What's Up with Michael: San Francisco April 2016

I attended an endodontist conference in San Francisco, so Chieko tagged along and we added a minivacation to the jaunt.

Our first stop was Santa Ramen in San Mateo. This used to be my favorite ramen shop in North America, but there's now Tosh's in Salt Lake that is on par but has better and thicker pork. I also like a place in Vancouver and Monta in Las Vegas.

Crossing the Golden Gate Bridge, heading to Point Reyes National Seashore on a cloudy late Thursday afternoon.

Passing Muir Woods, a redwood park that's close and maybe crowded but worth visiting and a pleasant walk if you're ever in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The road winds and winds through the coastal mountains to the coast.

Point Reyes is a beautiful place that we've never been to before, even though we lived in the Bay Area for a couple years. Someplace we need to come back to when the weather is sunnier.

Driftwood.

The National Seashore preserve.

We were heading to Scoma's in Sausalito for dinner, but it was getting pretty late for a big seafood dinner, so we stopped at the first restaurant we passed, The Seafood Peddler. The fish and chips were very good. Nice, light and crispy.

I did attend the conference on Friday, including a reception at the Exploratorium in the evening. You should take your kids there sometime.

For lunch we picked a nearby Japanese place recommended by Yelp. The food was very good, and we considered coming back here for dinner. The restaurant is called Ginto.

The conference was in the Mascone Center West. Next door, in the Intercontinental Hotel, was U.S. President Barrack Obama, here for a couple of fund raisers. Thus the street was shut down with police and Secret Service plentiful.

People staying in the Intercontinental had to go through a screening at the end of the street, including having their cars thoroughly checked by Secret Service and what I assume was a bomb-sniffing dog. They then had to go through another security checkpoint inside the hotel.

For dinner on Thursday, we went back to Yelp and thought Hakkasan looked pretty good. Unfortunately, I forgot to check the prices before we went in.

Chieko said she will never be able to eat dim sum again, because this was so good. No other dim sum will ever measure up.

Just me eating.

These spare ribs were smoked in tea leaves, or something like that. They were more than scrumptious. And fall-off-the bone tender.

I almost never order dessert in restaurants, but we had already spent so much on dinner that another $15 for a small shared dessert didn't seem extravagant. It was worth it.

Two very tall guys welcomed us to the Exploratorium in the evening.

On Saturday we headed south on Highway 1. Lunch was at Johnny's Harbourside in Santa Cruz.

The artichoke cream soup was ok, but I have to say my mixed-seafood tacos hit the spot.

Between Watsonville (strawberry capital) and Castroville (artichoke capital) is Moss Harbor and a great produce stand with local, very fresh strawberries; 10-for-a-dollar artichokes; and a lot of other fresh fruits and vegetables.

We bought a pile of strawberries, and a few even made it home the next day before we finished them off.

Now you see it.

Now you don't.

The artichokes are about ready for picking here. I think they are harvested twice a year.

This cauliflower field was recently cleaned out.

Surfers near Carmel.

The first Prius I've ever driven. I was impressed by the power--I guess electric motors have a lot of torque. I didn't check the gas mileage, but each time I looked at the computer it said we were getting 45 to 50 MPG.

17-Mile Drive is worth the $10 fee.

This coastal ground cover is apparently an invasive (but welcome, I think) species from Africa.

I never tire of watching waves crash on rocks.

I wonder if we can afford to retire in one of these homes on the oceanside golf course.

The deer wander the golf course for free. I remember once when a golfer yelled at John for stepping on the course to take a picture.

Cliche or coastal icon?

This is the Lone Cyprus on 17-Mile Drive.

And this is the lone tourist.

The sand at Carmel by the Sea is very white, and the sun came out to make it a perfect day at the beach.

See the sun reflecting off the waves? We really did have sunshine.

This is a stream crossing the beach.

This home is not only huge and right on the beach, it also borders the Pebble Beach golf course (the edge of which I'm standing on to take this picture).

I can't visit the beach without getting my feet wet.

The last time we were here with my parents, this house had just been remodeled and was for sale for about $5.5 million, if I remember correctly. It has a peek-a-boo view of the beach.

We were hoping to catch the sunset as we drove back between Santa Cruz and Half Moon Bay, but the further north we went the cloudier the sky became. We did catch a small hole in the sky, "big enough to patch a Dutchman's pants," as my mother used to say.

For dinner we found Gombei Japanese restaurant in San Jose's Japan Town. Great food at a great price. Thank you, Yelp. We will be back here.

Sunday morning was drizzly, and we didn't have a lot of time before out flight home. We were going to visit a peony garden, but it looked to be too far away. Then we found that San Jose has a rose garden near the airport.