Turns Out, Some Things Should NOT Taste Like Bacon

One of the shops inside the Old Town park was called the House of Jerky & Root-Beer. Original, I know, but hey, you know what your gonna find. Or so we thought. Turns out they're cashing in on the current national bacon-craze and baconifying everything. Bacon jerky, Bacon soda, Bacon-jerky flavored soda. And this piece-de-resistance:

I highly doubt Lester "fixed" this

Yup, that's a thing. Bacon cotton candy. Naturally, I'm sure you're thinking "Mine! Mine-mine-mine-mine!" And like you, we thought it was worth our moolah.

Let me save you the trouble. DON'T BUY IT. Cotton candy is good. Bacon is good. But good things do not always mix to make good things. Sometimes they make disgusting things. whose taste doesn't like to leave your mouth. For hours...

We also got jerky and root-beer. If you're wondering, it tasted like jerky and root-beer.

I Felt Like a Cowboy. Only Without The Dirt, Grime, and Lonelines-

One of the last days my girlfriend was visiting, we went to Old Town State Park in downtown San Diego. The park is a monument to the "birthplace of California," the first European settlement of the western coast. I'm not usually one for museums and monuments, but I'm glad I went. There were mock-ups of some of the original buildings of that era, with 19th century clothing, furniture, and in one case, overpowering tobacco smell (put there on purpose).

The smells coming from the various authentic Mexican restaurants were deliciously intoxicating. Fresh tortillas, carne-asada, and grilled peppers filled the air (and made me constantly hungry). We didn't eat at any of them, but we did indulge in some other "authentic" fare (see bacon post).

One of the cool, old-style buildings they had was an old tobacco shop. And boy, was it authentic. We made it about 2 feet into the doorway before promptly turning around and walking out. The smell was like a hammer on my nostrils. And it was on purpose!! They actually had a machine that pumped out thick, gut-wrenching tobacco stench throughout the entire store. I'm all for accurately depicting history, but DAMN.

The one thing that struck me incredibly strange about Old Town is the incredible emphasis on Mexico's Dia de los Muertos. Every souvenir shop was at least 75% covered in skeletons. Painted skulls, skeleton figurines, paintings of people covered in skeleton make-up. You name it, they had it covered in skulls. 

It's not that that particular holiday isn't cool and all, but isn't there more to Mexican culture and history than one holiday? Is the skull and the celebration of death a recurring theme in 19th century Californian and Mexican history? 

Awesome Rides, Great Themes, and Snoopy Hunting

On Monday, we went to Knott's Berry Farm amusement park up near Los Angeles. Quite possibly one of the most awesome themed theme-park I've ever been too. There was a diverse and well-divided group of subjects that the park covered, from Peanuts to the Wild West.

We choose Knott's Berry mostly for the cheaper ticket price, compared to the likes of SeaWorld or DisneyLand. And man, did we get a bang for our buck. Very similar to Darien Lake near Buffalo, NY, Knott's had rides ranging from a 100mph magnetic "Xcellerator" roller coaster to a tame merry-go-round.

When we first went through the gates, we saw Lucy and Linus mascots greeting the park visitors. This made us think, "There's got to be a Snoopy here." And we wanted a picture, damnit. So we went Snoopy Hunting. And that dog is a sneaky one. We covered the entire park TWICE before we saw the guy, and when we did see him, he was walking towards the exit. For the record, we probably didn't look like the most mature couple, cornering him and asking for a picture, especially after a 3 year old just got done looking extremely bored next to him. No regrets.

So Burger. Much Delicious.

After our completely lazy day, my girlfriend and I decided we needed to leave for a while and seem like active members of society, instead of the couch potatoes we'd been all day. So we went to one of the many restaurants around here lauded by Guy Fieri on the show, Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. 

Tioli's Crazee Burger, from the outside, looks like a very small, under-lit street food restaurant on a side street. But then you walk inside, and you realize it was all a ruse. numerous tables surrounded the order stand, extending into the building next to it, all very clean and full of happy families. The employees were extremely polite and there was local art hanging on every inch of the walls, giving the place a hip, but homey vibe.

And then there's the burgers...

Never again will I be able to eat Clarkson's Servery burgers, nor any fast food burger. Crazee Burger has spoiled me with the most delicious, juicy, and fresh tasting burger I've ever had in my life. And their menu is clever and exotic, with choices like Nutella-Bacon-Plantain, 1/2 lamb - 1/2 beef w/ tsatsiki sauce, and numerous exotic meats like gator, buffalo, ostrich, antelope, and others. And I plan on trying them all. Or at least until I go broke from eating out so much.

I mean, look at this stuff!

1/2 Lamb, 1/2 Beef with Tzatsiki sauce

Those are fried plantains under the bacon, and the bun is slathered with Nutella. 

More to Come

So I realized I haven't posted in a long while. Well, that's going to change soon. Last week, my girlfriend flew out here to California for spring break, and we went EVERYWHERE. I'll be posting more about each of our excursions soon, but here's a super-short synopsis:

Beach, walking, Old Town, walking, burgers, walking, Snoopy-hunting, walking, not-hiking, walking, and a super-fancy hotel. 

Did I mention we did a lot of walking?

Idk Who Daphne Is, But I Like Her

In my perpetual quest to try as many new foods and venues as possible during my stay here, I decided this week to try out a local Greek food chain, called Daphne's California Greek. 

I've started to take a liking to the Greek fare here, something I never really had back in New York. I'm not sure if that's because I was never introduced to it there, or if it just isn't as popular, and therefore aren't many places to enjoy it. The combination of strongly seasoned meat with the fresh, crisp greens used in these dishes are both filling, and refreshing.

Eating at Daphne's Greek, in particular, was an enjoyable and delicious experience. A great thing about Daphne's is their ability to order your food online. Not a groundbreaking service, I know, but one usually seen only on national food chains, such as Dominos or Pizza Hut.

Now, onto the dish itself. I had a delicous "Pita Chicken Burger". Instead of buns, the burger was in between two pieces of pita bread. The chicken was amazingly juicy, with a flavorful, spiedie-like seasoning, topped with "Fire-Feta" a spicy, cheesy sauce that put the sandwich over the top. Soooo good. I'll definitely be going there again. Maybe tomorrow. And the next day. And maybe the day after that...

Let's Go For a Walk

One of the things that amazes me the most about San Diego is the community's commitment to an active lifestyle. There are thousands of acres of parkland in San Diego county, most of which is crisscrossed with hiking and biking trails, many regularly maintained by county workers, to get them accessible and safe.

The entire country is extremely bicycle friendly, which is really impressive. Most major roads, both urban streets and rural county routes, have a dedicated bicycle lane going both directions. And California drivers, in a rare expression of driving competence, give them plenty of space and don't show any animosity toward the cyclists, something of a genuine concern in some North-east towns, including my hometown.

And the residents of San Diego County take full advantage of this exercise-friendly infrastructure. I rarely drive to/from work without passing at least 20 cyclists, and I see people walking the sidewalks of most streets during all hours of the day. 

I just have one question to those I see out and about all day...

Do you have a job?? Seriously, how in the world can you be out at 1pm in full cycling gear on what has to be at least a 2 hour workout? Don't you have to work? I would kill to have that kind of time during the day to exercise! And these aren't elderly, possibly retired people I'm talking about. I see loads of people that obviously aren't of retirement age, and not all of them can be early-retiring millionaires. Can they?

I think the US should adopt a change to the conventional 9-5 workday. Insert a 2.5hr break into the day, instead of an hour lunch. I'd happily work from 7-6 if it meant I could get a full workout & meal in between then. And I doubt I'm alone in that. Give me from 12-2:30pm. I doubt many people are particularly productive during that time, anyway (see 5-hour Energy, 2:30 feeling).

Anyone else think this should happen?

It's Like They're Not Used to Bad Weather...Oh Wait

This weekend marked Southern California's first "big" rainstorm in the past 3 years. And in the apparent SoCal fashion, people lost their shit when the sky turned gray and the ground went damp. 

New Yorkers, you'll have to forgive me for using the term "big storm" very loosely. I use it more in reference to the usual weather than I do in terms of actual severity. In North-East terms, this was more of a "scattered showers" kind of event. You know, the kind you brake 10 feet earlier, turn your wipers on LOW, and otherwise have a normal daily commute. To any Mid-Westerners reading this, I imagine this storm equated the thought of a slight drizzle on your way to work.

But for some reason, San Diegans thought it was the coming of Ragnarok, and promptly panicked and forgot how to drive in a straight line. There were over 450 accidents in San Diego County alone! I'm fairly certain there were fewer accidents than that on I-81 during Thanksgiving weekend, when snow came down by the foot anywhere above Syracuse. And that accident was just for yesterday! Who knows how many more have happened today during weekend traffic. I for one refuse to leave my house for fear of someone flipping their car trying to avoid a puddle.

Now, I will say that while the weather around the city did not warrant this level of anarchy, there were some serious mud slides outside the city that were pretty serious, and I don't want to lump those people actually affected by the storm with those who just don't know how to drive on anything but bone-dry asphalt. To the former, I'm sorry your driveway turned to quicksand. To the latter, feel free to drive through a puddle. I promise, it won't send your car spinning. Probably.