts out of a big barrel and throwing the shells all over the floor! (not that I do that at home, mind you) Some kids at the next table (with parents ignoring them) were throwing whole peanuts on the floor and across the room, that was a little obnoxious.

The food was great! First they brought a bucket of peanuts to the table, and then some hot bread that was sweet as though maybe honey was brushed on top. It was served with whipped sweet butter. While waiting for our dinners (slightly longer than I would have preferred but it was ok being in good company and with the peanuts and bread) we drooled while watching a couple at the next table sharing a gigantic - REALLY gigantic - hot-fudge sundae. I nearly wept when they left a lot of the fudge uneaten, what a waste! I'd have scooped it in a cup and taken it home.

Then our dinners came. I had a huge salad full of greens, tomatoes, cheese, bacon, and topped with slices of tri-tip beef. There was a choice of grilled chicken, shrimp, sirloin or tri-tip on top of salad. I asked what kind of dressing was available and the waitress rattled off a list so long that my husband had to decide for me! Nice to have a lot of options. The salad was excellent. My son had a tri-tip dinner which looked delicious, and my husband had bison meatloaf. (They roam where the deer and the antelope play, although this one didn't roam anymore) The meatloaf was a taste adventure, and so was the huge buttered sweet potato served on the side.

Would I go there again?? You betcha! And I feel a little less bad about taxidermy, knowing the innards can be so deliciously used as well as mounting the head on the wall with dead-but-staring glass eyes.

I was so much older then

2008-12-06T23:47:00.000-08:00

I'm younger than that now.

Tonight we went to see Roger McGuinn and John Sebastian at the Poway Center for the Performing Arts. Makes ya feel groovy like an old time movie...

We sat in the center of the very top row. As I gazed down upon a sea of silver, I realized that it was not a glistening snowscape, but actually the tops of the heads of hundreds of senior citizens.

Some of the music was very stirring. Since there was just one singer and instrument instead of a whole band, it was more intimate. The harmonizing and drums and all that complete the song, but this gave more of the flavor of sitting down on the porch with a buddy reminiscing about old times. There was a tad more dialogue between songs than I'd prefer, but it was kinda cool hearing about what inspired them to write particular songs over the years.

John Sebastian's voice gave away his age. But it didn't matter, the character in it was bold and unique still. His guitar pickin' had every toe tapping in the place. He sang the old Lovin' Spoonful stuff I remember my brother listening to.

Roger McGuinn's voice was rich, with a quality of softness to it. Very soothing to the soul.
I'd have had tears running down my face through several of the songs, if Wellbutrin would allow me the cathartic luxury of crying. But I wept in my heart even if my cheeks remained dry. I haven't heard Mr. Spaceman since I was a kid. When he ended with Eight Miles High, I was impressed at how he made one guitar sound like three. His music reached into some compartments in my memory that have been locked up tight for decades, full of boogeymen, coca-cola and Mary Ann.

Grand Canyon

2008-10-24T19:58:00.001-07:00

Also on our recent trip, I was impressed by these wild deer that roamed around in our campsite at the Grand Canyon. They would just look up at us and then go about their business eating their whatever. We took zillions of pictures...
Yes, deer...

Oatman

2008-10-24T19:55:00.001-07:00

On our recent road trip, we passed through Oatman Arizona where these wild asses just roamed around begging for carrots. Does this picture make my ass look big?

Cowabunga!

2008-09-27T20:12:00.001-07:00

Look at that gnarly little dude in the background...

He's looking for Baby Ruth bars.

Away for awhile...

2008-07-28T17:55:00.000-07:00

Here's a creepy doll to stare at you.

Bass Place

2008-06-26T10:10:00.001-07:00

at Lake Jennings.

Route 66 Museum

2008-05-10T20:26:00.001-07:00

Dang, aren't we cute?

Little Lava Cactus

2008-05-10T20:06:00.001-07:00

Roys Sign in Amboy

2008-05-10T19:56:00.001-07:00

Amboy: A Lava Lizard

2008-05-10T19:52:00.000-07:00

Amboy Lava Rock Up Close and Personal, and some Glass Things in a Route66 Museum

2008-05-10T19:43:00.000-07:00

We saw John Mayall

2008-04-21T09:54:00.000-07:00

For our 6th wedding anniversary we went out on a date! First, we had dinner at Daphne's Greek Cafe. I'll skip the food review since i've done that one several times already. It's nice becuz not only is it inexpensive, but since you're not served by waiters you don't have to leave any tip.

Then we went to see John Mayall. I've never seen him before, nor did I know much of anything about him. But it was pretty cool. He's old, like 75 or something! I wonder if he needs to use a lot of bengay after jumping around so much...

Here is a much younger version:

huhh... you said "log"....

2008-04-12T14:37:00.001-07:00

A fallen tree in Heise Park...
It seems to be giving us the evil eye.

Apple Blossoms and Lilac

2008-04-12T14:32:00.000-07:00

Heavenly scents of springtime in Julian.....

Blue Sky Reserve

2008-04-09T23:38:00.001-07:00

A strange April Fools Day coincidence... is that poison oak??
The sign was burnt in the Witch Creek Fire, but plants are growing back.

In the desert...

2008-03-22T20:26:00.000-07:00

Poway - A noisy, busy city

2008-03-03T12:42:00.001-08:00

...yet there's a peaceful spot in the hills (even though you can still hear the noise from all the way up there)

A tiny Poway spider

2008-03-03T12:38:00.000-08:00

My camera is an extension of my eyes! I didn't see the little spider until I got home and looked at my pictures. Then i'm like, "Dude! A spider!"

Red Lobster

2008-02-16T10:14:00.000-08:00

To avoid the crowd, we went out for our Valentine's dinner the day after Valentine's day. This was my first-ever trip to Red Lobster!

Our dinner started out with some cheesy-biscuit things that were served fresh and hot. I was surprised that butter was not automatically brought to the table, as this is the US, where we coat our arteries with cholesterol on a daily basis. I'm sure it would have been brought if requested, though. The biscuits were a bit salty, but delicious. A good compliment to the sweet-fruity cocktail that we shared. It had Southern Comfort in it! Lightweight that I am, good thing we shared!

For salads, I had a Caesar salad which was pretty standard, tasty and with grated cheese on top.
Salad-y! My husband had coleslaw, which was... you guessed it... coleslaw-y! Really though, it was not remarkable like the bleu cheese bacon coleslaw at Brigantine, but it was sufficient.

The dinners came next, and they were tastily yummy.

I had shrimp impaled by a sharp stick and grilled, flavored with garlic and dripping with cholesterol madness. Buttery and tender, yes, these excited me (no, not THAT way, that came later). Also I had seafood-stuffed sole. (that somehow makes me think of shoes that smell like fish, but it was far from that). Tender white fishie material with ground up other fishies inside - very good. On the side, steamed broccoli... this was tender which I welcomed, just a couple days after some major dental work preventing me from a lot of chewing or opening up my jaws more than about an inch.

My husband had a Maui-style dinner, with the little stabbed shrimp also, and a hunk of salmon, all grilled. All with a sweet/sour sort of flavor, excellent as well.

We ate almost everything except some of the vegetables, which were quite generous in portion.
I didn't need any snacks at all the rest of the night. Very satisfied.

I am no longer a Red Lobster virgin.

A little bit of green...

2008-02-14T10:32:00.001-08:00

Wet 'n dirty..

2008-02-10T18:21:00.001-08:00

Slipping and a-sliding
All along the waterfall with you...

Poway is The Tree City

2008-02-10T18:17:00.000-08:00

Our first visit to Poway Lake since the Witch Fire.
I guess this picture speaks for itself.

Brigantine

2007-12-19T10:01:00.000-08:00

Yesterday my husband took me to the Brigantine for my birthday dinner. I love going there, we went on our first anniversary (years ago) as well.

We got seated immediately in a cozy booth. When we saw someone come by carrying one of those high-chair things, we're both like "oh no!" but they didn't sit any rugrats near us, thank goodness.

We began with a glass of white wine that the waiter recommended, a riesling (or however that's spelled). I know nothing about wine, but it was a good compliment to the meal. Bread was brought immediately to our table, both sourdough and a dark molasses bread. Both were hot, fresh and tasty - perfect for rolling into doughballs to play with if we had been so inclined. For an appetizer we had fried calimari strips. These were served on a pillow of chopped greens (and purples, if you count the cabbage). There were two yummy dipping sauces, one a white jalapeno sauce and the other red with horseradish. (i have yet to understand what it has to do with horses OR radishes) Excellent!

I ordered a fried seafood combo. There were giant fried shrimps, fish fillets, and the oh-my-god-these-are-the-biggest-damned-scallops-i've-ever-seen scallops. I mean, really, they were big - and squishy! I coulda stuffed a couple in my bra and been the ooh-la-la lady around town... Then there were little round things which i assume were those corn things, hushpuppies or whatever, but i didn't get around to eating them yet since the rest filled me up... and besides, they were named after shoes.

Breakfast this morning will be leftovers. All the little fishie goodies were deep-fried in a crispy batter - something i don't indulge in very often but what a treat! Classic tartar sauce to dip into.
There was a choice of two sides, and i picked bleu cheese and bacon potato salad, and vegetables which were carrots, brocoli and cauliflower. The veggies were seasoned and crunchy, the way i like them, not all cooked to death and mushy. I was too full to get to much of the potato salad.
So, the shrimp, scallops and fish fillets were all excellent. Although i usually prefer sauteed, and so does my belly the following night, this was fun food.

My husband ordered some sort of salad with seafoods in it, and tons of blue cheese and various salad thingies. I didn't get around to tasting that very much, and we ended up with quite a few leftovers.

A visit to the North Pole!

2007-12-08T16:27:00.000-08:00

(Well, of course i mean the North Pole that is in the grocery store)

Camping at Heise Park

2007-11-09T22:14:00.001-08:00

i'm really not as dumb as i look...

Bangkok Thai

2007-09-26T21:06:00.000-07:00

We had dinner at Bangkok Thai on Main in Park City, Utah

First we tried an appetizer called "PO PIA SOD" which was a roll thingie stuffed with shrimp, cilantro, mint, bean sprouts, lettuce and cucumber.
It came with two sauces, Hoisin dipping sauce which was kind of sweet, and a chili sauce that was ass-kicking hot. And little pieces of fruit made it cute.

The dinners we ordered were:

PLA SARM LORK * (Three Flavor Sea Bass) Yummy sea bass fried in a sweet, spicy and sour thai sauce. It came with asparagus, carrots, and slices of something that might have been cucumbers. The sauce was so good we had to order rice to soak it up. It really was sweet, sour and spicy all at the same time.

HONEY GINGER DUCK with a honey ginger glaze. This came with shredded carrots and shredded white things that tasted like turnips, and a slice of something that seemed like yam. Not as spicy as the sea bass, but totally yummy. The ginger was obvious, yet without being overpowering as Ginger can be.

By the time we finished this and a couple of glasses of chardonnay, I could have curled up under the table and fallen asleep.

Excellent food that was tasty and artistically presented...intimate atmosphere...and we had a two-for-one coupon! It just doesn't get any better than this.

They stole the lamb's head!

2007-09-25T20:52:00.000-07:00

At Glenwood Cemetery in Park City
This isn't the fancy one on the main road. It's kinda tucked away somewhere and not properly cared for, all sorts of weeds and overgrowth. Some of the gravestones have lambs with missing heads.

Lehi

2007-09-24T18:57:00.000-07:00

They have a haunted hospital there......and it's for SALE!

WHITE STUFF!!!!!!!

2007-09-24T10:22:00.001-07:00

First snow of the season for Park City, and only the second time I've ever seen snow falling. I had to dance in it!

Struck it RICH!!!!

2007-09-23T17:42:00.001-07:00

Stopped in at the Valley Of Fire Indian Reservation to look at all the pretty pyrotechnics toys they sell for the kiddies and to use the restroom.

When I passed by one of the slot machines it called me to put two quarters in it.
And WOOHOOO!!! I quintupled my money!!! (looked up that word to make sure it's really a word)

I turned 50 cents into TWO DOLLARS AND FIFTY CENTS!!
(this bought a hot cup of coffee and some cookies from McDonald's)

The really exciting thing about it was that it was one of the older machines, so instead of just pushing buttons and getting "credit", it actually spills out the coins, "CH-CHINGGGGG!!"

if only it had been a dollar machine....

Will this go straight to my Thai's?

2007-09-07T10:46:00.000-07:00

Last night we had a meeting to attend at Coco's (restaurant and bakery).
I was hungrier than a slice of pie and coffee, so i ordered a Thai Chicken Salad.

The bowl was huge. It was full of salad! Imagine!
Seriously, there was more food than i could eat, way more. On a bed of lettuce there were asian noodles (sort of spaghetti-like) and strips of chicken. Fresh cilantro added a really kicky touch, and a few peanuts on top provided some additional protein and crunch. Purple cabbage and carrots made it pretty. The dressing was sesame flavored and spicy. In fact, although i expected the usual wimpy Americanized "spicy" that i find lame, it was a pleasant surprise to find my nose running.

My husband ordered a slice of pecan pie. Pecan pie is ALWAYS a good thing. This was rich, creamier-than-store-bought, and made me go "ahhhhh" just to taste it.

Good job, Coco's! It was just a meeting and not the intimate "date" (with just my man) that i crave, but it was excellent food! One out of two is only half bad! (or half-good) :-)

Mee!

2007-08-28T20:02:00.000-07:00

Madras Cafe

2007-08-23T19:45:00.000-07:00

Yesterday i tried a place called Madras Cafe, which serves South Indian food. I went with my husband and some of his co-workers.
Now, this will be a difficult review because for two reasons. One, we ate at the buffet and thus sampled lots and lots of different things. And two, because i have no idea what i was eating!

It was a cozy little place with odd stainless steel water pitchers and cups on the tables. All the plates were also metal. I'm really glad i don't have the stainless steel crown on my tooth anymore or i would have been going nuts! (don't even bother to understand that one)

The aroma in the air reminded me of something from childhood, like little shops with tapestries and incense and brass things and hookahs.... hmmm... a song, perhaps? "raindrops on windows and whiskers on kittens... tapestries and incense and brass things and hookahs.... da da da da da da da da da dahhhh.... these are a few of my favorite things..."

So, there was green stuff, yellow stuff, red stuff, brown stuff, orange stuff, and white stuff.
And a big fried folded pancake-like thingie with yellow stuff (potatoes, i believe) and peas inside it.

I really can't begin to describe anything. I recognized rice and vegetables by sight, but nothing tasted anything like my brain wanted to assume it would taste like according to appearance.

I LOVED IT! :-)

Some of the foods were quite spicy, which is a good thing. Some i really enjoyed while others i could have lived without, but they weren't unpleasant at all. Just unfamiliar. There was a carrot-colored mushy thing i particularly liked, very sweet (dessert) with nuts and stuff in it, about the consistency of cream-of-wheat. Unusual to me, but yummy!

After a couple of rounds at the buffet, i was comfortably full....full of what, is a mystery. And i think i probably smelled interesting.

New Orleans Creole Cafe

2007-08-11T17:16:00.000-07:00

Today we had lunch at the New Orleans Creole Cafe in Old Town.
Son-of-a-gun-gonna-have-big-fun-on-the-bayou.
(sorry, got carried away singing)

This adorable cottage-like dining room shares a courtyard area with the Whaley House, an authentic "Haunt" with some curious and creepy history attached to it. And the Cafe is also known to be haunted. We ate in a dining room that is actually a separate little building from the main restaurant. We attended with a group of fellow ghost-trackers, and passed around some interesting pictures of possible spirit activity in the cafe and surrounding area. Many eerie accounts of personal experiences and encounters flew around our table of eleven diners, many of us meeting the others for the first time. Oh, by "the others" i meant the other people in our group. Who knows how many OTHER "others" may have been hovering around us..

As for food...
My husband and i split a Shrimp Remoulade salad. Excellent! Could have been a small light lunch for one person. Huge juicy shrimp (with tails removed, thank you!) on a bed of green leafy lettuce, with some cherry tomatos and cucumber slices. The dressing was something of unknown origin to me but yummy I don't need to know what it was in order to like it. I found myself cleaning the plate with my bread. Oh yeah, and baskets of french bread on the table, really fresh and soft in the middle with crisp crust.

Then we split a dinner of Crawfish Etouffee'. Split onto two separate plates, it was a nice size meal for each of us. I didn't know how to pronounce it so i just pointed at the menu and the waiter said something real pretty so i said "yes please!". Same with the Remoulade thing, fancy words i'd rather point to than try to guess how to say them.
Now, these little crawfish were yummy - tender kind of like the shrimp but quite different. They were deliciously mild swimming in this sauce. (well, not literally swimming, they were dead!) Not sure what the sauce was, kind of a warm, rich creamy sauce about the color of thousand island dressing (but the flavor was completely different). Generous amount of meat drenched in sauce, with a lump of moist white rice in the middle of the plate.
Comfort food, that's what it was. The kind of food that i don't worry about the fat content becuz it satisfies me so well that i don't feel inclined to snack on junk food later (as much).

I'd definitely like to dine there again sometime. You just have to be careful that playful spirits don't steal your bread.

Mimi's

2007-08-02T18:25:00.000-07:00

Today I had lunch with a friend at Mimi's Cafe.
First thing i noticed was that they have counter seating, which i don't find much except at Denny's.
That's nice to know when i'm going out alone sometime.

Anyway, Mimi's is a chain, but a really unique-looking building. Inside, it's very homey and kinda country. Staff was very attentive and friendly - smiles go a long long way!!

I had iced tea with a couple of refills... very refreshing as iced tea usually is when it's not presweetened and syrupy.

I ordered something called a "veggie stack" sandwich. It was on a nice roll, i forget the specific name of the roll at the moment. Like a bun sort of thing. Anyway, it was juicy and had huge grilled mushroom slices, red peppers, red onion, squash, and sun-dried tomato, spinach and various other green leafy things. I remember now, the bread is called "ciabatta". I wonder how that's pronounced... "Sha-batta eat all your veggies!" Yeah, maybe that.
Oh! and most importantly, cheese... smoked gouda.... I love cheese. Cheese is my friend, i could live without meat but not without cheese. And a side of fries... there's the option for coleslaw, but i didn't bring along my Beano. We know what cabbage can do.

Mimi's always puts a never-ending basket of bread on the table, fresh and hot with whipped butter... oooooohhh... one of the breads is like a dessert, with fruit in it..

Sandwiches at Mimi's are ALWAYS enough to make two meals. What a deal.

Coney Island Pizza

2007-08-01T18:11:00.000-07:00

Last night we got together with a small group of friends and had dinner at Coney Island Pizza on Poway Road.

Casual, cute and oh..my..goodness!!! This place smelled scrumptious! (can you gain weight by sniffing the air?)

We pushed a couple of tables together, family-style. Fountain drinks were do-it-yourself which is always a good thing, in my opinion.

I ordered a lasagna dinner. It came with a salad and a humongous hunk of garlic bread... so fantastically garlicky (is that a word, i guess so since the spell checker didn't fuss) that it had chunks of garlic on it. The lasagna was tender and cheesy (in the positive sense of the word) and had a tangy sauce on top. Classic for lasagna, and i totally loved it. Even when i fumbled my cucumber slice from the salad and it landed smack-dab on the sauce and spattered... i still loved it even then, yes i did oh yes i did...

My husband had a calzone (heh, spell checker didn't like that word) with chicken, cheese and spinach in it. I'd never seen or eaten one of those before. It's like a pizza folded in half. It was interestingly wonderful, tasted like an Italian (and yes i would know, i'm married to one). Even good as a cold leftover for breakfast, along with garlic bread... then i was off to the gym and nobody bothered me getting in my face trying to talk... imagine!! I shoulda went to the trainers with a breathy "hhhhhhello... hhhhhhhhow do you use this machine? hhhhhuhhhh????"

Our friends ordered pizzas which were quite generous in size. I sampled a slice of the big-special-everything pizza (the name escapes me) but it really did have nearly everything on it (well, everything as far as pizza toppings i mean) - brown things, green things, red things, i think it must have been a balanced meal by itself. And excellent as well, crust not too thick or too thin. And totally fat-free ...... ..... ...... NOT!!!!!!!!

And the owner came and talked with us, cute guy with New York in his voice. He can throw that dough up in the air, spin it, and catch it like in the olden days when pizza parlors were REALLY pizza parlors! They cater well to kids, too, letting them get their hands in some dough. Kids love that, playdough you can EAT! (well, they eat the other kind, too, goes well with that wintergreen kindergarten paste we all know and love)...

In summary: Yummy. My husband and I shall be going there again. (did i mention he's the most wonderful husband in the world? well, to me he is)

In my lifetime quest for the perfect cannoli, next time i'll leave a tiny space in my stomach for dessert. Or maybe i'll have to pick one of those up and bring it home for breakfast. I'll be sure and share my cannoli adventure here in the future. But i won't be sharing my cannoli with you, get yer own.

no reviews, but some eating tips

2007-07-26T08:33:00.000-07:00

Having my son home from college for a couple weeks, i've had a wonderful dining companion on multiple occasions. It's been wonderful!

I never got around to writing about the food, though. But that's ok, the conversations with my son have been fantastic.

I almost always make healthy choices in restaurants, and unless it's a buffet i use portion-control methods like cutting something in half and planning to take the other half home for a second meal. Sauces and dressings ordered "on the side" is an excellent choice. Don't eat it all.

I've never gained weight on restaurant food (unless it's the intention to). At home it's too easy to shove food in my face without thinking about, enjoying or appreciating it.

Eating alone is the most deadly of all to people trying to lose weight.

Going out to eat is not just about eating. It's a social and intimate thing to go out and eat with someone. Gotta be a reason that there are so many restaurants everywhere! We tend to eat slower when we're out with someone, we notice and talk about the presentation, appearance, texture and flavor of the food more. This is how food was intended to be eaten. Not shoved in the pie-hole in front of the tv or computer or book or anything else unrelated to the food. The meal should be ABOUT the food and ABOUT the company. Even if just for a few minutes.

In my opinion, obesity happens from the stuff being consumed in front of the television or computer more than anywhere else. And the key is portion control, and education about which foods provide needed nutrients. Eventually i'll get around to writing about all the little tricks i've learned about eating without gaining unhealthy weight.

Anyway, for a few days it's been nice to say "let's go out and eat" and get an eager response like "ok" or "sure!" instead of "no" or "go ahead by yourself". Nothing quite like food and conversation with someone you love!

Recovered anorexics know a whole lot about nutrition as well as the psychological aspects of eating. We have to know.

singles-friendly restaurants

2007-07-24T18:46:00.000-07:00

I find that going into a restaurant alone is intimidating. Yet dining out and sharing conversation and food is one of my very most favorite things to.

When dining alone, i've read that it's good to order dinner in the lounge. In a "bar" setting like that a person is less obviously alone, and chances are someone might come up and join in whereas they wouldn't at a regular table. There must be a learned art to this whole solo thing.

Singles-friendly restaurants. Do they EXIST in Poway, i wonder. I've heard of singles groups that get together and dine out, as a matter of fact i met my husband through one of those. I wasn't there looking for a spouse - i was there to get out socially... kinda like now. But the group folded a few years back. Does family-style seating exist in restaurants these days?

Anybody up for Miami Grille, The Brig, Outback, Red Lobster, Olive Garden, or ??? - i got my new dress just waiting to make its premier, and I can be ready in 10 minutes!!! I promise, i won't steal food off your plate...

More than burgers!

2007-07-12T09:15:00.000-07:00

I took my husband to The Hamburger Factory for his birthday. We got there early, before the dinner rush. There were other "seniors" enjoying meals there when we arrived, while most tables were empty. By the time we left, there were quite a few more diners.

We decided to order dinners rather than burgers. I had meatloaf, which came with mashed potatoes and gravy and a HUGE salad. My husband had a seafood dinner which consisted of fried shrimp, clams and french fries, and also a HUGE salad.

The salads were unremarkable, mostly iceberg lettuce with shreds of carrots and purple cabbage - like the bagged sort - but very fresh. Also tomato slices and croutons. We both chose the low-cal Italian dressing. Way more salad than we could eat. I would have enjoyed it more had it included some dark leafy things. The bread served with the salad was yummy, a little loaf that was fresh and had that homemade taste. We had fun making... uhhh... immature... comments about their shape...

The meat loaf was fantastic! It was like an inch-and-a-half thick, two large chunks. Had a lot of flavor to it, not just bland meat relying on gravy to give meaning to its existence. The meat could have stood alone. But smothered in brown gravy, along with it's mashed 'taters partner, it was perfect. Only thing that would have made it better would be a side of peas next to the 'taters.

The seafood dinner was also good, although too much fried stuff for my belly to be happy with.
The salad and bread were as described previously. The shrimp and clams were battered (poor things) and fried up crispy, and tasted exactly as anticipated. The french fries were standard, and included the skins which is a good thing.

When dining out, i prefer to choose as low-fat as possible most of the time. I'll pick grilled over fried, and salad dressings on the side (low-fat if they have it).

I also had a cup of coffee which they brewed fresh. The offering of little containers of creamers included the chocolate flavor which i can't find anymore in the stores. I love that stuff.

Hey, crab cakes!

2007-07-05T18:47:00.000-07:00

Today i decided to go to Coco's for dinner. Since i was dining alone, i asked for a small booth and said a friend may or may not showing up (so i'd look less out-of-place, when i realized i was the only single diner there).

The waitress was friendly and smiling... that goes a long way with me!
I ordered a crab cakes sandwich for $8.99.
I chose sweet potato fries on the side.
Service was fairly quick.
The sandwich was huge, as was the helping of fries. Enough for two light meals.
Crab cakes were mild and overall pretty good. Not a lot of crab flavor but that was ok.
It was served with lettuce and tomato slices on a yummy homemade-style French roll.
There was standard tartar sauce and a pickle spear...and this weird stuff, it was scary like maybe it was lettuce from another planet, alien lettuce... i think it was called kale??? yuk. remind me i don't like kale. Thicker than lettuce, and bitter....bleah. But everything else was more than satisfactory. The fries were crisp and tender with a sweet flavor (well duh,they're SWEET potatoes), no need for ketchup/catsup/that red stuff....maybe some marshmallow cream.. ha, just kidding!!

After i was done, i asked for a "husband bag" or something like that. In the olden days we got "doggie bags" instead of a foam box...little leak-proof bags imprinted with something like "bones for bowser" but i bet poor bowser rarely received the contents of those bags... the waitress probably thought i was weird but oh well, that's ok... i'm old... not old enough for the senior discount though....damn.. five more years!

Cocos serves wine now although i didn't indulge since i was driving... next time i'll walk and get tanked, haha, get tanked at Coco's!! well, i've done weirder...and i live about 3 blocks from it (why i drove at all, don't ask!).

As for being singles-friendly, unfortunately there was no counter-seating, so singles have to sit at a booth across from an empty seat glaring at you saying "you are alone..." But better than staying home! There's always that Harvey-the-rabbit thing to use... hey! Maybe Harvey would eat that gross alien lettuce...

I brought a book and also a pen and paper so i could write stuff and try to look important... i read that it's a good trick for single diners...

Breakfast at Denali's

2007-06-24T14:41:00.000-07:00

no, no, not Tiffany's..
Anyway, my husband took me out to breakfast this morning (actually, after noon).

I am too full and must nap now, but will add the delicious details later!

Days later: Next time i won't take so long to getting around to doing this, since i've forgotten a lot.

My husband had the "U-Haul Guy's Special" which was scrambled eggs with tons of different meats in it. Huge portions! He had tortillas on the side. I had scrambled eggs with onion, mushrooms and ham. It was yummy... again, huge portions! I had wheat toast on the side, good bread and not cheap stuff, and we both had diced potatos that were fried and scrumptious.

There was enough left over for two more meals.... and these were only $4.99 each.
Excellent value.... way too much food to get on a daily basis, but this could easily become a weekly habit.

Oh, and i really loved going out to breakfast with my husband. He is awesome.

Panda Express

2007-06-23T08:07:00.000-07:00

Well, the doc says i'm too thin. Imagine!

Had a hankerin' for Chinese (food) last night. (Actually ANY food, and Chinese was handy). I picked up take-out from Panda Express.

Anyway, food? Non-remarkable. It wasn't the nice seafood dinner with wine that i've been craving for awhile, but it was food. I zipped in and out in a flash, brought it out to the car and started eating out of the styrofoam container while my husband was shopping in Office Depot. Hey, I was real hungry! I got a 3-entree combination (enough for us both) which included chow mein as the side, broccoli beef, mushroom chicken and sweet & sour pork. The food? eh. Tasty. Surroundings? same-old (ate at home) . The price? eh. Seven dollars and something, a bit high for i'm-just-starving take-out food to wolf down at home. Probably reasonable if in a served-to-the-table place.

Would i go there again? sure. when i'm in a hurry and starving, since it's a non-intimidating atmosphere for singles, decent food, and fast. The "express" in the name says it. But hopefully the meat was really what it claimed to be.

We've eaten at Panda restaurants before when we were on vacation. I enjoyed that more.

Eating the same food (or worse, junk food) at home is just as fattening as eating in - actually more so, since binging and overeating is much more likely at home.

In summary: Panda Express, an excellent restaurant for single people or those in a hurry but wanting an alternative to the standard burger-and-fries of the fast-food scene. There was an online survey thingie on the receipt, and after i took that i got a verification number to get a free entree next time i get a 2-entry meal. I'd hit that! :-)

I'll be working out at the gym today. Fortune cookie say: "many calories hidden in Chinese food, beware"

Denali's Ravioli

2007-06-19T15:41:00.000-07:00

A couple of days ago i once again enjoyed Denali's, this time eating at one of their simple but clean tables instead of takeout. The guys there are so darned cheerful, but not fake cheerful, they seem to really enjoy their customers. (no no no! they don't EAT the customers, i didn't mean that) One wall was lined with photos of people eating there and goofing around, which made a comfy, family atmosphere.

So having already tried their pizza and their carrrrrrne asada burritos, this time i decided on cheese ravioli.

This was true "comfort food". It FELT good.... i wanted to hug it..

There was a generous portion of ravioli, along with salad and garlic bread on the side.
The salad came with choices of dressings. (i chose bleu cheese)
It was a fresh, dark green mixed leafy with tomato slices salad, instead of the generic iceberg with tomatoes. Speaking of tomatoes... (my spell-checker made me add the "e")....the sauce on the ravioli was totally tomato! mmmmm... tomato-y... Lots of sauce to scoop up with the garlic bread wedges. It had chunks of tomato in it, and overall simply yummy. The raviolis were large and stuffed with cheese (no, not chubby and stuffed with fluff), firm but tender and not at all mushy like the canned stuff. oh, and did i mention the sauce?

For around six bucks, it was more than i could finish. Probably two could share it as a light meal. Would i go get this meal again? You betcha! Absolutely! Next time i'll take a picture of it, it looked kinda cute on the plate. How about that.

Veal..

2007-06-17T10:35:00.000-07:00

Think about this next time you enjoy that juicy meat...

Del Mar Fair

2007-06-17T10:12:00.000-07:00

OK, well it's the San Diego County Fair but to me it's Del Mar Fair. That's what it used to be when i was a kid, and it stuck (perhaps with a stick, batter and hot grease). They've changed the name a bunch of times over the years, just like with our Stadium which will always be the San Diego Stadium to me.

Food. Yes, the fair is about food. As soon as we got out of the car we could smell searing flesh of various species. One of the first things we saw was the rattlesnake chili booth. Oh. My. Gawd...
YUK! I'm sorry but ewwww! The snake meat was still on the snake, on the grill!!! Curled up like a snake, only meat! GEEEEZ, couldn't they at least have made it look like shredded beef or something?!! And there was this huge long lump of something evil on the grill that they said was a big python, i nearly gagged at the sight of it.. I wonder if in the center of it were dead rodents... gagging now at the thought..... Oh, and some eight dollars or so for a cup of chili, nope. I'd love to have tasted it, but no samples.. darn!

So, strolling down the center of things, all the booths... This on a stick, that on a stick, pork chop on a stick, fried twinkie on a stick, hot dog on a stick, polish sausage on a stick, i guess just about anything you can stick a stick into, you can dip in batter and deep fry it and sell it at the fair! (ouch) I saw a booth with calamari, but didn't notice if that's on a stick or not.

I bought a plate of Australian battered potatoes, with cheese sauce. Pricey as everything is there, at a little under seven bucks, but this plate of fat must have weighed a couple of pounds!
mmmmm...greasy! Paper-thin slices of potatoes in a doughnut-like batter, dripping with hot melted fat. The cheese sauce helped to camouflage some of the grease, i think. We all know cheese sauce has NO fat or calories, right??? Good, but the portion was enough for an entire family. (not complaining here) There were about six big slabs of the stuff, and i think they could have stuck a stick in them and sold them individually for a couple dollars each.

Other than that, we brought in our own food and drinks. The fudge, as always, looked scrumptious. But i've got a couple other places i like to purchase that from, so i didn't surrender to the oh-great-fudge-god this time.

The livestock animals were adorable, as always. I pet them, i bond with them.....but....poor things... one day, they too shall likely be impaled with a stick and dipped in batter.....

something-on-a-stick

2007-06-08T07:36:00.000-07:00

I still haven't gone anywhere to eat lately. Haven't gone anywhere fun, except maybe walmart or the boring city council meetings.. oh boy. When city council night is "date night" you know you're missing out on an important part of life... Hopefully there will be a break in this excitement soon... the non-stop thrills are killing me..

Perhaps the fair, for a double-fried fat-on-a-stick with a side of cholesterol, and a glass of sugar water with a lump of sugared butter for dessert... or the zoo, where the monkeys can be jealous of my sandwich and throw their poop at me, or they sit there and masturbate and look at people like "what.... doesn't everybody?" Monkey, spank thyself.

Seriously, in the years past when i used to go to the fair, i'd bring my own food and just buy a snack there. I love the gem and mineral displays, some of the collections of stuff, the demonstrations of over-priced gadgetry...... and the animals, where i can stick my fingers in the sheep. The zoo, i've heard there is a new monkey thing there, well new to me since i haven't been in years... I'd like to visit my relatives there again.

clothes and fish and cheese food

2007-06-01T10:33:00.003-07:00

Nothing new to review right now.

One of these days my husband will take me to The Brigantine, and i can wear my new black dress, and put a review up here of the glorious seafood, classy atmosphere and service that they had better deliver.

On another subject, though, what in the heck is "cheese food"??? Pasteurized processed cheese food.... Like, is there a cheese that is NOT food????? I just ate some "cheese food". So i guess i'm safe. I didn't eat the cheese we have in the fridge that is NOT labeled "food"...

Like Digestion, or something...

2007-05-30T10:10:00.000-07:00

I haven't been out to eat for a couple of weeks but wanted to make an entry anyway.
Some thoughts about digestion:

A person gets more out of the food they eat, both nutritionally and psychologically, when they are fully "aware" of it. Like, eating food while doing something else like reading or watching tv, it goes in more as "junk" and turns into fat or bad nutrition, and we never consciously received the full satisfaction of it. It's not even digested the same as food that is consciously enjoyed. Like a person would do in a restaurant, they would notice all the spices and flavors, be aware of their surroundings like the tablecloth, dishes, etc. (and like how many times they over-use the word "like" like i've done here)

They will be aware of their company and conversation, and thus their triggers inside their body would also be apparent. Like, knowing when they are full. I think sitting down to a meal at the table without phone/tv/reading is also like that. Totally EXPERIENCING the food makes us aware of the nutritional needs as well, we don't overeat or overfill on junk, and thus are more lean and healthy and run like an efficient machine. Like giving the car a tuneup and better quality gasoline.

I really believe this. Shoving crap into our mouths while watching tv, reading or even while being very stressed out, doesn't get used efficiently and turns to fat and/or illness. Using all five senses while noticing everything keeps the body in tune with itself.

La la la, went to the park...

2007-05-22T18:19:00.000-07:00

So my big adventure of the day was a walk to Community Park.
Tried to get a picture of a duck but it flew away. Then tried to get a picture of a squirrel but it ran away. (do i stink?? do they sense my evil plan???)

So, i figured the flowers growing by the creek could not escape from my stealing of their little souls... oh wait, do flowers even have souls? Well, if they do, these don't anymore... buwahahahahaaahhhh..

(game: find the little soul-less bee in this picture)

Dueling Burritos: the carne asada experiment

2007-05-21T08:59:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend, we decided to take in a couple of carne asado burritos from two restaurants which are just across the street from one another.

First, my beloved Alberto's. The one that will be bulldozed to make room for the dreaded “town center” project (and yes, i still plan to be lying in front of that bulldozer - this is a landmark, geez, remember Picnic N Chicken??? A giant chicken curse shall fall upon those responsible for this abominable demolition).

Second, Denali's. That's the pizza place, but they have a Mexican menu as well.

Alberto's Carne Asada Burrito: $3.80
18.5 ounces
Wrapped in paper and then placed inside a paper sack.
Note: paper is not juice-proof. Thus, i ended up with warm green liquid on my heather grey skirt and Hello Kitty car seat cover during the trip home. Not a good thing, Martha.

Denali's Carne Asada Burrito: $4.25
19.3 ounces
Wrapped in paper and then placed inside a styrofoam container.
Not as friendly for the environment, that styrofoam, but much better for my skirt and Hello Kitty car seat covers. Priorities, ya know?

Service was cheerful at both places. Denali's has eat-in tables while Alberto's is a walk-up/drive-thru and has a few wood tables outdoors.

Sauces:
Both restaurants included a red and a green sauce.
Alberto's sauces were unremarkable, like something i'd get from a bottle - not bad at all.
Denali's sauces were more of a fresh-made flavor, with the green sauce being my favorite with a lot of zesty (no, not the soap) cilantro flavor to it. Yum.

Tortillas:
mmmm... tortilla-y... both about the same, and fully-fatted i'm sure...

So, to get to the meat of the matter... (haha, i know i'm freakin' hilarious!)
Where's the Beef?!!!
Right here. (at least i assume it's beef)

The amount of meat seemed to be about the same in both burritos, maybe slightly more in Denali's.

Alberto's meat had more spicy flavoring, which was unidentifiable but excellent. Kind of the “signature” flavor that i expect carne asada to have.

Denali's meat was more meat-like (if that makes sense). It had less spice and the meat flavor was more apparent, like a cut up juicy steak. Once the sauces were applied, plenty of flavor.

Both had other junk inside, like tomatos and guacamole. Very filling, and the next morning... well, we won't go there.

So overall, both were pretty kick-ass, with only about 45 cents difference in price.
If i were going to pick up a carne asada burrito to bring home, i think i would go for Alberto's (until they bulldoze it, that is). And i'd bring a plastic sack and thus save my clothing and Hello Kitty car seat covers from the warm (albeit tasty) green ooze.

But if i were looking for a place to go consume a carne asada burrito away from home, it would be Denali's. These guys are so friendly, some of their menu items are named after actual customers. How about that...
Perhaps i should suggest they create an "Inky's" special.

Ravioli

2007-05-16T15:28:00.000-07:00

Met with a friend for lunch at Domenic's Ristorante. (ha, my spell-checker didn't like that one!)

A comfy but classy intimate atmosphere in a rather small place on a busy street. No traffic noises though, just typical romantic-style Italian music. The place comes complete with cute Italian waiters and attractive table settings. Excellent, friendly, quick service. They even put the fresh-grated parmesan cheese on your food for you, instead of handing you one of those shaker-bottles of dry stuff.

First was a salad of fresh lettuce and tomato with a lot of cheesy flavor. And a basket of hot breads of varieties unknown to me. Little weird button-like things that unrolled, and chunks of some sort of "pan" style bread. Sorry i don't know all the fancy names, i just describe what it was like to me. The breads were excellent, but they brought no butter (i'm sure they would if you ask). Later, i realized why.

I had Ravioli Rosa, which was cute little pasta pillows (we all know what ravioli is) stuffed with cheese and topped with an over-abundance of creamy tomato sauce which was full of unidentifiable little bits of things, some of which i believe were spinach. It was rich, tasty, along the lines of a "comfort" food. And now i knew where the bread came in to play. ALL THAT SAUCE!

I only finished half, it was very rich for lunch. I think this would be a perfect spot for a couple to share some wine and food in the evening, gaze longingly into one another's eyes, hold hands, kiss passionately, and then go home and have wild, garlic-scented sex.

Mom's Day

2007-05-14T16:25:00.001-07:00

I enjoyed Mother's Day. My son and his girlfriend (my "adopted daughter") came up and brought me gifts... and a lot of chocolate, i love chocolate! It was like over two pounds of assorted Hershey's nuggets and i polished that off in an hour or so (ok, just kidding, but i ate quite a few).

We called in an order to a little hole-in-the-wall place a few blocks away called Denali's and ordered a large assorted meats pizza and an antipasto salad. The kids (note, they're grown-up kids) asked me if antipasto meant that it was something that objected to pasta. Then my husband said that if pasta and antipasta got together it would blow up the world. See, i am surrounded by smart-alecks!

When we went in to pick up the food, i noticed that it smelled heavenly in the place. Mostly take-out, it has a small row of tables to eat there, too. They have lasagna and other stuff, too, and home-made cookies. I was surprised to see they also had a menu of Mexican foods. Sometime i'm going to have to try their carrrrne asada (as the lion says, say it like Ricardo Montalban) burrito and see if it rivals the ones from Alberto's just across the street - the place that's gonna get bulldozed over to put in a stuffy fancy unsuccessful (mark my words) town center (not like i have an agenda or anything there, nope).

Anyway, drifting back on subject. The employees were extremely pleasant and friendly, both on the phone and in person. The pizza was nice and greasy, the way takeout pizza is supposed to be. I like the crust, not too thick and doughy but not thin and crispy (pizza just isn't RIGHT sitting on a Ritz, there's something terribly wrong and bordering on evil in that scenario...a pizza-blasphemy, of sorts) The sauce was slightly spicy compared to many, but still not really what i'd consider spicy. Overall, not bad at all, and a better experience to me than pizza from one of the many chain places that are everywhere.

The antimatter... err.. anti-amerian.. errrr.. i mean.. antidisestablishmentarianism... gosh, i typed that without stopping to think how to spell it, must be one of those words i use quite often then... oh, ANTIPASTO salad... that's it! umm.. what about it? oh yeah.
It was yummy! It had different colors of leafy things in it, kind of like the greek salad from a couple days before. And olives and croutons and junk, but also the sliced meats and cheese. Came with a generous portion of a creamy italian dressing (on the side, the way i always prefer salad dressing becuz even though i probably will use it all anyway, somehow i fool myself into thinking there are less calories in it that way).

Good meal, good company. Happy mommy. Food is grand.
(and leftover cold pizza for breakfast, well that rocks my world.)

Daphne's

2007-05-13T13:23:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my husband took me out for an early dinner at Daphne's Greek Cafe. When we walked in, we were the only customers in the place. By the time we left, there were a few others.

I had a gyros plate (pronounced year-ohs, i believe, although i point at the menu and say "i want that"). It's like meat they slice off this big cylinder thingie, really moist (ok, probably fat makes it moist) and rather uniquely spiced.
It came with pita bread, which tasted fresh-baked, rather unremarkable rice, and greek salad. The rice is a nice side dish but on its own not a lot of character - typical of rice. The salad was excellent, had different lettuces including little whole-leaf things of some sort which just had to be healthy. And some chopped up olives and nice oily dressing, mmmm... And feta cheese... it's cheese named after a word that's SIMILAR to "feet" but it's NOT "feet" and it doesn't smell like feet, thank goodness (that's another kind of cheese). Hey, look what i can do! oh wait, i can't get my toe in my mouth anymore, nevermind...

I ended up eating after i was already full, and if you know anything about recovering anorexics, that says a LOT about how much i was enjoying the food, atmosphere and especially the company. Oh yeah, the white cucumber sauce stuff, that's yummy to dip all the other crap in. While i'm eating the gyros, i try not to think about Shari Lewis and Lambchops, how sad. Do lambs really scream when they're slaughtered? dang! visual.. sad... lambie... Mary Had A Little Lamb...sad... snap out of it, ML! ML Had A Little Lamb... and a Little Cheese... and a Little Lettuce... in a pita pocket, haha!!!

My husband had a calamari pita sandwich, also excellent. Now, calimari, i believe, is squid. YUK! Slimey gross squid! Having been an avid fisherwoman in the past, i've felt my way around some squid slime here and there and didn't think of it as a product i'd care to consume. But crispy-fried and tucked into a little "sleeping bag" pita bread with lettuce, tomato, onion, feta and dressing, i'll go for that little freaky fishie thing after all... it's not JUST for bait anymore! And i don't think squid (or is the plural "squids"?) scream when you kill them - maybe squirt ink or make squishy-slushy noises.

We also had ice water with a slice of lemon. And a nice walk on the way home...I was happy, and promptly fell asleep on the couch.

Gems

2007-05-12T13:17:00.000-07:00

I went to Starbucks and had a lowfat mocha frappoccino. Too expensive, $3.25 for the "tall" which by their sizing is actually a small. There's "tall", "vente" (?), and "grande". Anyway, it was frothy, sweet, cold and yummy and gave me an excuse to sit outside at the little tables and meet some people.

There were some guys discussing rocks and gems who noticed me listening up, and showed me a cool work in jade which one of them had made. Discussion got to lapidary and mining gems and stuff, which is an interest we've had for awhile. So i got some information now and would like to get more involved in lapidary. Rock people are interestingly unique. Rocks are real, date back to forever-ago and likely will be here long after mankind goes bye-bye like the dinosaurs. So when you hold onto one (rock, not the dino) you're holding onto a piece of the earth, something solid and real and grounded (well, unless it's a meteor then it wasn't always grounded).

Gems and crystals have some cool properties and vibrate at different frequencies.
Doesn't that sound scary?

I had no idea there were all these cool gems in the ground right here close to home.