Eating and Drinking our way through California

As I mentioned before, Bryce and I just celebrated our 5 year anniversary with a 4 day trip to California this past weekend.  :)  It was sooo difficult leaving our little baby behind for so long but somehow we managed.  Both Bryce and I had dreams about Abby while we were gone too - we missed her so much!  But as we all know, it is 1,000 times easier to travel without a baby.  Pathetically, yet lovingly, we found ourselves talking about Abby for a lot of the trip (i.e. "I love it when she does [fill in the blank]" or "Ohh, don't you miss her kisses?" etc.).

We began our trip by landing in Ontario and bee-lining to the nearest In and Out.  Man, it was delicious.  I never had animal style fries as well so I indulged this one time.  And by one time, I mean ONE TIME.  I repeat, I will never eat another animal style fries again.  While it tasted yummy, I could feel by veins clotting with each bite. 

Before you ask, yes, I ate a Double Double as well.  Never again, yet oh-so-yummy!

Then we drove 80 miles to Escondido, CA - home of Stone Brewing Company.  They are known for brewing "big character" beers and they aren't kidding.  You must love hops to really enjoy a pint or three.  The brewery also has a wonderful restaurant connected to it called Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens where we further indulged ourselves on beer based organic, garden fresh dinner.  I enjoyed a Stone Pale Ale while Bryce had a Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale followed by the infamous Arrogant Bastard Ale.  Our meal was equally delicious and the ambiance couldn't have been better. 

Sublimely and Pale Ale

One of the few pictures of the 2 of us...we're so bad about taking pictures of ourselves.  Thanks waiter dude!

Stone-Style Soft Pretzels and Artisanal Sausage Times 4

I had the 3 BBQ Duck Taco with pineapple habenero salsa and a side of seasonal veggies

Bryce had the Salad Formerly Known As Caesar with Grilled Jidori Chicken

The next morning we got up at the crack of dawn and drove another 80 miles to Long Beach just to have breakfast at Schooner or Later.  This restaurant was featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives so we had to order "The Mess" and see what all the hoopla was about.  Let's just say, it was worth the drive.  :)

We got up so early so we could make our Hearst Castle tour time of 1 PM all the way in San Simeon, CA so we drove another 260 miles and made it with there with 45 minutes to spare.  I say "we" but really I drove the entire trip because, well, let's just say we did it to keep the peace and because I'm a more "efficient" driver than Bryce.  :)  We made several cross country family road trips growing up and I think I'm just really like my dad: we both enjoy driving long road trips.  I think it's very calming and therapeutic.  Anyhow, here are a few pics of the Hearst Castle.

Then we immediately drove 60 miles due west to Paso Robles, CA where we went wine tasting on our honeymoon 5 years ago.  We were able to squeeze in 3 tastings and then headed to our anniversary dinner at a new restaurant called Il Cortile Ristorante.  Again, the food was perfect and extremely authentic to Italy (per Bryce who has been there twice).  We continued to indulge ourselves.

Grilled octopus with fresh vegmarinati in a spicy vinaigrette

Pappardelle al ragu de cinghiale or

"Homemade pappardelle with wild boar and porcini mushrooms"

Beef cheek ravioli with porcini and truffle oil

Filetto al pepe verde or

"Filet mignon with a green peppercorn sauce"

We spent the next day wine tasting all day and thoroughly enjoying the beautiful view and perfect weather.

                                        

That's it!  In 4 days we managed to do a lot and put 850 miles on the rental car.  We tried hitting up In and Out one more time on our way to the airport but it was closed because of Easter Sunday.  We ended up eating at Fat Burger which is not worthy of a blog picture or description.  But I can't post without a quick Abby picture so here it is - it's her new trick!  *sigh*  I just love her so much and I hope she never changes.  :)