Santa Ynez Valley and L.A.

Mike has FINALLY come to California! He arrived at San Luis Obispo airport yesterday and I drove up to meet him. That airport is funny. It’s tiny. Looks like the airport in the tv show Wings.

Anyhow so we went to Pismo Beach and walked around and had lunch. I had some delicious clam chowder at Splash Cafe, which is sort of known for their clam chowder. It WAS really good.

Then we drove down highway 1 past lots of vineyards and strawberry fields and things like that to Solvang where we checked into The Wine Valley Inn. I had my doubts about it before we got here because of some reviews I read about it. But it’s cuuuuuuuuute. We got a loft room which is really cool.

After a nap we went over to Los Olivos to the Los Olivos Cafe and had dinner.

It was really good.

We started with some really tasty bread and olive oil with herbs thing. Then had some baked brie with port reduction sauce. DM had never had it before and he liked it. Yay! Then we shared a goat cheese and baby greens salad. It was good but unremarkable. You’ve had one goat cheese baby greens salad, you’ve them all. Then DM had spinach ravioli which I didn’t care for. I had chicken marsala, my favorite chicken dish. The marsala sauce was awesome but the chicken was a little dry. It came with some really good baby vegetables and mashed potatoes, too. Yum. We tried to have dessert but were just too full by then! I also had 2 glasses of local red wine and DM had some local beer.

I was so full I had to unzip my dress in the car. Seriously. OINK.

This trip was supposed to be all about the food. California food! We planned on eating till we dropped. Last night I was laying in bed thinking, NO WAY. But hey, I’m hungry again this morning and ready to go for more. I think I have a parasite from drinking that stream water a few weeks ago.

This morning we might go get pancakes! We’ll see if DM can roll with my pigginess. Then maybe go see some wildflowers and take a scenic drive to Santa Barbara for a quick lunch somewhere. Maybe at that taco stand that everyone loves. After that we head back to LA to have wine and cheese with my parents on their patio in front of their outdoor fireplace. They’ve never met DM so this should be fun.