Embarcadero

Spent some time in a fun area this past weekend.  I got to venture about the Embarcadero area of San Francisco.  The Embarcadero is the eastern waterfront and roadway of the Port of San Francisco.  It comes complete with an older building that was built in 1915.  I know this because the building has that date labeled prominently on the face.  It even has the date lit with lights so you can see it in the night.

I guess that the port was very important during it's day because the area is huge.  It is also a wonderful place to roam and lose yourself in your thoughts.

Primarily a tourist spot, there are a number of restaurants and pieces of art.  It is also a nice example of reclamation and renovation.  All of the piers are open for walking around, there are folks fishing off of the pier.  There are wonderful viewing spots of the Bay Bridge, the Golden Gate, Alcatraz, Treasure Island.  The sea lions are in full vocal form on one end.  It really is just a genuine pleasure.

Speaking of restaurants, I also stopped at a place that bills itself as the oldest continually run restaurant in San Francisco.  Tidich Grill is a great place to land.  The layout of the restaurant has a huge bar running down the middle with these wonderful, slightly hidden booths down the wall.  The prices are bit high (but then again, EVERYTHING in the city is priced a bit high) but the food was wonderful.  I had a shrimp bisque and some lemon asparagus.  It was simply great.

Santana Row

It has come time to tell you about my favorite place to this point.  I believe I have mentioned it in the some of the older posts, but I feel that it should be given the full credit it deserves.  It is a place where the young turks strut their stuff and the well-to-do mingle and be seen.  A place where there are Aston Martins parked outside of the Tesla shop.

For this yo-yo who loves to "people watch", it is simply a heavenly place to be.  I am talking about Santana Row in San Jose.

To be honest, it is a lovely little three-block shopping and living center.  I have always liked the notion of having apartment complexes on top of a shopping district.  It seems so... well, cosmopolitan.

There are lots of higher end clothing stores and a couple of fun knick-knack shops like the stationary store MaiDo, a Japanese stationary store that (quite frankly) has some wonderful toys and craft items.  Well worth a peruse...

There are also a lot of wonderful restaurants there as well (you know me and food...).  My current favorite is a place called the Left Bank Brasserie.  It has wonderful outdoor cafe seating and the food (while pricey) is great.  But should also mention Pizza Antica which has great pizza, but even greater salads and served with pizza crust as bread.  

There are also a number of "club" like establishments that folks my age migrate away from after about eight when the aforementioned young turks start to come out.  We shuffle out to the street muttering under our breath about how "we could not hear ourselves think in there...".  Yes, people my age REALLY do that.  But we generally migrate over to the outdoor wine bars or the tequila bar.  (We do find our way...and it is quieter there)

How many types of sweet potatoes?

When one needs to clear the head, there is really nothing better than to go on a walk-a-bout.  Now this phrase may be a bit old-fashioned (and foreign for that matter - it is an Australian saying), but it really is true.

On Saturday morning, I looked about my apartment, took a deep breath and said to myself, "Self, you cannot put this off any longer."  The crustiness in the kitchen and rather unspeakable stuff in the bathroom needed to be eliminated.  So... I spent a rather long, lonely day cleaning up the place.  To treat myself after the day of cleaning, I watched one of my favorite movies - Blazing Saddles.

That brings me to Sunday.  I got up and decided that I just needed to get out.  But, where?  That is where Blazing Saddles comes into play.  The name of the town in the movie is Rock Ridge.  Could there be a Rock Ridge, California?  Yup.

As I pulled up and parked in Rockridge, the first thing I see is The Sock Hop which I know would tickle my daughter to no end.  A sock store.  That is one of the most wonderful things about this area.  The towns are littered with shops like these.  There is an almost abhorrence to the chain stores.

A bit more wandering had me back in Berkeley and at the Stained Glass Garden.  This is in a really wonderful part of Berkeley on fourth street.  This shop is fascinating with mosaic and stained glass supplies.

Lunch was at Vik's Chaat & Marketplace.  This Indian restaurant is nestled in (what looks like on the outside) a rather warehouse looking building but the food is really good.

Now after lunch, I was driving about Berkeley when I spied a grocery with produce spilling out the front entrance.  I cannot explain why, but this sight piqued my interest so I parked the car and ventured inside.  The name of the place is The Berkeley Bowl.  To be perfectly frank, dear readers, I have NEVER seen so much produce.  I mean there were four different types of sweet potatoes all piled together.  Name a type of vegetable or green and they had it in multiple varieties.  Of course, I had to buy a couple of things...

So overall, this was just what the doctor ordered.  Beautiful scenery, eclectic visuals, and (of course) a beautiful fall day to enjoy it all.

...but then again.

View from Jack London Square in Oakland

Okay, in my last post I spoke of all of the wonderful small towns and cities along the Bay Area.  These gems are fantastic places to visit.

Now having said that, I have to tell you about my first trip into Oakland.

I visited Jack London Square in Oakland which is situated on the bay.  It is a planned area that is lined with restaurants and shops.  I crawled my way from San Jose through the evening rush hour traffic and the normal 40 minute trip took an hour and a half, but that was okay.  The evening certainly was worth it.

As I got there, the sun was just setting and the skies over the bay were lit with beautiful pinks and blues.  The water on the bay reflected these colors magnificently.

It was a Wednesday evening in October so there streets were pretty bare but there was music in the air coming from a band playing at place called Plank which highlights pizza and Bocci Bowling.  After roaming about, I ended up at a place called Bocanova, and man was that a good (and rather pricey) choice.  I was in the mood for some ceviche and they had a wonderful sea bass ceviche with sweet potato, red onion, cucumber, and something called aji amaillo.  I have no idea what that last ingredient was, but it sure tasted wonderful.  Add to that a wonderful California Rose... wonderful.

After dinner, one last look at the bay and I decided to have a drink before heading back to San Jose.  The primary reason I stopped was because the place had a nice brass bar and Frank Sinatra was playing.

Life is good.

On the road to...

Fremont, Saratoga, Los Gatos, Gilroy, Dublin, San Ramon... the list goes on and on.

There are a lot of wonderful smaller towns in the mix here. While there are the three major cities, San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose that form a bit of a triangle around the Bay area; in between each of these cities are a line of small towns that dot the landscape.  And each one of them has their own personality and design.

They each have a downtown area that is lined with shops and restaurants.  My current favorite restaurant in the area is the Bella Saratoga.  It is an Italian joint that is housed inside a house (Wow, diagram that sentence...).  But I also recently enjoyed Satomi Sushi in Fremont.

It really is a ball to discover new places in these little gems.  While the cities of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose have almost anything that a person could want, it is really nice to just take a side trek and visit the town/cities of Palo Alto, Berkeley, Mountain View, Cupertino... well, you get the idea.

Just pull up to the downtowns in these places and get out of the car.  Roam around and find the most interesting things and places.  I will bet that you will find a new favorite place again and again...

A rose by any other name...

I grew gladiolas when I lived in Illinois.  I always had a vegetable/herb garden whenever I had a patch of dirt or pot to grow something in.  Tomatoes, peppers, basil, and mint have always been a staple and always my first choice when I do get a chance to garden.

But there has always been one plant that I have loved more than any other.  The one whose fragrance can entice me to stop what I am doing at almost any time and lean into for a full nose full of splendid aroma (Okay... that may have been a bit much...).  I am speaking of the magnificent rose.

This is (once again) a wonderful thing about where I have landed here in the bay area.  There are roses EVERYWHERE!  It is evidently the home of the rose.  My place of employment (Santa Clara University) must have the best grounds crew because I have honestly never seen so many different types and colors of roses in my life.  I actually saw a pale purple rose and when the wind blows just right, the entire area has that wonderful scent in the air.

Now, dear reader, you may be rolling your eyes (as my dear one does) and thinking "Hyberbole does not become you, Web Guy", but I can assure you that what I convey here is true.  There is even an active "rose society" just for the Santa Clara area and the city of San Jose Municipal Rose Garden.  The best part is that the rose dominance is not limited just to the campus of Santa Clara University.  It is all over the city of Santa Clara and large parts of nearby San Jose.

So as we tally the list of "why I love it here" items, we can add the beauty and wonderful aroma of the local flora to it.  It is no wonder that I keep my windows open in my apartment.

Now, I just need to start my own little contribution...

Finding a draft card to burn...

When I was a young fire brand college student, I became fascinated with the 60s movements and the people involved.  I could not read enough biographies and manifestos.  Being the political science major that I was, I just really enjoyed learning about that period of time and how it has affected American history.  That is one of the reasons that I am looking forward to this weekend.  I am heading to Berkeley, California.

Berkeley is home to the University of California, Berkeley and it earned it's wings as one of the major meccas of the anti-war movement of the 60s.  It is a place that has been on my bucket list for quite some time and I am looking forward to roaming around.  Now, I am not expecting to run into Thomas Hayden or any of the Chicago Seven but it will be nice to see what I can see.

Roaming around a college town is always a treat to begin with.  There are the funky bars and restaurants, the second hand shops where you can find a treasure or two usually line the streets.  The students are back in session so it will be great to hear and experience.  There is NOTHING better than gaggle of 18-22 year olds in all of their glory and righteous indignation (that is a compliment).

So off we go.  I wonder... if I let my beard grow and find some old bell bottoms...

Feeling the void...

I do not believe that I am not one to post about having a heavy heart.  My dear readers (I think that there are three of you out there...) do not want to hear me whine.  I say that because my tolerance for whining is not very high.  That being said, I will just blurt this out...

I really, really miss my best friend and partner out here.

I have hopefully been conveying the fact that while places like my previous stops in Manhattan, KS and Houston (please see: http://webguyinhouston.blogspot.com/) have wonderful elements and things to do, it is a totally different experience out here in the San Jose/San Francisco/Oakland/Napa/Sonoma/Monterey/Berkeley/Palo Alto/Silicon Valley area.

Let me explain.

In all of the other places I have lived, there are wonderful places to go.  The destinations available are fun and exciting.  Going down to Aggie-ville in Manhattan, Kansas makes for a fun evening and if you review my Houston blog you will know that places like Miller Outdoor Auditorium is wonderful.  Both places have great restaurants and pubs/bars to visit and relax.  These are really fun places to land.

Out here though there is that added feature of "the journey".  In all of those previous places, you put your head down and drove to the destination where a fun time awaited.  Here, the fun time starts with the drive.  There are the roadside produce stands, the winding roads through the hills and mountains, the road that has the ocean as your driving companion.

So yes, I miss that one person who used to hold my hand and share my running commentary and there are a few places that I know that I cannot journey to on my own.  I am a social creature by nature and life is so much better with my partner.  She know who she is and (to be frank) I don't think she reads this so I am pretty safe.  :-)

Man, I sure would like to show her these sites... back to normal on my next post.

Can't see the trees through...

At the risk of being rather rude, all I can say is "DAAAAMN!!!"

Okay, please remember that I grew up in Illinois and spent time amongst the oak and walnut trees.  There were many other types of trees that my laziness prevented me from learning about in my childhood.  But there was nothing to compare to what I saw this past weekend.

I traveled to the Big Basin Redwoods state park and might I say that these trees are HUGE!  It honestly is a beautiful park with waterfalls (I never found them, I got a little lost quite frankly), and wonderful camping spots.  It was a beautiful day to wander about.

I also learned another valuable lesson.  It is not very easy to take a picture of these monsters.  I went explicitly to stretch my legs and take pictures so I took a lot of close up photos of the wood.  Turned out rather well, I thought.

Long story short, it was simply amazing to wander around these giants.  It was also a place that I am sure to back to time and time again.  As with everything else in this area, the drive there was just as enjoyable as the destination.  There are very few places that have that luxury.

Plus, I got to find that waterfall...

Wine, water, or trees...

Okay, I am going into a three day weekend with quite the dilemma.  When you move to a new area, the impulse to do as much as possible can be a bit over whelming.  Especially here in the northern California region, it is especially suited for variety.

You have the sheer beauty of driving the coastline and gazing upon the beauty of where the land meets the sea.  There are the multitude of state and national parks to see with the beauty of the redwoods.  Heading into "the city" and visiting Golden Gate Park is an option.  Then, of course, this IS northern California which means "wine country".

What to do...

I tried to ask my kids and their immediate response was "Disneyland!"  This is an extremely exciting response, but to be honest, they aren't here and after a five hour drive it would feel a little empty going by myself.

Asking natives is probably the worst thing to do.  They will give you a laundry list of spots to visit and drives to take and they will go on listing these things for close to 45 minutes... and then keep coming back with more recommendations (God love 'em).  I sincerely appreciate their input but really...

So, while I have a pretty much booked Saturday, I imagine I will just wake up on Sunday (and/or Monday), grab my camera, just get in the car and go where the wind takes me.  So let's see where my mood wakes up on those days - wine, water, or trees.

It is a burger battle (...with a side of fries)!!

This is a post that I have wanted to write for some time.  Now that I live out here "on the coast" (I have ALWAYS wanted to say that - please picture me saying that with sunglasses on...), I feel that I have legitimacy in my judgement because I have tasted an In-N-Out burger.   I did not feel that it would be a complete picture without the west coast representative.

Rule number One is that this only includes chains.   We are all very much aware that home grilled and local burger joints have a much higher tendency towards better products.  So I do not want to hear how Bob's Burgers in Aggie-ville outclasses them all.  I am sure that they do...

Now let's just cut to the chase.  My personal, own opinion, based on the tastebuds of the Web Guy, winner would be Five Guys with In-N-Out burgers coming in a very close second.  In fact, In-N-Out lost huge points with me because of their fries (Overall, the worst in the business... and as an FYI, Steak 'n Shake has the best fries ever.)

Third place was won by the aforementioned Shake 'n Shake (burger are bolstered by the best fries in the business and great milkshakes).

I found Burger King's burger to be rather flavorful so they gave in fourth.

Red Robin came in fifth on the strength of serving liquor and great milkshakes in their establishment, but the taste of their burgers puts them on par with Wendy's (sixth).

I am sorry to say that the worst burger(s) in my highly scientific poll was a statistical tie between McDonalds and Smash Burger.

There you have it.  Now, I also want to reiterate that I am not that picky so I will be sure to revisit all of these establishments in the future (except Smash Burger... man, just not to my taste).

Enjoy!

Making new friends

Made a new friend

My mother and sister came into town for the past weekend and it has been a lot of fun.  I even made a new friend as you can see here on the right.  I  am STILL just tickled at the fact that there are animals that I loved as a child but only saw in zoos.  Hearing a seal vocalize and seeing it lay under a wharf is just wonderful.  I sent this picture to everyone I have EVER met!

The weekend started off on what could have been a rocky beginning.  We got dinner at a place called "The Left Bank" in an area called Santana Row.  The area is really a great place to wander and people watch.  It is a rather hip residential/shopping area and we were having a blast wandering around.  Then we sat down for dinner.  The service was wonderful, my trout was great but my mother's steak (while very flavorful) was tough as nails.  Unfortunately, she refused to return it because she didn't want to be a bother.

Saturday was the obligatory trip to San Fransisco's Chinatown and lunch in the Italian section.  Once again, great people watching.

Anyway, on Sunday we had a great time in Santa Cruz.  Everything was damn near perfect.  While the water is a bit chilly, my sister got to walk on the beach for the first time.

We stopped for lunch on the wharf at a place called Riva's Fish House where I had a passable fish and chips.  The prices were rather reasonable (in comparison).  My sister ordered the crab sandwich and my mother got a burger.  I will say that the cole slaw that came with my mother's burger was fantastic.  Yes, I would go back.

On the way back to San Jose, the ladies wanted to visit a winery (when in northern California, I think it is required by law...).  My sister picked Rapazzini winery in Gilroy, California.  Now, you have to understand that Gilroy calls itself the "Garlic Capital of the World", so when we pulled up to the winery there was a garlic shoppe next door.  On the other side of the winery was a roadside fruit stand.  Needless to say, we got back on the road with quite the haul.

The mother is happy and so is my baby sister.  They both are tickled pick with their first visit to the northern section of California.  Of that, I am glad.

This really is a great place to be.

Finally... Furniture!!!

I honestly try to look on the bright side of things.  I will genuinely try to see the other side of opinions and try to accept the excuses.  Really... I do try.

But Condor Moving Company exhausted any reservoir of good will in me.  We will start off with the packing job in Houston.  I had been told that they would be by to get my stuff out of the apartment in the morning.  The kids and I had planned the route to San Jose based on us getting out of town by early afternoon at the latest.  Condor showed up at 9 pm.  We could not get on the road until after 10 pm.  We had to change our route and planned stops (including changing hotel reservations).  Now, the guys that showed up were very nice and knew their jobs.  They made quick work of wrapping up my stuff in a very professional manner.

That was the pickup.  The delivery turned out to be an even worse situation.

The contract stated that delivery would be between July 2 - 13 (quite the breadth of time).  I arrived in San Jose on the 1st.  So on the 11th, I started to call to get a status update.  After no one returned my phone calls (5 of them) I finally got through to someone on the 13th.  I was then told that the trailer had broken down and that they would not be leaving Dallas until Wednesday the 15th and that the arrival would be on the 18th or 19th.

So I started calling again on the 18th (6 calls this time) with no one returning my phone calls.  On the 20th, I finally asked to speak to the owner or general manager  (Yes, I know I have a LOT of patience and can easily be taken advantage of...).  The sales manager that I talked to agreed with me that it was horrible that no one called me back and guaranteed me that I would have delivery on Wednesday the 22nd.

I got the call from the driver saying that deliver would be between 12 and 2 pm.  Now please note that I have just started a new job and taking time off is never a great idea.  Anyway, I left at lunch to be there.  Around 1:30, I started to call again to ask where they were.  The driver texted back "2-5".  At 4:30 I texted the driver asking for an update.  He texted back "today".  He and his crew showed up around 6:45.

Now, once again the gentlemen were very understanding and professional.  Admittedly, I also only had one wine glass and one chair that were broken which I seriously consider to be a very successful move.  The best part was when I explained my frustration, he simply nodded knowingly and told me that the truck never broke down.  Evidently, summer is the busiest time of the year and moving companies always overbook their schedule to make the most money.  It is easier to deal with an angry customer that usually will not be moving again (so no repeat business) than to lose out on big bucks.

This has been my fifth multi-state move and I have to say, it has been the worst.  I guess the bottom line is that I will not move again in the summer.

Thanks for letting me vent.  On a brighter note, my sister and my mother are going to visit next week.  This ought to be interesting....

Air mattress be damned...

Ok... the movers are now not scheduled to be here until next weekend (insert obligatory grumble and gripe here...)  I found a leak in my air mattress, so I am now sleeping on one of the kid's single mattress.  Oy!

But on to some good news, I spent my first full weekend here and on Saturday I drove to Monterey to see/join the Monterey Bay Aquarium.  All I can say is that I got to see some seals and otters!  I felt like my 12 year old daughter when I saw the seals sunning themselves on the rocks in the bay.  I really wanted someone with me so I could grab their arm and point and excitedly say "Look... look out there!  There are seals!"  Then I would repeat the process when I spotted the otters.

The aquarium was a real treat and then I took a stroll down Cannery Row (which is attached to the aquarium) and had a great lunch at The Cannery Row Brewing Co.  I had a delicious fish and chips plate partnered with a double chocolate stout.  It was simply fantastic.  So was the day.

One of the best things was actually the drive down there and back.  The road (Highway 1) is simply gorgeous and it was littered with fruits stands along the way.  Cherries, Strawberries, Avacadoes, and Artichokes (Castroville, CA claims to be "artichoke center of the world" - quite the claim) were all over the place so I stopped and loaded up on cherries and strawberries.  Once again, they were heavenly.

Life is certainly off to a great start here despite the lack of furniture.  Plus, I found out that my mother and sister will be coming to visit at the end of the month.

One week in...

The Web Guy next to his idol's star at the
Hollywood Walk of Fame

Okay, I know I should have posted during the drive our here.  The socially responsible thing would have been to keep this journal active throughout the trip.  I didn't do that.  I got lazy... no, actually the truth is I was absolutely exhausted and having too much fun with the rugrats.  We had a few stops along the way, including Hollywood, which was well worth the stop.

Anyway, the eagle has landed in San Jose and I am still without furniture after a week.  I am currently living in my bedroom.  My computer is propped up on my suitcase, my 19" television set is sitting on top of a cooler.  My bed/table/chair is currently being served by a four year old Coleman queen sized inflatable mattress that slowly loses pressure every evening.  My fifty year old back is starting to protest.

But I have arrived!  When the kids and I landed last Wednesday, we immediately made a bee line to San Francisco and Chinatown.  We had a ball perusing the shops in Chinatown and then had lunch at a fabulous Italian restaurant in North Beach.  Life was very good.

My one-bedroom apartment is wonderful and (to my kids delight) the swimming pool is right outside of my door.  I am on the first floor with a patio (plants to come) and I may even spring for a bar-b-que.  Life is certainly good right now.  The next decision is to whether to go to Monterey Bay or Yosemite this weekend.  I will let you know.

Salute!

Wonder of Wonders...

Let the Heralds sound the trumpets and let the celebration begin!  There IS joy in Mudville tonight!

I do not have to drive the UHaul truck!!  My new employer just came through with some relocation assistance and now I have burly men to load up someone else's truck and deliver the goods to San Jose.  I am now completely indebted to Santa Clara University and decided to become the biggest booster.

The thought of driving a UHaul truck with my car in tow was giving me a case of the cold sweats at night.  It had absolutely nothing to do with actually driving the truck on the freeway.  It had nothing to do with finding a hotel at night that had room for a 15' truck and car trailer.

The cold sweats were caused by the thought of having to get gas.

I just had this image in my head of trying to maneuver around a gas pump and the car is jack-knifed at a 45 degree angle.  People are laughing, my kids are traumatized... you get the picture.  But, I do not have to worry about that anymore.

Go Broncos!!  Santa Clara, here I come!

We have a landing pad...

I do believe that I have found a place to land on this next leg of the adventure.  I am signing a lease in the blind for a year, because hey...I can live anywhere for a year.

On the west side of San Jose it will take me 13-15 minutes to drive to work according to Google Maps.  We shall see.  I am curious as to the traffic patterns and flow.  I have done a quick search as to the restaurants in the area and they seem pretty plentiful.

So let's see what we have here... I have the U-Haul, the apartment, and I have the kid's plane tickets purchased.  That should pretty much wrap it up as far as prep.

I will also admit to being very nervous about driving 2,000 miles towing my car.  I just keep picturing me in a 20 ft U-Haul, towing a car and trying to make too sharp of a turn.  Traffic is backed up for miles and everyone is honking at me.  My kids are totally ashamed (well...that isn't anything new) and I don't know what to do.

But hey... that is just me.  I am sure it will be fine (gulp).

Oh crap... I need boxes!

OK!  We have the rugrats' plane tickets purchased.  They will be flying out of Oakland to Indianapolis on the Fourth of July bright and early.  I have scoped out the U-Haul truck sizes.  I have even started to map out the route and look for hotel rooms along the way.  Everything should be on track.

Sitting down and making lists of all the things that you need to do for a move can be quite the daunting task.  I have moved across states no less than seven times and I still get the butterflies every time.  I am sure that I missed something...

One of the big benefits of working in higher education is that it is assumed that you should be able to give four weeks notice to your prior employer.  This is essential to moving yourself.  If I had to do the two week thing, it would necessitate hiring the movers at a greater cost.  Then I would miss out on the opportunity to break down somewhere in the Arizona desert or in the mountains somewhere.  I would lose out on the opportunity to be eaten by some ferocious wild animal or slowly linger after a rattlesnake bite... but I digress.

Back at the chore of cancelling Comcast, only to reactivate it again in San Jose.

The Plan

All great adventures start with a plan.  A plan that lays out the steps.  A plan that gives direction and purpose.  That is what I will try to create and define...

...then I will probably just panic.

It seems SO simple.  My son and daughter and I will load up a U-Haul truck and drive it from Houston, Texas to my new digs in San Jose, California.  I have mapped it all out.  Four days of driving and family togetherness.

I have plans to stop in Amarillo, Texas because a certain young lady that I have had a major league crush on for the last four years wants us to see the Cadillac Ranch.  Then off to Flagstaff, Arizona and see the Grand Canyon.  Finally the homestretch to San Jose...

...what could go wrong?

Well, dear reader, you will find out because I plan on humiliating myself on the blog for the whole trip.  Then, I will describe my experiences in the new region.  I will probably follow the same format that I used in "A Web Guy in Houston" blog.  Hope you will enjoy.