mmm-yoso!!!

Taste of Hong Kong Revisited

I had been bugging the Missus to return to Taste of Hong Kong for those Chicken Wings I had enjoyed so much and perhaps we'd find something else on the menu that was tasty. Finally, She gave in and we returned early during a weekday. The place was empty when we arrived, but quickly filled up with families and large parties.

Looking at the menu I was immediately struck by this price change.

Good lord, those chicken wings had gone up two bucks in a month! Sigh-n of the times I guess.

Well, we ended up ordering those wings, some Chinese BBQ and two dishes that the Missus enjoys from Noble Chef. The service is a bit slow, but the folks working are very mellow and nice.

Things started out with the combination Roast Duck and Roast Pork.

 The skin on the Roast Pork was slightly crisp, but the flavor was way too sweet and the flesh was too hard and chewy. The skin on the roast duck wasn't bad, the fat had been rendered nicely, unfortunately this too was quite bland and tough.

We also got the Salted Fish Fried Rice.

The rice was hard, not coated evenly, there were clumps of rice, and the flavor was much too mild.

The Missus also wanted to try the Steamed Pork with Salted Fish. When it arrived the first thought in our minds was "where's the rest of it?"

And then there was that scum from steaming on the top off the pork, it tasted terrible and I quickly scrapped it off. Sadly, this had some definite potential as the pork was very moist and tender, but it was way too mild in flavor, the presentation wasn't very impressive, and of course it was topped off with that scum.

Last to arrive were the wings....which I had enjoyed so much last time. 

These were even more crunchy this time around, though there seemed to be less of that umami-salty-sweet flavor I enjoyed. And, it seemed like the quality of the wings had gone down. The flesh of several wings had dark spots and looked freezer burnt. The wings with the dark flesh were also overly dry. I was so bummed as I had really enjoyed the wings on my previous visit.

It seemed like we had an issue with every dish; which was really sad. I guess I'm not going to be able to talk the Missus into another visit to see if this was just an off night. Though I don't think they'll miss our business as the place was packed when we left.

Taste of Hong Kong
4428 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111

Sunday Stuffs - Mariscos El Cata Coming to Old Town, Ssong's Hot Dog and Urban Bubble Coming to Kearny Mesa, and Kumo is Still Not Open - Or Are They???

A couple of things I've seen recently.

Kumo is Still Not Open - Or Are They?:

**** You can read my post on Kumo here.

During a recent visit to Sue's Korean Kitchen (post coming up), I noticed that Kumo, the Japanese Sando Shop that was supposed to open in Summer of 2021 still hasn't opened. Last I heard they were supposed to open in "spring" of 2022 due to permitting issues. Their website says "end of January".....well call me a cynic, but it doesn't say what year? And it's already the end of February.

Strange, I'm wondering if they'll ever open.

6755 Mira Mesa Blvd.
Suite 108
San Diego, CA 92121

Ssong's Hot Dog and Urban Bubble Coming to Kearny Mesa:

Notice this while driving on Clairemont Mesa Boulevard.

Ssong's is one of those Korean Hot Dog franchises that are popping up everywhere. I believe the first US location was in Maryland.

Of course more Korean style Hot Dogs and Boba is what we need in the area, right?

Anyway, the place looks like it's pretty close to opening.

8055 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92111

Mariscos El Cata Coming to Old Town:

Remember Yum Yum Africa, the restaurant in Old Town that seemed to have never opened? Well, I saw some new signage up in that location the other day.

Looks like this will be a Mariscos place named El Cata. A quick search reveals this Facebook page. Looks like this is an offshoot from a restaurant in Tijuana and the photos looks promising.

Here's hoping things work out. 

2543 Congress St.
San Diego, CA 92110

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Sunday!

 

Big Island - Kilauea Lodge and Restaurant (Volcano Village) and Halemaʻumaʻu Erupts!

After checking out Hilo for a bit we headed to our destination for the next two evenings, Volcano Village. Years ago, the Missus and I spent our honeymoon at Volcano House and we have always had a great affection for the Big Island. One of our traditions is visiting Volcanoes National Park whenever we're on the Big Island, though we both had a hard time believing it had been a decade since our last visit! 

I had been very excited about our visit because at the time I booked this trip, both Halemaʻumaʻu and Mauna Loa were erupting! Something that I had always wanted to see; especially at Halemaʻumaʻu Crater in Kilauea Caldera. Sadly, by the 9th of December, the eruption ended. I was kind of bummed. But to our amazement on January 5th Halemaʻumaʻu Crater started erupting again!

So, we headed right into Volcanoes National Park and stopped at the Visitors Center.

Our experiences with Rangers at National Parks have always been wonderful and this was no different. We were given info and told that the lava activity could be viewed from Kilauea Overlook. To my surprise we easily found parking and just a few yards away was the viewpoint. We enjoyed the view and stayed for a while.

We then headed off to check-in at our accommodations. I wasn't able to get reservations at Volcano House and decided we should stay in Volcano Village near the entrance to the national park. I picked Kilauea Lodge, which turned out to be a wonderful place to stay.

This was the former location of a YMCA Camp and the wonderfully comfortable rooms and amazing staff made staying here a pleasure.

The sound of the birds chirping, surrounded by rain forest.......so different from our "real world". 

The Missus and I wanted to head back to see the eruption at night, so we inquired about dinner reservations. The great staff got us dinner reservations early....the place seemed totally booked, so we could head off to watch the lava action. We then took a short walk around the hotel grounds and rested up for a bit, before walking over to the dining room, which was a large rustic space with the "Fireplace of Friendship" as the centerpiece.

The customers were a mix of Kama'ainas and Tourists. Though it seems the locals come for happy hour and leave early.

We were happy to note that the focus is on local produce and ingredients.

We started with some Crabcakes ($14).

The crabcakes were on the dry and bland side and the panko crust just wasn't crisp enough for us. The crab just lacked the delicate sweetness we look for.

For Her main, the Crispy Tofu ($28). While the tofu wasn't fried and crisp enough, the produce was amazing.

The cauliflower was buttery and sweet and the mushrooms were so meaty and earthy, they were the highlight of the plate.

I got the catch of the day ($35) which was Ahi.

Again, the highlight of the plate were the veggies; the cauliflower and even the potatoes were so tasty. Sadly, the ahi was cooked to death and dry. The lemon-butter sauce could have used a bit more seasoning and acidity as it was quite bland.

Still, the service was so warm and friendly, our water was kept filled....no wine on this evening as we'd be heading back into the park. The staff here is amazing as we saw several very entitled and demanding customers and yet he staff still handled things with grace and aloha. The service made this a nice meal.

Kilauea Lodge Restaurant
19-3948 Old Volcano Road
Volcano Village, HI 96785

After dinner, we headed back into the park. And man, was it busy. We were guided to a field close to Kilauea Military Camp and then took the Kau Desert Trail, much of which is paved to the overlook. And what greeted us was breathtaking.

Words cannot express the drama, beauty, and grandness of it all.

It's something that I've waited all my life to see and it exceeded my expectations. Madame Pele really delivered.

The Missus couldn't understand why I was so taken by this, after all "you grew up in Hawaii, doesn't everyone see this all the time?" I tried to explain to Her how blessed we were to see and experience this. There are folks I grew up with who have never seen anything like this, locals who lived their entire life without being witness the power, the drama we were seeing. We're given a view into how our islands, nay the world, was formed. This was something special. Once you see something like this you'll never forget it. I know I never will.....

Thanks for stopping by!

Katsu Cafe Revisited

I had an appointment off of Clairemont Mesa Boulevard, so I decided to see if I could grab some lunch in a not too busy spot. I crossed the street and saw that Katsu Cafe wasn't busy and it had been over five years since I last visited. So, I thought why not?

I was surprised to see the place fairly empty as Katsu Cafe had always seemed popular for lunch when I worked in the area.

I decided to go with what I usually order here; the Chicken Katsu Plate ($13.50). Man, I remember when the Chicken Katsu Plate used to be eight bucks....I also remembered when they used to have it on the menu as "Chicken Cutlet"....yeah, Katsu Cafe used to call their chicken katsu, chicken cutlet.

I grabbed a table and soon enough my lunch was ready.

I had mentioned that the Miso Soup here was not terrible on my last visit and it's still not too bad.

It's not overly watered down and you can actually taste the miso.

As for the Chicken Katsu.

   Well, the portion size of the chicken katsu, which I've always thought was quite large is now two-thirds the size. Which is big enough for me. As on previous visits, it looked like it had been fried for too long a time based on the color, but this wasn't too bad. The breading while being hard instead of crisp, wasn't peeling off and the chicken was decently moist, though a bit on the tough side. And best of all, it had some flavor.

As for other things...well, the rice was dry and hard. The salads, which I had enjoyed before weren't quite as good. I found a few brown and wilted leaves under the greens salad, which was still dripping wet, which watered down the dressing. The potato-mac salad had too much mayo and was mushy. It also needed a good dose of salt.

Still, in terms of price, at least for these days, this might be a bargain. This is after all, more about quantity and value, food for the masses and they seemed to be descending here as I left. I'm glad I arrived when I did and it's always good to follow-up on places which I hadn't visited in a while.

I did enjoy when we had our office in the area. There were so many choices for lunch.

Katsu Cafe
7305B Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92111

Sunny Noodle

**** Sunny Noodle is now Spicy Noodle

Of course one of the first stops we made after returning from Hawaii was to Sizzling Pot King for takeout. While in the parking lot waiting, I noticed a newish restaurant in the strip mall named Sunny Noodle. I was a bit curious so I headed on over during a slow weekday to check the place out.

The place is spartan, though clean.

 I noticed that ordering here is done strictly with QR codes, something that I've gotten used to in my travels.

Looking over the menu and the condiments, I made this out to be more Northern style Chinese. Though the menu had a bunch of liang cai, sort of Sichuan cold dishes, and items like yang rou chuanr, lamb skewers, even xiao long bao, which made things confusing. The young lady was very friendly, but when I asked about the region of China where the owners/chef was from she acted a bit coy and said, "it's North, Northern China." I tried to get some clarification, but that's basically all the info I got out of her.

I had basically seen variations of noodle soup and a couple of items that interested me. So, I went with the "House" Beef Noodle Soup($14.99).

   The broth was clear and lacking in beefiness, was overly salty, and pretty "plain". The beef while a bit on the chewy side, had good flavor.

The noodle were hard rather than "springy".

Not quite what I enjoy in Beef Noodle Soup.

I had seen "Beef Wheat Cake" on the menu, which I took to be Xian Bing. When I asked if it was, the young lady seemed quite surprised. So, I ordered 2 at $1.50/piece. 

   You can tell one was pan fried a bit longer than the other. The crusts were hard and chewy; like a good amount of rice flour was used. The beef filling was very tasty though and a good dash of block vinegar helped things along. These were pretty small overall.

A couple of days after my meal, I heard that Candice had dropped by, so I sent her a text asking if she knew what region the owners were from. And to my surprise, it was Dōngběi! Well, maybe the lamb skewers.....but no suan cai, we still make several batches a year, and rice noodles for the soups, and what about the XLB? On the positive side, Candice identified two items she had eaten at Sunny Noodle and thought were decent. So I returned armed with that information.

Unfortunately, they were out of one of the recommended items, the Mixed Smoked Meat. They did however have the Spicy Beef Tripe ($8.99) which I would have never thought to have ordered in a Dongbei Cai restaurant.

This was by far the best item I had from Sunny Noodle. The tripe was light and crunchy, while it wasn't overly spicy. there was a nice refreshing component to the dish, along with all the wonderful cilantro that worked in perfect harmony.

In need of another dish, I went with the Leek-Pork-Shrimp Jiaozi. It's kind of funny, 12 dumplings for $14.99.....welcome to todays pricing where each dumpling costs almost a buck-and-a-quarter.

Actually, these were not bad, even though I got the Beef-onion instead of what I ordered.. The wrappers were a bit on the brittle side, in need of a bit more "pull". A couple of them had burst during the cooking process. This caused the fillings of the dumplings to become "waterlogged" during the boiling process.

The fillings, while a bit on the salty side were tender, juicy, and full of flavor if a bit on the salty side. The black vinegar helped balance everything out. Not bad.

My meals at Sunny Noodle were interesting; it's basically a hands-off business, you order via QR code, your food is dropped off along with the check, and then you pay. Actually, in these "days" of Covid, I don't mind that at all. I was the only customer in the shop during both of my visits, though there was a steady stream of takeout orders heading out the door.

I'm not sure if I'll return anytime soon, but it was nice trying someplace new for a change.

Sunny Noodle
8046 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92111
Currrent Hours:
Daily 11am - 830pm

Road Trip - Exploring Santa Fe and Dinner at Joseph's Culinary Pub (Santa Fe)

After checking out the Loretto Chapel we did some window shopping and came upon Saint Francis Cathedral.

 I actually wanted to check out the cathedral. Apparently, the oldest existing statue of the Virgin Mary in North America resides in the Basilica. Sadly they were closed during our stay in Santa Fe, so I guess it's on the list for the next time.

Cathedral Park was positively buzzing with a craft market. We ended up spending a good amount of time checking things out and even bought some gifts for folks back home.

From here we strolled along East Palace Avenue until we came upon this shop.

The Missus loved this shop and even bought some gifts. I however, was here for a different reason. This.....

It is in this spot that folks like Robert Oppenheimer and Richard Feyman first arrived. It was the portal to Los Alamos. You can read about it here or even in this book.

By this time our room was ready and we walked on over to the Inn of the Governors. We enjoyed this hotel, which was perhaps a bit on the noisy side, but what do you expect being in the middle of Santa Fe? We enjoyed our room.

And were given a Sherry Tasting with some Biscochitos as a welcome gift.

We enjoyed sitting on the balcony....which while it wasn't a great view, was nice and relaxing.

The staff in the hotel were so friendly and welcoming.

Because we got a bit of a late start on planning this road trip a couple of places on our "list" were fully booked and for some reason, the Missus was not interested in trying out New Mexican Cuisine. I did manage to make two dinner reservations and on our first night, it was at a place that was a pleasant 10 minute stroll from our hotel away from the bustling center of Santa Fe named Joseph's Culinary Pub.

We both enjoyed the quite diverse menu, which ran the gamut from duck fat fries to posole verde to steak au poivre. The service was relaxed and friendly.

And while things were empty when we arrived, the dining room and bar filled up fairly quickly. Based on the interactions we saw between staff and customers, there seemed to be a nice mix of locals and visitors.

We ordered three apps and one main for our dinner. 

Starting with the Polenta Fries and Grilled Radicchio.

The Missus who is a fan of radicchio loved the savory-bitterness and the sweet mild maize flavor of the nicely crisp polenta worked like a charm. The Gorgonzola sauce added a savory-salty component and this was very tasty.

The New Mexico Lamb Tartare was quite refreshing and not very gamey at all, if minced a bit too finely, making for a mushy texture.

It actually did well with the tortilla chips.

The Missus really enjoyed the "Charred" Ratatouille.

    Which seemed to be a combination of charred and dried. The flavors were quite intense and the crunchy texture quite interesting. The ricotta gnudi was a nice mildly acidic-cheesy addition which added a textural contrast to the dish along with a good milkiness. It was the Missus's favorite item of the evening.

As with many meals we had, our least favorite item was the one main we ordered, the Root Vegetable Napoleon.

  We found this to be on the bland side in spite of the Sherry Beurre Blanc, the Cardamom Phyllo was soggy when it hit the table and this was just a bunch of root vegetables in a bland sauce. Not quite worth the $32 for the dish.

Still this was an enjoyable meal overall and we'd return and stick with the starters.

Joseph's Culinary Pub
428 Agua Fria St.
Santa Fe, NM 87501

We enjoyed the leisurely walk back to our room. Santa Fe, at least this area seemed really relaxed and we enjoyed ourselves. Things seemed so peaceful and quiet.

There was a certain combination of color, beauty, art, and history that made Santa Fe so interesting and attractive to us.

We just felt so blessed to be able to visit and partake of what the city had to offer!

Road Trip - Jean Pierre Bakery & Wine Bar (Durango), Kakawa Chocolate House, and the "Miraculous Staircase" of the Lorreto Chapel (Santa Fe)

We headed out from Mesa Verde fairly early in the morning. It would be almost a five hour drive to our next destination, Santa Fe. The Missus enjoyed the drive on the 160 East thru the greenery. There was hardly any traffic on this, a mellow Sunday morning. I had heard some nice things about the town of Durango and I'd read about a nice bakery-breakfast spot in there, so we decided to stop. 

We found street parking and walked over to Jean Pierre Bakery, which was doing some good business on this day.

The front area holds a bakery, while there's a restaurant area to the side. And on this morning, a piano player was in attendance.

After a quick discussion we decided to relax and dine in as most of the folks were taking pastries to go and the dining area was empty.

The service was friendly and we got our caffeine fix and shared a nice, refreshing Melon Bowl.

 It was a pleasant stop and we'd eat here again if in the area. And we saw Jean Pierre walk to the dining area and engage in a lively conversation with another gentleman......in full on French. The Missus and I loved it!

I'll be sure to try the croissants next time!

Jean Pierre Bakery & Wine Bar
601 Main Ave.
Durango, CO 81301

After breakfast, the Missus and I decided to take a little stroll around town.

There's a definite outdoorsy - "old west" vibe to the town.

Durango is also known as the starting point for the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. And folks were picking up their package lunches at the depot and boarding the train as we walked pass.

You know me and trains, right? This might be something we'll want to do in the near future.

We headed across the tracks and spent a bit of time exploring the D&S Rail Road Museum.

I'm sure we'll be back this way one day.

From Durango, we headed down the 550, passing thru towns with names like Aztec and Cuba, until we got to Albuquerque, where we swung up Highway 25 into Santa Fe. We were a bit early for check-in, so we made a stop at a place on our "list"; Kakawa Chocolate House.

    Man, this place was quite busy. The lines did move quickly though. The Missus bought some chocolates and a couple of bags of "elixirs" and we headed on out.

The folks did a really nice job of packing things and even marked the box so the Missus would know what She's trying.

Kakawa Chocolate House
1300 Rufina Circle A4
Santa Fe, NM 87507

And while the chocolates were pretty good; we had them after checking in at our hotel. It was the elixirs that we really enjoyed after returning home.

While we had arrived too early to check-in at the Inn of the Governors, the nice staff told us that we could park and explore. One of the reasons I had chosen the hotel was the location and free parking. 

There was one place I wanted to see right away, the Loretto Chapel. The Missus didn't understand why I was so interested in visiting this church until She saw it.

Apparently, She had seen an an Episode of Unsolved Mysteries about the chapel.

   Well, to be more specific; it's about the staircase in the chapel. The construction of the Lorreto Chapel was completed in 1878. Unfortunately, due to some weird "oversight", there was no way to reach the choir loft which was 22 feet above. After many consultations the Sisters of Loretto were told that the only way to access the choir loft would be by ladder as a staircase would interfere with the design of the chapel. At wits end, the Sisters started praying to the Patron Saint of Carpenters, Saint Joseph. On the ninth, and last day of prayer a stranger appeared on a donkey with a toolbox! He started work on the staircase and months later it was finished. The man then promptly disappeared without requesting to be paid, never to be seen again.

The Sisters tried to find the mystery man, even placing an add in the newspaper to no avail. And that is just one of the mysteries of the staircase. To quote Atlas Obscura:

"When the Sisters and others examined the stairs, they were shocked to see it was apparently holding itself up with no supports and was made of a non-native wood which they didn’t know how or where the stranger had acquired. To top it off, the staircase, which was made with no nails, had exactly 33 stairs. (In the bible, 33 was the age at which Jesus was crucified.)"

"The twenty-foot-tall, tightly wound stairs make two full 360-degree revolutions, and indeed have no central support."

The outer railing was added 10 years after the staircase was built. 

We love stories like this! And whatever the case may be, it was fun visiting the Lorreto Chapel.

Thanks for stopping by!

Santouka Weather

Man, it's been feeling really cold here the last couple of days. I can't really recall having such extended periods of cold weather here in San Diego. When I checked with the Missus to see what She wanted to have for dinner, She said, "I'd like some ramen...." So, my first thought was Menya of course. But then I remembered "FOY" Junichi's mention of enjoying having a bowl of ramen at Santouka. Santouka holds a special place in our hearts. We consider it to be the first "real" ramen spot to open in San Diego, which started what we call "San Diego's Ramen Renaissance" back in 2008. Over the years it's the shio toroniku that has become our favorite.

While still somewhat hesitant and cautious about dining in; after having rather mediocre takeout experiences with Santouka, we decided to have an early Valentines Day dinner.....at Santouka in the Mitsuwa Marketplace.

There was no one in the queue when I got to the window, the Missus had gone to check-out the snack aisle while I placed my order. I had some good timing, as a line emerged while I was waiting for our order.

We ordered the usual; the Shio Ramen Toroniku Style ($15.95) and some Natto Gohan ($3). Who'd have thunk that spending twenty bucks for ramen and a rice bowl would be considered a reasonable priced dinner these days?

Our ramen was ready quite quickly.

   Man, this was so much better than takeout. The noodles, which were the biggest issue with takeout was decently springy. Still not quite I recall it being in the "good old days", but much better.

The much maligned (and rightfully so) tamago has become kind of an inside joke with the Missus and I. I recall fooling some folks with a homemade boiled egg when we did takeout. The Missus and I crack up when we recall visiting the flagship store of Santouka in Asahikawa and finding that tamago was just as bad.

The pork cheek had been perfectly braised; it had a nice balance of soy-porkiness that just did it for us. It was also fairly tender...too long of a "swim" in the broth and it would start breaking up.

That thick sided donburi really did the trick for the broth as it stayed scalding hot during the whole meal. The broth had a nice tongue coating feel and like I always say, in spite of it being "shio" (salt), it is the least salty of the broths to me.

I also noticed that the broth had a mild "zip" to it....then I looked carefully and noticed the red specks in it. Are they now adding togarashi? The only thing missing is the mild seafood tones that the versions in Japan have. When Santouka first opened in San Diego, it had that flavor profile but it was soon changed. Also, the broth seemed a bit fattier than I recalled, but I'm not complaining.

As for the Natto Gohan, well it's "soul food" to me as I mentioned in this post.

I used to be somewhat embarrassed for enjoying this gooey, slimy, cheesy-nutty, funky smelling fermented been dish. But these days I hoist and fly my natto flag with pride! It helps that the Missus loves natto as well.

I realize I just spent over 500 words on a place I've posted on many times. Yes, quite a few ramen places have come (and gone) since Santouka opened, but it's still a favorite of ours. Perhaps it's sentimental, but we still enjoy our meals there. Thanks for staying and reading this post!

Santouka Ramen
4240 Kearny Mesa Rd(In the Mitsuwa Marketplace)
San Diego, CA 92111

Thanks for inspiring me to return to Santouka Junichi!

We hope everyone is in good health and spirits!

Monday Meanderings - Mister Falafel and Mi Pana Closes, Dinner with Friends at Kingfisher

Recently, I got some bad news from two of my "FOYs".

Mister Falafel Closes:

"ChrisR" sent me an email saying that Mister Falafel had closed! Whoa, now I hadn't heard about this one! Of course being that Mister Falafel is a bit hidden from the street and is mainly a warm weather location for garlic paste, I hadn't really dropped by in a while. So, on the way home from errands I decided to see what was going on. And sigh.....yes, the place has been gutted. It seems Mister Falafel is no longer.

The folks here were so nice!

First La Miche, now Mister Falafel. This is so sad. When will the bleeding stop?

4461 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117

Mi Pana Closes:

This one is from our good friend "Ale". She sent me a text directing me to Mi Pana's Instragram. And yes, there it was.....

I really enjoyed my meals at Mi Pana and probably should have revisited.

This seemed so sudden and even caught "Ale" by surprise as she had just been there recently.

2241 Highland Ave.
National City, CA 91950

Dinner at Kingfisher with Friends:

I know, you want a post and I don't blame you. Especially with all the accolades Kingfisher has gotten since they opened, the 50 Best New Restaurants by Bon Appetite listing, a Michelin New Discovery Listing, and with the chef being a James Beard Semifinalist. I'll say that the food was excellent and I'm sure to be back. But this dinner was more important than me doing a post.

You see, this dinner has been over four years in the making. There's a part of me that Covid had eaten away. The part that enjoyed spending time with my friends. Friends that have shared many fun times together, like bringing a whole roasted pig to Karaoke or celebrating Thanksgiving in August, or doing a trolley scavenger hunt. We've gone to dinner roadtrips and even a wedding in Ciudad Obregon! We've been thru births and weddings.

My good friend Candice had been trying to set something up for months and finally, we were all together! It had been so long! I didn't realize how much I missed them all (and you too TFD!).

And as often happens when good friends meet, the conversations, jokes, and laughter all came together seamlessly. It was if we had just seen each other yesterday.

And while the food was fabulous, catching up on things was more important on this day. I didn't even take photos of all the dishes, but here are a few.

Yes, it's as good as it looks, but I'll wait to return when I can spend more attention on the food before doing a real post.

So, here's to friendship and making up for lost time. Thanks for setting things up Candice!

Kingfisher
2469 Broadway
San Diego, CA 92102

Have a great Valentines Day everyone!

Road Trip - Cliff Palace, Petroglyph Point and Spruce Canyon Trail, and Dinner at Far View Lounge (Mesa Verde)

While I had enjoyed our hikes on the previous day, I was really looking forward to our one full day in Mesa Verde. I remember seeing a photo in an old Encyclopedia Britannica when I was little of these amazing looking cliff dwellings. This was of Cliff Palace, the largest cliff dwelling in the United States. From that day on, I'd always dreamed of visiting and on this morning we had a  reservation with the first tour of Cliff Palace.

I got up early and then headed on down the road a bit to Far View Terrace. At the time of our visit, this was the only place open in the morning and for lunch. It's a total Food Court-ish set-up. Anyway, I got some (really bad) coffee and (even worse) pastries for breakfast. We should have stuck with the buts and beef jerky we packed!

After returning to our room we headed on out. The lack of Wifi was driving the Missus nuts, so I thought it would probably be best to hit the road. We got to the parking lot on Mesa Top Ruins Road; there was still quite a few open parking spaces. This is one of benefits of staying in the park, you can get to things fairly early.

We wandered around a bit, then headed on over to the meeting area for our tour and waited for our assigned ranger.

We then headed down to the staging area, where I got all excited when I saw the view.....

 There it was, Cliff Palace, I was actually here! Our Ranger was just like all the rest, so knowledgeable, first going over the safety protocols, we'd be using ladders to ascend....five in total. There were a couple of folks that struggled a bit, but for us it was pretty easy.

It is said that Cliff Palace was the "social center" of the collective Mesa Verde communities and was occupied, based on tree ring dating from 1190 - 1260CE. We were told that there are 150 rooms in the dwelling and 23 Kivas in total.

The amount of kivas support the theory that Cliff Palace was the social center for the area.

We were told that the structures were made of sandstone, mortar, and wooden beams.

If you look up, you can see where you started from....

We loved visiting here. It was something I had on my "bucket list" since "small kid time".

Once we were done, we headed back up Mesa Top Ruins Road, then took a right and parked near Soda Canyon Overlook Trail. The trail was quite easy with some nice viewpoints.

And an especially great view of Balcony House.

Once back at the car, the Missus was itching to do some "real hiking", so we headed on over to where Spruce Tree Terrace is located and parked. Here we broke out the nuts and beef jerky we packed and had lunch.

We then ambled over to the Spruce Treehouse Trail where there are two other trails; the Petroglyph Point and the Spruce Canyon trails.

  Petroglyph Point was the more interesting of the two and also the more strenuous. There were several tight squeezes, a couple of drops and some variations in terrain as well. The Missus was loving it.

There are some nice views along the way.

    And truth be told, I was actually enjoying this trail. All the changes in terrain and views kept me visually stimulated.

As for the petroglyphs? Well, don't blink or else you'll miss it. It's along one small fenced off area.

From here it was a hike uphill where we ended up back near the Chapin Mesa Archeological Museum.

We took a short breather, then headed back down and took the Spruce Canyon Trail. 

 I thought this trail was easier than Petroglyph Point, but also less interesting. It was quite peaceful as we did not see another soul during our hike.

Again we ventured into a canyon, then did the hike uphill and ended up in a back parking lot? We eventually found our way back to the Spruce Tree Terrace and our vehicle.

At this point, I figured that the Missus's hiking requests for the day had been paid in full. It was time to head on back to the Far View Lodge to relax for a bit. 

When the subject of dinner came up; well, I didn't make reservations for the Metate Room on this evening. Instead, I noticed that the bar on the second floor of the Lodge served the salads we had enjoyed the night before along with simpler items. This sounded like a better alternative to us, so we headed on over. The place was much more casual and the service was much better.

And the salads came out quickly and were even better than the day before! 

I really liked the combination of the Ancient Grain mix with the milky-salty Parmesan and Sun Dried Tomato Vinaigrette ($10.75).

Though they were still out of pistachios for the Strawberry & Pistachio ($14) salad.

While they didn't have any entrees on the menu, there was a collection of sandwiches and burgers available. The Missus and I decided to split the Short Rib Grilled Cheese ($13.50).

 While the SYSCO crinkle cut fries weren't fried very well and quite soggy, the sandwich was not bad. The bread could have been toasted a bit more, but I liked the fact that they used Parmesan Texas Toast, which had a nice salty-buttery-milkiness. The short ribs were tender and beefy, loved the caramelized onions, and the cheese, which was a Boursin was herbaceous and nice and gooey. This was nice to share.

We found that prices in Mesa Verde where a lot cheaper than in other National Parks.

All in all, we enjoyed eating here than in the more fancy Metate Room. 

Far View Lounge (In the Far View Lodge)
Mile Marker 15
Mesa Verde National Park, CO 81330

We had enjoyed visiting Mesa Verde, but I could tell that the Missus was ready to move on. It was time to head on out!

Stay Tuned!