September was a busy month, but definitely in the good way! After prepping for a visit from Patrick's parents, they arrived Friday the 19th. We had a fairly relaxing weekend to recover from work and their drive across the country, with local fare like pizza and wine tasting at the Vista, and a trip to the farmers & flea markets.
They also arrived just in time to celebrate Patrick's 31st birthday on Sunday with a delicious dinner of grilled veggies & filet mignon on the patio, and a homemade from scratch German chocolate cake with icing (it took a long time to make, and the icing drizzled a little too much- past the cake, past the platter, onto the cupboard, making a mess- but it tasted good!).
We took it easy during the week as well, gearing up for the following weekend. Departing work mid-day Thursday, the four of us made way for an overnight in San Francisco. There is always something going on in the city. On the taxi route to the hotel, a Batmobile sat among a several block long lineup of other Ferraris, attracting an onslaught of gawkers.
After settling in, we walked along fisherman's wharf area to get to dinner at the Blue Mermaid, and the way back to our hotel took us super close to the Three Twins ice cream shop....hmm, imagine that- what a coincidence. ;-) The lemon cookie flavor was AMAZING.
After a breakfast that included a plate of San Franciscan sourdough French toast for me (mmm!), we met up with our bus tour group at 9am. It was the the same company/type of tour as what we did with our friend Aditi 2 years prior, but a few things were a little different this time around.
On the left, a different view of the Palace of Fine Arts stop, and on the right, a different perspective of the Golden Gate bridge. We did our tour in backwards order this time around, so we stopped on the opposite side of the bridge.
A couple places we had gone to before, like the DeYoung Tower, had been removed from the tour and replaced with a stop at the Fortune Cookie Factory and the Cable Car Museum. The video shows the different wheels and motors powering the cars traveling on the various roads designated on the overhead beam.
Instead of simply driving by the Seven Sisters painted ladies, they added a stop so you could get a photo op on the lawn where the Full House cast is picnicking in the opening credits.
Explanation for our tour being backwards this time: the ferry workers from multiple ferry companies went on strike that morning. Just our luck. The tour usually begins with a ferry ride to Sausalito, where you hop the bus to cross the bridge and explore the city; instead we started in the city, crossed the bridge to Sausalito, and planned to take the bus back again. Just our luck after all! When we got to Sausalito, our tour guide spent the lunch break elbow rubbing and information gathering. She discovered one ferry was still in service, and she got our group on it!
After our tour we began the transit cycle of getting to Monterrey for a hearty dinner at the Cannery Row Brewing Company, and the start of the more laid back portion of the weekend. In the morning, we split up so the parents could explore the Monterrey Bay Aquarium, and the kids could attend the 4th Annual Monterrey Beer Garden. I'm super glad I procrastinated on buying tickets, so Patrick had to buy them on his phone the night before- turns out we got to skip a huge line of people because they had a separate uber-short line for e-tickets!
It was the perfect size festival too- lots of variety, but small enough that we got to sample everything we wanted to without feeling disgusting afterward (except the "Best in Show" winner- it ran out by the time I requested a sample; booooo).
Lunch, dessert, a live band, and friendly conversation with strangers all included. A great afternoon- we even won a prize! The event was to benefit Save the Shores, and part of the fundraising included a raffle. We put $20 in for 5 tickets and walked out with $30 in Fandango gift cards, so it was profitable philanthropy at that!
We joked, "We swear we're not alcoholics!" as we did an impromptu wine tasting immediately following the close-out of the festival. 
We met Patrick's parents at the Monterrey wharf for dinner overlooking the ocean. Even if we didn't have a window, we still would have been overlooking the ocean in a sense- Patrick had an adventurous (at least to a squeamish eater as myself) seafood platter dinner with a few marine critters on his plate.
The next morning we had planned the "13-mile Scenic Drive" along the coast, but a few people at the beer garden we spoke to recommended the drive to Big Sur instead (also scenic and along the coast, but in their opinion, has better views). We took their advice and it made for a serene Sunday morning that didn't disappoint.
There was a guy at this overlook tracking albatrosses with a radio device of some sort. At least that's what he said- in this area he could've just as easily been tracking aliens that stole his marijuana.
After driving across-and-back on the Bixby Bridge, we pulled to the side to get a better view of it.
I can't remember if it was this spot or not, but I left the camera on the dash of the car to take a photo for a group of people. We started driving off, but luckily Patrick's dad spotted it before getting up to speed or around a curve! Otherwise we'd be deprived of lovely pictures such as this.
Lunch at the Surf Rider Cafe kicked off an afternoon in Santa Cruz. Their regular menu includes a rotating monthly list with sometimes weird but always delicious concoctions. This burger was stuffed with jalapenos, bacon, cherries and gouda, and the sweet potato fries were the best we think we've ever had.
A post lunch visit to the Santa Cruz fisherman's wharf to browse the businesses and watch the sea lions- always amusing. One was fighting to stay awake but would ever so slowly start to lean back, about to drift off- nearly off the platform- but then he'd jerk awake.
It would've been a disservice to our guests had we left without a quick dip of the feet in the Pacific Ocean and our toes in the sand!
And we rode off into the sunset! A great end to a getaway weekend and a welcome visit from family! :)
