Fine (chilly) Thanksgiving in California
Dec. 4th, 2010 04:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dreamsharkBack from our now-traditional Thanksgiving with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ambertatge in San Jose. We followed our usual plan: fly out on Thanksgiving, have big dinner on Friday, day-trip on Saturday, take in the wonders of San Jose on Sunday (often including a gourmet dinner at the home of magscanner and vgqn), play teacher's helpers on Monday in Amber's 3rd-grade class, and fly home Tuesday.
Our Saturday day trip this year was typically ambitious. We started off meeting Olin's mother Jo for breakfast in a very nice breakfast restaurant somewhere south of San Francisco. Then we all piled into Olin's Scion and drove into SF so I could satisfy my dream of shopping for bento boxes in a real Japantown. This was great, and i would have happily spent another hour or two cruising the Japanese malls, but the family was getting restless so we headed out while I still had some money left. The final stop was on the top of Mt. Tamelpais to check out the beautiful venue that Amber and Olin have reserved for their wedding in April. Weather was off and on rainy that day, but obligingly cleared off when we got to the top of the mountain so we could see the stunning view. We visited a couple of hotels on the way back that might be used to house wedding guests. Then we drove back to San Jose - a long day!
On Sunday, acting on a great tip fromvgqn and magscanner, we took in the amazing Leo Villareal exhibition at the San Jose Museum of Art. While we were downtown we made a quick pass through the Christmas in the Park and had a very satisfying quick lunch at a nearby Tandoori restaurant. vgqn and magscanner had graciously invited us for dinner that evening, serving their usual gourmet fare, much of it from their own garden. The baked squash was particularly delicious. Naturally, it wasn't just ordinary old acorn squash - it had a name like "sugar pom pom" or "candified delight."
We had a lovely visit, drank too much wine and stayed up too late, which made it hard to get up early the next morning for school. But as usual, Richard and I thoroughly enjoyed our day in the classroom with 20 adorable 8-year-olds begging for our attention. Then all three of us came back to the apartment and collapsed, which Olin says we do every year.
We had a later flight than usual on Tuesday, so the task of entertaining us all day fell to Olin. He ably rose to the occasion. Acting on one more tip from the previous night's dinner hosts, we visited an amazing kaleidoscope shop in the hidden land of Narnia. Or maybe it was "Campbell". Anyway, a quaint little village tucked away in a wardrobe inside the sprawling and ever-expanding city of San Jose. We met Olin's charming friend Robert for lunch in Redwood City and were then delivered to the SFO for the flight home.
ambertatge in San Jose. We followed our usual plan: fly out on Thanksgiving, have big dinner on Friday, day-trip on Saturday, take in the wonders of San Jose on Sunday (often including a gourmet dinner at the home of magscanner and vgqn), play teacher's helpers on Monday in Amber's 3rd-grade class, and fly home Tuesday.Our Saturday day trip this year was typically ambitious. We started off meeting Olin's mother Jo for breakfast in a very nice breakfast restaurant somewhere south of San Francisco. Then we all piled into Olin's Scion and drove into SF so I could satisfy my dream of shopping for bento boxes in a real Japantown. This was great, and i would have happily spent another hour or two cruising the Japanese malls, but the family was getting restless so we headed out while I still had some money left. The final stop was on the top of Mt. Tamelpais to check out the beautiful venue that Amber and Olin have reserved for their wedding in April. Weather was off and on rainy that day, but obligingly cleared off when we got to the top of the mountain so we could see the stunning view. We visited a couple of hotels on the way back that might be used to house wedding guests. Then we drove back to San Jose - a long day!
On Sunday, acting on a great tip from
vgqn and magscanner, we took in the amazing Leo Villareal exhibition at the San Jose Museum of Art. While we were downtown we made a quick pass through the Christmas in the Park and had a very satisfying quick lunch at a nearby Tandoori restaurant. vgqn and magscanner had graciously invited us for dinner that evening, serving their usual gourmet fare, much of it from their own garden. The baked squash was particularly delicious. Naturally, it wasn't just ordinary old acorn squash - it had a name like "sugar pom pom" or "candified delight." We had a lovely visit, drank too much wine and stayed up too late, which made it hard to get up early the next morning for school. But as usual, Richard and I thoroughly enjoyed our day in the classroom with 20 adorable 8-year-olds begging for our attention. Then all three of us came back to the apartment and collapsed, which Olin says we do every year.
We had a later flight than usual on Tuesday, so the task of entertaining us all day fell to Olin. He ably rose to the occasion. Acting on one more tip from the previous night's dinner hosts, we visited an amazing kaleidoscope shop in the hidden land of Narnia. Or maybe it was "Campbell". Anyway, a quaint little village tucked away in a wardrobe inside the sprawling and ever-expanding city of San Jose. We met Olin's charming friend Robert for lunch in Redwood City and were then delivered to the SFO for the flight home.
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no subject
Date: 2010-12-05 06:26 am (UTC)The squash, btw, was Candy Roaster, though "Sugar Pom Pom" would be a great name for some future squash. I'll keep it in mind if I ever breed any squash myself.
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Date: 2010-12-05 07:21 am (UTC)K.