mmm-yoso!!!

Roadtrip (During Covid) - Angels Landing (Zion), Grafton Ghost Town (Rockville), Pa'rus Trail (Zion), and Dinner (Again) at the Zion Canyon Brewpub (Springdale)

*** This is a pretty long post with not much food; so I wouldn't mind at all if you'd just like to return on another day!

I knew that our first full day in Zion was going to to be a full one. The Missus really wanted to do Angels Landing. I wasn't too thrilled about doing the trail, but I knew the Missus had it on Her "list". So, to avoid the crowds and such; I planned for our visit to be during the first week after the shuttle stopped running and more importantly, the week after Thanksgiving. We drove into Zion early and easily found parking. The place was pretty quiet and we crossed over the Virgin River to get started.

The initial walk up wasn't too bad and the view was very nice.

And then we entered a pretty area known as Refrigerator Canyon.

And soon enough it starts getting a bit more strenuous.

And then there are the 21 fairly steep switchbacks; known as "Walter's Wiggles".....sheesh....

Which culminated in an area called Scouts Lookout.

I thought it would be a good place for me to stop and let the Missus do Her thing.

This isn't "Angels Landing" you might say. Why do you want to stop here?

Well.......

But I just couldn't let the Missus go on alone.

And the last portion of the hike is called the Spine.....for a simple reason......

 That last portion is is done on what feels like the edge of a cliff.....which it basically is; made of sandstone no less. There are chains bolted into the side of the cliff to use as hand holds as you make your way up. And, btw, that "little person" you see in the background in the photo to the right is me. Oh, and did I mention that I don't like heights?

The Missus tried to motivate your truly by shaming me a bit. Telling me that an ex-coworker, the one who met us for dinner in Kyoto did Angels Landing.

And if she could do it, well I should be able to; so forth and so on. In the end, I just went ahead and did it. The sandstone is a bit slippery, but I made it.

Of course the Missus was in "Her element" and this was just a breeze for Her.

It was actually more difficult (and scary) descending.

And here's the kicker; after finishing up the hike, the Missus sent a text to the young lady telling her that even I managed to climb up to Angels Landing. Her response? "Really, I stopped before the chains!"

What?!?!?! Needless to say, I felt just a tad betrayed here.

And even "Mr Hiking" himself; Calvin stopped at Scout's Lookout.

Hmmm......like they say; "there's one born every minute....."

Though I did feel a bit proud when I saw a guy waiting at Scout's lookout for his significant other, a young lady who I passed on my way down from the top.

I'd say the hike down was a bit harder on the knees and joints; but we did pretty good time, less than 2 1/2 hours.

It was a stroke of luck that we'd arrived the week after Thanksgiving as things weren't very crowded; though we passed quite a few folks heading up on our way down.

Angels Landing is quite popular, I just read that you will now have to get a permit to hike Angels Landing from April 1st.

Because it was still early when we completed our hike; we decided to head into Springdale to fuel up and then head off to a place I'd read about called Grafton Ghost Town.

I read that Grafton was the most photographed Ghost Town in the US and was also in quite a few movies, including Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. It was featured in the famous Bicycle Scene; along with a small-kid favorite song of mine; Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head. I just can't help believing (sorry BJ Thomas "dad joke" insertion) humming that tune as I type this.

Five of the original thirty structures have been restored by the Grafton Heritage Partnership.

The Grafton Heritage Partnership site has a history of the town; established in 1859, the last resident left Grafton in 1945.

The place was so very quiet; we were the only visitors, so we strolled around the buildings. The large Alonzo H Russell home was open so we took a look inside and  also walked down into the cellar.

Which provided a peek into a different time.

On the way back, we made sure to stop at the Grafton Cemetery, which gave us a deeper look into the struggles of the folks who settled here.

The surroundings are stunningly beautiful; but the stories are of hardship and tragedy.

This is a wonderful post on Grafton.

After visiting Grafton we headed back to our room, had a super light lunch and relaxed for a while.

Of course, after a while the Missus was itching to do something. So, we decided to take a nice stroll along the easy, paved, Pa'rus Trail, which follows the Virgin River.

There were many instructional-informational signs along the way.

It's one of the few trails that allow leashed pooches and we ran into a couple of happy ones; along with folks biking and families.

All while listening to the comforting sound of the Virgin River....

The mighty Virgin River.....

And like on all our hikes in Zion; there was wildlife to be seen.

We walked until the Canyon Junction Bridge before turning around and heading back to our room.

By now it was getting close to dinner time. Now, in spite of getting the right location and timing the crowds and access for our road trip; there was one thing I'd missed. It seems that many of the restaurants; especially the ones we wanted to eat at in Springdale close for a break following the Thanksgiving weekend. So, we decided to head back across the parking lot to the Zion Canyon Brewpub.

We sat on the back patio again. This time there were several feral cats roaming around. One of them decided to entertain him/herself with one of the customers bags.

There would be no burgers for us this time. We decided to go full on "fry mode" and ordered the Chicken Wings ($12), Chimichurri Fries ($6), and Beer Battered Onion Rings ($6). Actually, this was pretty cheap dinner.

I gotta say; those onion rings weren't bad. Crisp, not greasy,  fairly light, and nicely seasoned.

And of course, a cold one.

Zion Canyon Brew Pub
95 Zion Park Blvd.
Springdale, UT 84767

As we walked back to our room we noticed that the Christmas Tree was up in the parking lot.

It was time to relax and then head off to sleep.....

Roadtrip (During Covid) - Tuolumne Grove (Yosemite), Mountain Sage Coffee, Iron Door Saloon (the oldest continuously operating saloon in CA), and Dinner at the Groveland Hotel

   

  After a restful night of sleep at Rush Creek Lodge, we woke early to check out. You see, there was one other place I had on "my list".

Since we were in Yosemite, the Missus and I really wanted to see sequoias. And the usual place for this would be the Mariposa Grove. There are however, three giant sequoia groves in Yosemite and one of the reasons I chose to stay at Rush Creek was that it was just a mile from the Bog Oak Flat entrance to Yosemite and the Tuolumne Grove is just a fifteen minute drive from that entrance. The strategy was to checkout and drive back into Yosemite, hike the short trail (less than 3 miles in and back). We found that much of it was paved, we loved the tree stump with the rings and date places were built....man, would you believe we've been to six of the seven places listed!

We weren't overly impressed at the beginning of the trail....but then, you come across a huge sequoia....the photo doesn't do it justice.

And then the amazing Tunnel Tree.

   From this point on, you could really enjoy the majesty of the sequoias. There were trees with huge burn scars and trees that didn't have a sizeable (it's relative) circumference, but seemed to rise to the heavens. It was such an impressive site and possibly my favorite hike of the trip.

Since this is a nature walk, mostly paved, the grove is actually a short loop trail, we started seeing families and pooches arriving.

Along the way there was a fallen tree; I believe the NPS left it in place so one could really see and experience the grand size in person.

The second photo below if of the Missus walking into the trunk! Amazing!

    We spent a good 2 1/2 hours exploring the Tuolumne Grove. It was now time to head on back to the car and our next destination.

It was good thing we had a bit of an early start since we had no problems finding parking. And like the other places we parked in Yosemite, there were cars waiting for parking as we left........it was good to get an early start.

A tad over 20 miles from the west entrance of Yosemite is the town of Groveland. Founded in 1848 as "Big Oak Flat" Groveland was a gold rush town, it then became the headquarters of the Hetch Hetchy water project which provides water to San Francisco. I thought it would be fun spending the night in this interesting little town.

We first stopped at the local market; Mar-Val Food Store where we restocked on water and a few other "stuffs".

Mar-Val
19000 Main St.
Groveland, CA 95321

I booked us a room in the historic Groveland Hotel which was built in 1849......don't worry, it was renovated in 2018.

And, much like our experiences at other historic hotels, Groveland Hotel is said to be haunted, by the spirit of a miner named "Lyle". No, we didn't book "Lyle's room"....nor did we see anything strange during our stay.

We were of course too early to check in; so we dropped off our luggage; the folks at the front desk were very friendly. And then headed out  down the one main street of Groveland. Two blocks down from the hotel was a quaint coffee shop - art gallery - gift shop named Mountain Sage.

The Missus had a Pour Over (of course), I had a cold brew....and I also ordered a brownie for the Missus. We grabbed a table out on the porch and just relaxed.

The Missus really enjoyed the brownie. This was such a nice stop.

Mountain Sage
18653 Main St.
Groveland, CA 95321

After this really nice break; we decided to take the short walk back to the hotel.....while checking out the shops along the way.

After which we headed to the hotel and luckily our room was ready. The rooms were predictably small, but we were given one on the opposite side of Main Street which was much more quiet. Once we freshened up, we decided to head back out.

We'd be having dinner at the Hotel restaurant, Provisions Restaurant in the back courtyard of the hotel.

We had reservations at 5pm, so we decided to head over to a place I had wanted to check out.

Iron Door Saloon is the oldest continuously operating bar in California!

The place definitely had character; that's for sure....

Check out the dollar bills on the ceiling!

The Owner was awesome; his name is Chris and is Asian! I believe he and his wife are from Oakland and own the bar. 

He also makes a decent Old Fashioned!

It was chatting with him and also the gentleman sitting next to us who is a contractor....we were told it was great we were here on Thursday; from Friday on the place is filled with tourists. Apparently he has a bunch of projects going for folks who are building homes in the area.

The Missus was feeling a bit peckish so we ordered some Sweet Potato Fries which were pretty good; crisp outside, creamy inside.

Chris was great; he shared a bunch of stories with us.....we really enjoyed Iron Door.

Iron Door Saloon
18761 Main St.
Groveland, CA 95321

After our drink we headed back to the hotel and went to check in for dinner. I was looking forward to the dinner BBQ menu....but sadly, it wasn't available on this evening, oh well.

So, I got the fried vegetable plate......

And the Missus the Bratwurst.

The Missus enjoyed Her Scotch Tasting....

As the sun went down a guitar player appeared and there was live music.

It was a nice and relaxing time.

Provisions Taproom & Bourbon Bar (In the Groveland Hotel)
18767 Main St.
Groveland, CA 95321

We slept well.

The next morning we took a walk down Back Street which parallels Main Street for a couple of blocks.

We headed back to Mountain Sage....

And got some coffee to go....and another brownie for the Missus.

Before checking out then heading off to our next stop.

Yosemite sure was an amazing experience and we had fun in Groveland

But I was kind of tired of diner and fried foods.........so.....we were headed back to Paso Robles!

Hope you're having a great weekend!

Eating to Beat the Heat - Takeout From Iron Pig Alehouse

Well, I had a pretty interesting end of last week. A sinus infection combined with the rather warm days really had me on my back! Luckily, I'm feeling much better, though it's still kinda warm out there. I wanted something with some flavor and looked back at some of our "eating to beat the heat" posts and Iron Pig Alehouse popped up! Man, has it been over 3 years since we ate there? Well, we weren't feeling like eating at Iron Pig, but I noticed that online ordering was available....so I thought what the heck, and placed an order. A combination of summertime and rush hour traffic makes it a bit of a chore, but I arrived right at the designated time and my order as ready to go....just hop back in the car and fight the traffic out of PB. 

So, was this worth it?

Well, feast your eyes on this.

It's the dish formerly known as "the Man Salad". It's been renamed to the "Gender Neutral Salad"....ohhhkay......

Regardless, the Missus absolutely loved this. I ordered it with the add on of an fried egg and you know the Missus with fried eggs, right? While I'm not a fan of the brisket ala carte at IP, it's wonderful on this salad, adding a nice beefy-smokiness, that goes so well with the pickled onions, goat cheese....and of course, those french fries. The arugula adds a nice mild bitterness to things. We don't even need the dressing. The salad seemed huge, but we polished it off with no problem.

The Missus also loves the Rib Tips and She really loved this as well.

Rib tips tend to have bit more fat and porkiness in my opinion. These were much more tender than what I'm used to with rib tips. Nice smokiness, nice swine to dine flavor. A decent rub.....don't need much more. The Missus likes these straight up without BBQ Sauce....She just loves the texture and the smokiness.

I was kind of excited to get the Smoked Wings, which I hadn't had in a while.

In the past, the wings were a bit inconsistent, but when they were slightly crisp, super smokey they really hit the spot.

Sadly, these were not. It was weak in terms of smoked flavor, decently seasoned, but dry, tough, and the skin quite rubbery.

This is what the wings look like when I know they're done right.......

Still, no complaints about the meal at all......

   

Still, the Missus did present the question of "why didn't you get this earlier?" My answer? Pointing to Her plate: "Hey, it looks like you missed some salad there....." 

The online ordering was easy, as was pick-up. I don't know if I hit the lottery on this afternoon, but I found parking close by.

So, I guess more Man Salad, ummmm, "Gender Neutral Salad" is in our future. Especially when temps rise.

Iron Pig Alehouse
1520 Garnet Ave
San Diego, CA 92109
Current Hours:
Mon - Tues 4pm - 9pm
Wed - Thurs 1130am - 9pm
Fridays 1130am - 10pm
Saturdays 10am - 10pm
Sundays 10am - 9pm

Eating (and drinking) in the Time of Covid-19 - Soup, Sandwich Emporium, and Beer from Bay Hill Tavern

First off; we sincerely hope that your family, friends, and loved ones are in good health.

It's been an interesting couple of weeks for me; I haven't had a day off in a couple of weeks. Still, we've had to make due with all the restaurant and bar closures.

I'm figuring most of you are eating like us....here's some Cauliflower Soup I made.

The secret ingredient, other than the truffle oil and bacon fat; is that I use saved up Parmesan rinds when making the soup. It adds a nice, milky-savory flavor to soups. So, go ahead and freeze those rinds; don't throw them away.

While the rational part of my brain wasn't surprised when the order came down to end dine-in service at restaurants; another part of me was jolted....I mean.....I kinda like eating out (in case that wasn't obvious). So what to do?

Well we are eating at home and such, and many places are closed, but there are lists like this one and of course Social Media, where you can find places that will deliver. And since one of those places and I go back to the beginning of the blog, I got some of the folks in the office to team up and place a pick-up order.

It was, like most times a decent sandwich. I think the fact that we were able to help out a place that is close to home made it taste even better.

Sandwich Emporium
3054 1/2 Clairemont Drive
San Diego,CA

Give them a call at one of the three locations to see what the hours are.

Speaking of close to home. I was driving home when I saw this......

While I'm sure there was a hint of humor here....after all, the crowds on most evenings from Wednesday to Saturday! I still felt something stir inside....perhaps I was thirsty?

So, I went into the parking lot; which is usually packed, today.....it was desolate. And decided, while I wasn't hungry, I was going to make dinner at home, I did need a digestif, right?

So tonight after dinner; I'll have my Duchesse...or as we were correected and laughed at in Belgium; a "Doo-Chezz"!

And nope, I haven't actually had a drink, nor eaten at Bay Hill Tavern yet......wouldn't it be funny if the first meal I had there would be during the Coronavirus outbreak?

I was told that they are open afternoon and evenings, with to-go brunch on weekends. You can check their website.

Bay Hill Tavern
3010 Clairemont Drive
San Diego, CA 92117

Of course, who knows what tomorrow...or even tonight will bring?

Take care and best wishes from us!

Salzburg - Hohensalzburg Fortress and a Stop at Stiegl-Keller

*** Not much food in this one; just a couple of "cold ones"

Revived by our coffee at Cafe Tomaselli, the Missus had one more item to check off our "list". On the cliffs above the Old Town is a pretty imposing castle.

This is Hohensalzburg Fortress; first constructed in 1077 by Archbishop Gebhard during a power struggle between the Holy Roman Emperors and the Roman Catholic Church called the Investiture Controversy. The Archbishop first built a fortress on Festungsberg as a symbol of the power of the Catholic Church, directed at Henry IV.

There's a funicular that can take you quickly to the top off the hill....but you know the Missus....we walked up. The walk isn't super long; but it's pretty steep. I was somewhat glad to see, that there were other folks, most much younger than me, huffing and puffing their way up the hill as well.

And I gotta admit, the views on the walk up weren't half bad.

And while there are a bunch of various room, tours, and such, we had really come here for the views; which were wonderful on a beautiful day like this one.

We wandered along the perimeter of the courtyard, making time to take in the fantastic view. I'll say it again; it was a beautiful day.

We then took some time to visit some of the rooms and also St George's Chapel; a little church that dates back to 1500, with marble reliefs of the Apostles that date back to 1501.

From what I read; the Chapel is named after St George, who is the Patron Saint of Horses.

The small domed ceiling and bright white colors really made the chapel come alive.

There's even an interesting sundial on the outside wall of the Chapel that you can see in this photo.

Still, for us, it was about the view.

You understand what I mean; right?

Walking across the courtyard we were rewarded with another wonderful view.

Looking off to the Berchtesgaden Alps in the distance....I got it. All together now, "The hills are alive with the sound of music ……"

Then it was time to head back down.

I had noticed a place on the way up.

The Missus doesn't drink much beer these days (though She did on this trip); but Stiegl's Grapefruit Radler is a favorite of Hers. Stiegl's Headquarters and Brewery is located in Salzburg and we just happened to be passing their "Gastgarten"......how convenient wouldn't you say?

There was some outdoor seating available; but we weren't going to be eating anything and decided to just head into the bar area. Where we both got Grapefruit Radlers.

The clean, bright citrusy grapefruit, with a hint of sweet, low ABV at 2%, it was so refreshing on a rather warm day.

And the Missus got Her Stiegl Grapefruit Radler in Salzburg.

Stiegl-Keller
Festungsgasse 10
5020 Salzburg, Austria

It was time to head back to the room; freshen up and find a place for dinner.

Thanks for stopping by!

Spring Is Finally Here - Seven Grand and Revisits to Tiger! Tiger! and Et Voila!

After what seemed like a very cold (again with the "by San Diego standards" disclaimer) and wet winter; it seems like Spring might be here. The Missus got off early from work today and since I go in at 6am; I decided to leave a bit early as well.

We headed up to North Park; parked the car, and hit up a couple of places. Two of which I've posted on numerous times....so maybe you might just want to grab your favorite beverage and hit the TV or enjoy the weather or do something else.

If not; here's the rundown with minimal verbiage.

Seven Grand:

We've been here a couple of times. The Missus loves the vibe and ambiance. Everytime we've visited; the folks here were really awesome and knew their whiskey.

Plus, they carry the Missus's favorite label, Kavalan, from, of all places Taiwan. And they do half pours....

More on how we came across Kavalan (it was in Paris!) in a future post.

Seven Grand
3054 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92104

We then headed up 30th Street and around the corner at ECB to.....

Tiger! Tiger!:

Of course. We decided to just get the half charcuterie board.

Which always seems to be more than enough.

Tiger! Tiger!
3025 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92104 

Then further down 30th to Adams and of course....

Et Voila!:

We hadn't been here since New Year's eve. So with a Huckleberry Bourbon under my belt.

We finished up our Happy Hour with a couple of old standbys.

Et Voilà!
3015 Adams Ave
San Diego, CA 92116

Happy Friday!

Mastiff Food Truck and Mastiff Kitchen at North Park Beer Company

Here's a post that was going to "die"; that is, if the place is local, and I, or we, do only one visit and aren't inclined to return, I'll delete the photos after about a year. However, for some reason, I just decided to return to North Park Beer Company last weekend, so I now have enough for a post.

The Mastiff Food Truck was parked near our office earlier in the year and I was running between meetings, so one of my coworkers was nice enough to grab something from the Mastiff Food Truck while I finished up my conference call. Before my next call, I was able to quickly eat.

First up; the Bratwurst with the House Kraut ($9):

Though Mastiff's sausages are quite popular; I wasn't too impressed with this as a whole. The sausage wasn't hot and was sort of flaccid, it was very mild in flavor, there was little color on the sausage and the sauerkraut was also very mild, lacking in a nice slightly funky fermented flavor. I guess all of that sauerkraut in the Czech Republic and Charcroute in Alsace might have ruined us. The roll was on the chewy side for my taste. Granted; there was about a five minute wait from when this arrived on my desk and my call finishing; so it definitely wasn't sitting around.

I also got the Mastiff Fries ($4).

These potatoes were on the dry side and had lost any crunch. While the harissa mayo had a tiny (I wish it was more spicy) bit of zip, it did add to the flavor, making this rather rich. This was also on the salty side.

And that would have been about it; until a couple of months later; when the Missus had Her hair appointment in North Park. I'd usually wait for the Missus at Toronado and we'd hit up Tribute or Tiger Tiger. However, on this occasion I hung out an had a beer at North Park Brewing and the Missus met me there.

We just decided to have dinner.

We both really like the space; high ceilings, you hang out with the beer tanks. Mastiff Kitchen is located at the rear of the place. You order and pay for your food there; then head on over to the bar to order your beverages.

I'd warned the Missus about the sauerkraut, but really wanted to try the Bratwurst again; so we just got a sausage ($6).

Having been married over 20 years must have an effect.....the Missus's verdict? Pretty much the same as mine. Though this time the sausage was nicely browned and hot. Still, it was somewhat underwhelming overall.

What wasn't underwhelming, at least in terms of richness were the "Pig Fries" ($12).

The potatoes were more thinly sliced than what I'd had before; they were hot and crisp; if on the dry side. There was a bit too much cheese and sauce for our taste and this was too salty for us.

We did like the pork belly and the chicharrons, the carnitas were on the greasy side and the al pastor sausage was too mild to be enjoyed.

We really didn't enjoy the beer at NPBC and this was fairly soon returning from all that fried food in Alaska, that the Missus really couldn't see Herself returning anytime soon. So, I put this in my "to delete folder" and was fully expecting to delete the photos at the end of the year.

Instead, I found my self with an entire day off this past weekend, after having worked like 18 days in a row. The Missus however, had to work. So, after shopping, cleaning up things, doing some food prep for the Missus's meals at work, prepping Frankie's meals (we get the most use out of the Instapot making his food), then giving him an overdue bath, I found my self with some time on my hands. And it was only noon!

I figured most of the places I'd want to check out in KM were crowded and decided to head on up to North Park....where most of the places were also packed. But not NPBC.

So I decided to give them another try. Though they were serving a rather limited brunch menu.

I decided to do this by chance; removing the items I didn't think I'd like (I don't like sweets and decided against anything too "simple" for some reason), then removed the Benedicts, because I'd just pass out after that. By coin toss, the Hungry Man Hash ($13) won out. Looking back, had I stared at that menu enough, the hash would have seemed very close to the "pig fries" and I might not have chosen it. But I did.

Unlike the "fries" this wasn't over sauced and there wasn't too much cheese, just a touch of light spice and milkiness. The carnitas had a mild crunchiness to them and combined with the pork belly, made a nice, porky, "one-two" punch. The breakfast potatoes were typical, but at least weren't over-cooked or dry. The eggs were over done for my taste and the yolks were hard. I could barely finish the eggs and about half of the rest.

I brought the rest home and heated it up with two perfectly easy-over eggs and the Missus thought it was pretty good.

Also, the young lady working the counter on this day was a total joy; efficient, friendly, and just plain nice.

So, even though the food might edge on being a bit "too much"; the Missus and I might return and perhaps share a breakfast.

Mastiff Kitchen (at North Park Beer Company)
3038 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92104

Anchorage - 49th State Brewing Company

 After having the "first half" of dinner at Yamaya Seafood we headed on down H Street to a place we'd seen earlier in the day; 49th State Brewing Company. 

We arrived to find the place pretty busy.

After a short wait we were taken upstairs to a very nice patio area. The views were lovely.

I started with the "Into the Mild" on nitro.  A lightly hopped, easy to drink ale with a nice creaminess was quite a pleasant beverage.

We also ordered two appetizers. Starting with the "Award Winning Smoked Wings". They went a bit too far with the paprika on this as the "rub" was quite bitter. I was also not a big fan of sprinkling on all that gritty rub after the wings had been smoked. The wings were also on the dry and rubbery side. The quality of the product itself was decent.

We also ordered the Elk Meatball.

As expected, the elk was on the dry side and rather tough.The meatball itself was really bland; while the marinara was super acidic and over-salted. This just wasn't very good eats; and not cheap at $9.99.

Service was professional, the beer good, and the views.....well, that was probably what we were paying for.

49th State Brewing Company
717 West 3rd Ave
Anchorage, AK 99514

The sun didn't set until after 11pm at night; which we strangely found more disconcerting than Polar Winter. So we walked around a bit more and headed back to our supposedly haunted hotel. After a full day; I needed some rest. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Anchorage - Glacier Brewhouse and a Haunted Hotel?

I guess it's just fitting to do this post on Halloween; after all we were staying at a haunted hotel, one that is actually the only hotel in Anchorage that's listed on the National Register of Historic Places. But first, we had to get there. It was just a simple 230 mile drive from where we were staying at McKinley Creek to the rental car return in downtown Anchorage.

Of course the views in Denali State Park were stunning......

While we stopped to take in the views, other than another stop to put in gas, we drove straightaway, without stopping for lunch. All in all, with road construction and traffic it took us about five and-a-half hours to get into Anchorage. After returning the rental car, we walked over to the hotel we were staying at and dropped off our bags. We then decided to do some shopping then grab a bite to eat.....actually several bites. The Missus eschewed making reservations at more of the upscale places; instead, we'd end up hitting three places during this day. First we decided to explore downtown Anchorage for a bit and do some shopping.

We started at an apropos spot; the Statue of Balto the Wonder Dog; who was one of the lead dogs during the amazing 1925 serum run to Nome, which also inspired the sled dog race we know as Iditarod.

The sculpture also marks the starting point of the Iditarod.

We wove our way through a myriad of souvenir and gift shops; with names like "Big Ray's", "Grizzly's Gifts", and "Once in a Blue Moose". The kitsch level was high and we really had a blast at all the humorous shirts and other "stuffs".

Taking a turn at the Visitor's Center.

We arrived at our first destination for the day......Glacier Brewhouse.

The place was pretty darn busy; even during the mid-afternoon time. We took a table in the bar area which was hopping as well.

Our Server was really on top of things; efficient and friendly.

I started with a nice Glacier Brewhouse Bavarian Hefeweizen, fruity banana tones, with a slight anise/clove thing going on; light and easy to drink.

The Missus was inspired by something She saw on the drinks list.

Something had "clicked" when She had that first sip of the single malt whiskey at Talkeetna Brewpub.

She pointed at a section of the drinks menu...….

And ordered the Kentucky Whiskey Flight!

I quickly ordered some food from the bar-grub menu. We needed something in our empty bellies or this wasn't going to turn out well.

Regardless; we really enjoyed the whiskey.

I'd ordered the Seafood Crostini; which featured both King Crab and Dungeness Crab on grilled Rosemary Bread. This was pretty good in bar food terms.....after all, how often do you mix the phrases King Crab and "pub grub".

It was quite clear that the less fussy; the better food seemed to turn out for us in Alaska.

The tomatoes were nice and ripe and added a decent acidity to the dish.

The Missus, with some help from me, really enjoyed the whiskey flight.....so She ordered another! This time the Rye Whiskey flight....

The Missus had enjoyed the Smoked Salmon Dip during our previous dinner....in fact, it was the only thing from the dinner She deemed edible, so I ordered that.

More toasts, more seafood, a lot of yogurt in this and a bit too sour for my taste. Still, mayo would have been worse; it surely would have put us down.

Like I said, we really enjoyed our Server, she was a joy to work with and even stopped by and chatted with us a bit. We headed out with something in our stomachs other than alcohol. While the food at Glacier Brewhouse has a definite corporate feel (as most other places here do too), it wasn't too bad....and the Missus got Her whiskey, right?

Glacier Brewhouse
737 W 5th Ave.
Anchorage, AK 99501

We headed on back to the hotel.

We were staying at the Historic Anchorage Hotel.

As we got to the hotel I noticed this sign posted outside.

Haunted, huh? While we waited a few short minutes for our room to be ready in the period piece bar area.....

We notice this this in the bar area....a listing of "encounters".

Some of them; like "lots of mold grew on their beer box overnight, and the curtains moved around on their own" kind of made us laugh....."Guest in room 203 came to the front desk to request a different room. The previous night the light in the bathroom kept turning on by itself and he could hear laughter and smell tobacco smoked from that room. He was not disturbed by this presence, but preferred a "less active" room so that he could sleep through the night." Yeah, for real....

And there was this one; which seemed more like a heart attack than a haunting.

Wow, so many stories. This was going to be an interesting night......

But first; we needed to freshen up, take a short nap......then grab some dinner!

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Halloween!

Fernside

I recently had some time to catch up with my good friends; it had been a while and I really missed the good times, laughs, and all the crazy fun we've had over the years. During one of the conversations; I mentioned how much the Missus enjoys the cocktails at El Jardin. Well, the all knowing Candice quickly mentioned Fernside. Christian Siglin, who designed the cocktails at El Jardin had done the same for Fernside, which opened at the end of September. There was one caveat however; the always diplomatic Candice did warn me about our, ahem, somewhat picky taste and the menu.

Still, once I mentioned Fernside to the Missus, we just had to head on down to the corner of Grape and Fern. The place doesn't even have signage up yet.

We enjoyed the casual, neighborhood vibe of the place, and really love sitting outside and counting the number of dogs being walked past us; or who have their heads sticking out of cars as they drive past.

While the beer selection is nice; but not very wide ranging, the Missus has come to really enjoy the cocktails here. It's like they've tailored them to Her taste; not overly sweet, just stiff enough for Her...and She does love Her Bourbon.

Her current favorite is the Mr Robinson; with the smoky-peanut tones of the Peanut Infused Bourbon, the nice citrus acidity of lime, and the perfect kick from the Serrano Bitters. It has those savory-citrus-smoky-spicy tones in a nicely balanced cocktail, at least for the Missus.

We (I say we because if I order this, the Missus will finish it for me) also enjoy the version of the Old Fashion here; the Old Fernside. It's not overly sweet, and has mild anise tones, balanced out with Bourbon.

It gets kinda scary when I start writing about cocktails using food descriptions.

It's even more scary when I think that my favorite drink here is a beer and a shot......called the "Wolf Killer", it's a Coors Light, yes, you read that right, with a smooth and smoky Montelobos (literally "mountain of wolves") Mezcal.

As for the food? Here's what we've had so far from our the Missus's favorite, working it's way down.

The Missus's favorite item here by far is the Crusty Cauliflower ($6).

Simply dusted with cornmeal and fried, it's crunchy and seasoned nicely. The pickled veggies are pretty good here, but that Buffalo Sauce is not a great pairing; it kills any of the mild sweetness of the cauliflower and is way too sour, but perhaps that's the objective; make you think you're not eating your veggies?

The Missus likes the avocado toast ($9), which I think has a nice texture and goes well on Levain bread, but man, I felt this was so bland.

Best thing about this was the pickled onions. This needed some oomph.....

The "Hot Sausage" ($9) wasn't very "hot". In what is perhaps is a homage to an "Ameri-taco" it's lined with iceberg lettuce.

The brioche was very mild; lacking in buttery goodness, the sausage, called "Cochinita Pibil" on the menu, is a very mild, achiote colored, fairly dense, force-meat product. A bit too mild in flavor; I'd have loved a bit of "snap" on this, it might have helped the experience. The pineapple salsa was fine as it did add some much needed flavor and character to things, but in the end; the Missus, well, I've documented Her love of waffle cut fries before, enjoyed that the most. It had a nice and crisp exterior with a creamy interior.

The Spread Plate ($14), was interesting.

The pickled veggies were my favorite thing; the nutty and slightly sweet beet hummus was next, the chicken liver pate was really salty and lacked the nice livery-rich texture and flavor. The Missus liked the "Kale Pesto", which was too bitter for me; it really reminded me of a bitter tabbouleh. The toasted bread and flat bread provided were decent vehicles; it's just the passengers that I didn't care for.

And then we have the wings, I ordered the Spicy Dry Rub version($11). Well, first off the wings were on the dry side and the skin was rubbery.

The rub had too much paprika and not enough salty and sweet tones making it a bit too bitter for me. Too bad, because based on the color of the flesh, this seemed like decent quality wings; no black splotches and such.

So, will we return to Fernside? Well, you might be surprised when I say "yes". You see, we both enjoy the vibe....and the cocktails. The food? Well, I'm hoping I find something I enjoy on the menu. Still, we just love sitting and watching South Park drive and walk on by.....and counting those dogs......

And as long as that Mr Robinson (and "wolf killers") are going strong. Well, that'll have to be enough for us. At Fernside; where the cocktails are a food group...….

Fernside
1946 Fern St
San Diego, CA 92102
Hours:
Sun - Wed   11am - 1am
Thurs - Sat 11am - 2am