San Diego jaunt - the other parts

It wasn't all food and cocktails in San Diego, weirdly enough.  I know, I know - travel based around what we can eat and drink is a common thing for us, but in this instance I built in one other activity (which was sort of food related, but not a real culinary experience).  Not to mention the train trips!

The train to and from San Diego is a lovely experience through a nice swath of the southern half of the route.  Rolling through the LA

and its suburbs and into Orange County is not especially scenic as you head to San Diego, but then you hit San Juan Capistrano,

and the coast after that, and it's lovely.  There was a thick haziness to the day along the coast, and that gave the sun a dreamy, ghostly quality over the ocean. 

It's a three-hour trip, and I dozed and read next to Conrad.

The Santa Fe Depot,

San Diego's train station, is located very conveniently downtown, and our hotel was a short few blocks away.  We got to our room, unpacked, then headed to the second floor terrace bar for an afternoon drink. 

The hotel was nice enough, but I don't think I'd stay again.  What they called a suite was a large corner room with seating,

and that meant when Conrad was snoring up a storm each night, I couldn't escape to a sofa bed or other room.  Other than the spacious bathroom, where I set up a bed on the floor with couch cushions.  It actually wasn't too bad a night of sleep in there.  But I shouldn't have had to sleep in there.  Shame on me for not looking at the photos of the room more closely when I booked it.  Ah well.  The views from the room were not much,

and the club room was really only available for breakfast.  It wasn't an inexpensive stay, and I didn't feel it was entirely worth it beyond a very convenient location.  Lesson learned for the next trip down there!

On Thursday we did a morning walk,

had breakfast, then got ourselves ready to take the trolley a few stops away to the Old Town San Diego stop.  I had booked us spots on a walking tour of the historic area.  Tacos, tombstones, and tequila made up the tagline for the tour promo, and I thought it would be fun.  It was!  The weather was warmer and sunnier than we had expected, and I wish I had brought along a tshirt or very light layers.  But we had caps and sunglasses and sunscreen, so that was fine.  We ended up being with 8 other people who were all together as part of a corporate retreat.  They were nice enough, though.  And we did like Benedict, our tour guide.

The tour focused on some of the buildings

in the state historical park

as well as nearby structures,

like the beautiful 100-year old church. 

Benedict had great details to share, like stories about the old cemetery

and why there are grave markers in the street (they paved over the cemetery rather than relocate bodies). 

There were also stops for tacos at two places (both of them fine enough, but neither taco was a fish one, which is something San Diego is known for) with accompanying margaritas (the tacos were far far better), street corn at another place (also fine), and a churro (also fine).  I liked the tour and the information, I thought the food part was alright but unexceptional.  We had a great time of it, though, well worth it.

We poked in a shop or two after that, and then it was back to the hotel to relax and get ready for dinner.  The next morning we had a walk,

got breakfast, packed, and then it was the reverse train trip home. 

A short getaway, but a really lovely one.  I'm glad I got to give Conrad that gift. 

birthdays

Mum would have been 89 today.  Wow.  Already 6 years since she passed.  She rather hated her birthday - a cold, dark time of year, and she didn't care for the passage of time and what it meant physically.  Still, happy birthday, Mum!

And I was remiss in not marking what would have been Dad's 86th birthday late last month.  Both of them Aquarius, yes.  He didn't even make it to 70, unfortunately.  A lot of time gone since we lost him.  I don't think he cared all that much about birthdays, but the man had a healthy appetite, so if there was a good spread, he would have been happy.  Happy birthday, Dad! 

vermin

Monthly drinks online for us.  Yes, very early this month.  And March will be late in the month, so a long time until the next one.  I will look forward to that.

A fun theme this month:  Vermin!  I made a handful of test drinks, and there was curiously little choice. 

I mean, I often make a handful of drinks, and there are usually two or three that I like, so I can enjoy a different one from round to round.  But not this time.  I found them mostly too bitter or sweet, little in-between.  I settled on a cocktail called The Three Blind Mice,

essentially a variation on a Boulevardier, and that was my choice for the online event.  Conrad stayed mostly away because of a shoulder problem plaguing him, and Van was at his home dialed into the Grammys.  So it was mostly me for drinks, sharing photos from times past with the gang.

Next month:  remainders! 

Kingfisher/Artifact

Let's focus on two great meals from this past week's short jaunt down to San Diego.  Wednesday night at Kingfisher, Thursday night at ARTIFACT at Mingei, very different cuisines, very enjoyable experiences.  I love when meals out are so terrific that I can happily write blog entries to spotlight them.  That's the case here, so let's dive in!

I've been to Kingfisher

a few times now.  We knew of it through a Maestro connection.  Van (same spelling, different pronunciation from our Van) was a much-beloved bartender at Maestro for years, but he eventually left and is now part of the team at Kingfisher. 

We duly asked for seating at the bar so that we could chat with him when possible.  And you know that he took very good care of us.  The cocktails were the star of the show, but I'll say that the food was terrific as it has been before.  The Restaurant Week menu was a great price, so we opted for that and left with full bellies.  A run down of what we ate and drank, then...

• The Saigon Moped, a refreshing, light, not-too-sweet cocktail to start with.
  
  
  
• Kampachi crudo and beef tartare to start with.  I enjoyed both, especially the tartare which came with fresh herbs and lettuce and rice crisps to make rolls or tostada-like bites.
  
  
  
• The Water Buffalo.  The weirdest drink I've had in, oh forever.  Very umami, and I find that I am responding to more savoury flavours in cocktails these days.  It was made in part with clarified Phở reduction.  I don't even know how they would have come up with that.  I liked it, for the record, but I couldn't stop trying to figure it out, and so more than liking it, I was excited and intrigued by it.
  
  
  
• Congee with wild mushrooms and delicata squash.  I love porridges, and congee is no exception.  And yes, I willingly ate mushrooms because I could trust this restaurant that they were good mushrooms.
  
  
  
• Black cod.  Such a tasty sauce, and mustard greens!  Honestly, if they had sent it out without the cod and with the buttered rice it came with, I would have been perfectly content.
  
  
  
• The Sesame Soiree.  My dessert cocktail.  I've had this one (and the Saigon Moped) previously, and I was happy to have it again.
  
  
  
• Vanilla flan with a Vietnamese coffee syrup and black truffle ice cream.  I liked them, and the black truffle ice cream lived up to its name.  Very funky and weird, and we devoured it.  I'm glad Conrad liked it as well.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Then Van sent out a serving of bread pudding with roasted banana ice cream.  And that, too, was a delight, but boy, were we stuffed.  We couldn't refuse it, and it was tasty, but belly-clutching time after that.
  
  
  

We said our goodbyes shortly after that, happy to have been back to Kingfisher, and headed to our hotel.

Thursday night we headed up to Balboa Park to Mingei, one of the museums, and to its restaurant, ARTIFACT.  ARTIFACT is usually only open for lunches and afternoons, but it does Friday dinners, and it has hosted a special monthly dinner for four years now.  We learned that last bit when one of the chefs/co-owners dropped by the table to say hello and chat a moment.  I had been fishing around online for where we should have our other San Diego dinner, and I stumbled upon the availability of the special dinner.  And the theme?  Nordic!  In view of this being a Christmas present trip for my husband who is descended from Swedes through all of his grandparents, this was a no-brainer.  He was tickled when he learned about it, and we were looking forward to a lovely meal.

Friends, they did not disappoint.  The space was very spare,

but the dining area was totally occupied.  People kept coming in right up until 8:30, so clearly the dinners have a good reputation.  We chatted with both chefs, and the other staff were all very nice and appropriately attentive.  And we liked the food.  Oh, sure, we can absolutely quibble over how Nordic some things were, but we looked at it as an interesting interpretation using local products and from a kitchen that doesn't normally cook this way.  Fully authentic?  No.  True in spirit?  Yes.  Enjoyable?  For sure!  Course by course, then...

• Conrad opted for a martini from the simple bar, and it was quite fine.  I tried the Fjord and Field, and it was surprisingly tart.  Not overly so, but it used cranberry and meant it.  A good drink to begin.  We opted for wines by the glass after that although Conrad didn't care for the second glass, the merlot, all that much.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Danish smørrebrød, both rye and crispbread.  Toppings were cultured butter, boiled egg with cured cod roe, caramelized sunchoke and browned cream, and shrimp salad.  The butter was butter, the egg was a tasty egg salad, the shrimp were briny rather than sweet, and the sunchoke was eye-opening.  I asked Conrad what he thought of his first taste, and he had the same reaction:  it was like peanut butter.  And we mean that in a very good way.  Oh, everything was good, honestly - I actually really loved having a smear of butter then some of the egg.  But that sunchoke was such a terrific surprise.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Seaweed cured california halibut crudo with boiled potato, pickled mustard seed, celery root buttermilk sauce, and sorrel.  From a good start to an even better second.  Get a little of everything on your fork, and it was superb.  It was also a nicely generous portion.
  
  
  
• Smoked bison with leek top and kohlrabi puree, red currant demi, and red cabbage.  Again, get some of each on your fork, and it all made a lot of sense.  I also appreciated that it wasn't an overly generous portion as it was a little heavier and richer.  
  
  
  
• Cardamom vafflor (Scandinavian waffle) with rosehip sauce and an almond and honey mousse.  Waffles, like pancakes, are a tricky thing to serve because of they sit, they become less fluffy and delightful.  I sort of felt that happened with the waffle here.  The star of the plate was the rosehip sauce, though, and there was plenty to mop up.  I didn't love the dessert, but it was fine.
  
  
  

We kind of wish we went to San Diego more often so that we could take advantage of these dinners.  We really loved it.  A quick Uber back to the hotel after that, some reading, and Conrad was snoring away by 10:30.  Our two San Diego dinners were an utter success. 

a last post for January

Apologies, all:  I just don't have the energy to post a longer update from the past week.  Hours of today have been spent on this new addition to the family,

and after all the contract language and added features and whatnot, I'm a little frazzled.  So, please accept this as a last post for January 2026, and goodnight all! 

we're back!

More blogging to come, but just know this:  we're back!  A quick getaway to San Diego for me and Conrad, the train in both directions.  A lovely little getaway, too.  So, stay tuned to hear of our grand adventures in dining and such down south.

this past weekend

It's weekend round-up time!  And what a weekend it was.  Just kidding.  It was a mild one, for the most part, and I didn't take photos at the one social activity (a birthday party for Conrad's colleague) because a) I didn't want to and b) it felt presumptuous (and icky) to do so if my only intention in doing so was to get blog content.

But it was a decent weekend otherwise. A walk and Amara Cafe on Saturday morning. 

A massage later that day, then shopping for new shoes so that the walks may keep going.  The birthday party that afternoon (but here we are, ready to head off to it). 

Sunday, walking again, and then test-driving new vehicles.  An afternoon nap.  Then out to dinner with Van and his nephew and nephew's girlfriend at Saltie Girl over in WeHo (or, I guess, LA, but darn close to WeHo).  A nice return there, and I'm glad Conrad enjoyed it.  We dined on the early side, and so we made it in time for the happy hour mini-tinis. 

Everyone but Van shared oysters,

and my shrimp and crab roll was satisfying.

It's honestly been a mostly quiet and dull life lately, alas.  Things will ramp up in the next few weeks, but for now, there's just not much to blog about. 

still here

It really has been a quiet week.  Very quiet.  Work, home, a shingles vaccine.  All very quiet.

But I'm still here!

Conrad and I stayed in tonight.  We have things planned for tomorrow and Sunday, so I thought it would be good to have a night at home.  The Corpse Reviver No. 2 for us before dinner. 

Now to wind the evening down....