Route 101 - from Eureka to Oakland

[melodyssister]

Today was a long day, which can be summed up in two words: driving and eating. As our motel did not include breakfast, we decided to eat a few remaining things that we had bought for hikes, and to stop after the Avenue of the Giants for brunch. We set off just before 9 a.m., stopped for brunch two and a half hours' later, and at 3 p.m. really needed another break. We stopped at the closest place Google Maps suggested, Frozen Art in Santa Rosa, where we had some of the best ice-cream I've ever had. The owners are Mexican, and there were some very interesting and unusual flavours - I had a scoop of honey and lavender ice-cream, and another of rose petal. ADC had corn ice-cream! They also had paletas, or home-made popsicles, and there the flavours were even more interesting: cucumber and melon, pico de gallo, and pine-nut were just a few.

At 5 we finally reached our Airbnb in Oakland. This was our first time doing Airbnb, and we didn't really know what to expect - we were not expecting to get the run of an empty family home, including a hot tub! There are also two cats, that come with the house. The only downside is that there is almost no closet space: the family that lives here has gone on holiday for three weeks, and decided that this was better than getting a house sitter.

Finally, we went over to ADC's cousins for dinner. It was possibly the best Chinese takeout I've ever eaten - if all Chinese restaurants served food like Shan Dong does, I would have a better opinion of Chinese food for vegetarians.

Comments

[mimimanderly.livejournal.com]

Honey and lavender! Rose petals! Those would so be the flavors I would try as well! I'm not even that excited about ice cream, but such unusual and lovely-sounding flavors really speak to me.

[pauraque]

You're in my hometown now! I grew up in the East Bay.

My favorite paleta flavor was always coconut. :)

[melodyssister]

The lovely girl behind the counter allowed us to taste lots of flavours. I wasn't quite sure the two would go together, but they really did.

[melodyssister]

This is my first time on the West Coast, and I'm rather sorry we didn't spend the whole sabbatical here.

I would like to try a paleta while we're in the Bay Area, which is only until Thursday; do you have recommendations for places in Oakland or SF itself?

[pauraque]

Hm, I can't really think of a specific place to go for paletas. I often got them from street vendors, but they also usually sell them at Mexican grocery stores and bakeries. Actually, if you've never had pan dulce — Mexican baked sweets — you should really go find a panadería! Then you'll get the tastiest bread, cake, and cookies ever, and probably paletas too. :)