Big Sur, Seals, and Solvang
Mar. 26th, 2008 09:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
animeartistjoTaking 101 South, we then turned onto Highway 1 for the more scenic route, which led us through Big Sur. Lots of beautiful, coastal scenes. About two hours into the twisting, turning drive in which my speed demon of a driver dad took at and above the speed limit, Mom spotted a waterfall from the highway and we pulled over, having discovered the Salmon Creek trailhead. After a short walk we got a good close look at some pretty impressive falls. Some careful scrambling over various rocks and boulders, we got an ever closer look. Dad almost killed himself trying to scale an almost flat-faced one at my mother's lunatic urging.
After that, we continued down the highway until we noticed that a lot of cars were pulling over and then we noticed the seals. Or rather, I did and shouted, "Stop! Yes, we want to see!" It was amazing to see the creatures up close, though I felt terrible for waking them from their nap. Some of the more ignorant and inconsiderate photographers actually snapped their fingers to get a reaction from the animals--made me want to really snap their fingers! Technically, we were trespassing, but the seals were so lovely! I managed to get some adorable pictures, one of them including one seal nuzzling another, and my dad managed to get one of me and the nuzzling pair staring at where I crouched beside them. It was a very squee-worthy moment.
We then continued on to Solvang, a little pseudo-European(German/Dutch?) town. It was late by this time, however, and most the stores were closed with the exception of some restaurants, bakeries, and liquor stores. We stopped by Olson Bakery for some of the Swedish Delights Aunt L had raved quite a bit about, but we were too late--they'd run out. I settled for an apple-raspberry tart (spelled tasrt on the little sign XD) and a Queen Elizabeth something something, the former needed water and the latter had the most delicious cream and chocolate shell on top! We later called to reserve half a dozen Delights to be picked up the day we were to leave Santa Barbara. It was extremely windy, but we were determined to see the sights, so my family and I struggled through the wind chill and peered through closed shop windows, got turned out of a cafe for its cooking lessons, and read through many, many menus. My mother and I look forward to returning Friday to taste the town's signature Aebeskiv (I think that's how it's spelled, anyways)--pancake balls with jam.
Drove another hour and half to Goleta; around Govieta State Beach, the wind was so strong, the CR-V rocked!
Searching for a decent place to eat was tough and in the end, my dad and sister settled for Saigon Noodle House when the only other Asian option was Ming's Dynasty, their menu which included a buffet (it is impossible to have a decent buffet with Chinese food) and two section each respectively devoted to, horrors of horrors, Chop Suey and Egg Foo Yung. It was terrible. No self-respecting Asian person would eat the latter. Chop Suey, for one, isn't even a real Chinese food, my mother tells me, just something made up for the gullible white folks, and Egg Foo Young is something only the truly poor, who cannot afford better, eat. XD The Noodle House we ended up at was very clean, with modernistic decorations. After my experiences in San Francisco's Chinatown, I've come up with the theory that all good Chinese restaurants must be dirty. The pho Dad and![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
darkestnight12 ordered were generously portioned, but Dad felt they didn't cook the broth long enough for the flavor of the meat to set in and darkestnight12 said it tasted "off". The rice noodle dish Mom ordered was terrible, in her opinion, but the grilled pork and rice dish I ordered was perfectly to my tastes. The meat was a bastardized version of what I've come to see as "real" pork Com Dia, but the rice was good and the fresh vegetables that came with it could never be a bad thing. If I ever move out of the Bay Area, I must make sure I can cook Chinese food for myself.
After that, we continued down the highway until we noticed that a lot of cars were pulling over and then we noticed the seals. Or rather, I did and shouted, "Stop! Yes, we want to see!" It was amazing to see the creatures up close, though I felt terrible for waking them from their nap. Some of the more ignorant and inconsiderate photographers actually snapped their fingers to get a reaction from the animals--made me want to really snap their fingers! Technically, we were trespassing, but the seals were so lovely! I managed to get some adorable pictures, one of them including one seal nuzzling another, and my dad managed to get one of me and the nuzzling pair staring at where I crouched beside them. It was a very squee-worthy moment.
We then continued on to Solvang, a little pseudo-European(German/Dutch?) town. It was late by this time, however, and most the stores were closed with the exception of some restaurants, bakeries, and liquor stores. We stopped by Olson Bakery for some of the Swedish Delights Aunt L had raved quite a bit about, but we were too late--they'd run out. I settled for an apple-raspberry tart (spelled tasrt on the little sign XD) and a Queen Elizabeth something something, the former needed water and the latter had the most delicious cream and chocolate shell on top! We later called to reserve half a dozen Delights to be picked up the day we were to leave Santa Barbara. It was extremely windy, but we were determined to see the sights, so my family and I struggled through the wind chill and peered through closed shop windows, got turned out of a cafe for its cooking lessons, and read through many, many menus. My mother and I look forward to returning Friday to taste the town's signature Aebeskiv (I think that's how it's spelled, anyways)--pancake balls with jam.
Drove another hour and half to Goleta; around Govieta State Beach, the wind was so strong, the CR-V rocked!
Searching for a decent place to eat was tough and in the end, my dad and sister settled for Saigon Noodle House when the only other Asian option was Ming's Dynasty, their menu which included a buffet (it is impossible to have a decent buffet with Chinese food) and two section each respectively devoted to, horrors of horrors, Chop Suey and Egg Foo Yung. It was terrible. No self-respecting Asian person would eat the latter. Chop Suey, for one, isn't even a real Chinese food, my mother tells me, just something made up for the gullible white folks, and Egg Foo Young is something only the truly poor, who cannot afford better, eat. XD The Noodle House we ended up at was very clean, with modernistic decorations. After my experiences in San Francisco's Chinatown, I've come up with the theory that all good Chinese restaurants must be dirty. The pho Dad and
darkestnight12 ordered were generously portioned, but Dad felt they didn't cook the broth long enough for the flavor of the meat to set in and darkestnight12 said it tasted "off". The rice noodle dish Mom ordered was terrible, in her opinion, but the grilled pork and rice dish I ordered was perfectly to my tastes. The meat was a bastardized version of what I've come to see as "real" pork Com Dia, but the rice was good and the fresh vegetables that came with it could never be a bad thing. If I ever move out of the Bay Area, I must make sure I can cook Chinese food for myself.
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Date: 2008-03-27 06:29 pm (UTC)of CA? Blargh...you should see what they call "Chinese" food here in Eastern Washington. Chop suey drowned in slimy glop, egg drop soup with too much corn strach, and badly cooked rice. To be fair, Chinese food changes everywhere it goes, but this stuff barely fits in the food category. I had to learn how to cook all my Korean favorites at home!