Coast to Coast and Back! (Part II)

Next Up: CALIFORNIA!!!

There’s always so much hype about California. There’s the Red Hot Chili Peppers — my loves of course — who dream of Californication. Phantom Planet who rock the beginning of every O.C. episode with their claim of coming to California. Beach Boys have long known about the Californian girls. So what’s the big whoop? Fantastic wine, beautiful shoreline, exquisite food, weather that doesn’t make you suicidal, and breathtaking scenery…just to name a few. Seriously, what’s there NOT to like about Cali? (NOTE: If you’re a CA native or recent migrant and can answer this question, don’t take my sunshine away plz k thx .)

I got quite the whirlwind sampling of northern CA, courtesy of Emily Cohen and family, who were absolutely the best hosts ever. Although, “home” was Sacramento for the time being, we realized we didn’t even spend more than one day there! Here’s a brief glimpse of each stop:

Wine It Up: Napa Valley

You cannot leave California without getting your drink on at a world-class winery or two. For my fellow New Yorkers and lovers of the Finger Lakes wineries, this obviously pales in comparison. Amidst the beautiful golden rolling hills lie endless rows of vineyards just teasing you to come take a taste. After some big pours at Louis M. Martini Winery and Markham Vineyards, we couldn’t resist complementing our burgers with some more wine at the famous Taylor’s Refresher — a Napa favorite according to our food critic friend who accompanied us. Can we say wine buzzzzzzzzed?!

And Now For A Little Un-’Wine’ding: Pacific Grove in Monterey

To be fair, wine was paired with probably every meal we had in CA. Perhaps that’s the secret behind the California high (or should I call it a Cali-dorphin? See windorphins if you’re lost on that. Shame on you if you are.) Moving on.

Cooler, fresher air. Coffee with a view of waves crashing. Pelicans gaze over up above. If you’re really observant, dolphins jumping in the far distance. Ahh…that is the life of a Pacific Grover. I was fortunate enough to get the chance to spend the weekend at the Cohens’ friends’ retirement beach house that overlooked the ocean. What a great way to get in touch with nature. We went tide pooling early one morning and discovered some stunning creatures that got washed up and left behind — an abundance of sea stars, jelly fish, anemones, hermit crabs, and an assortment of seaweed. On a hiking trail in Point Lobos — “the greatest meeting of land and water in the world” — we also spotted some sea lions sun bathing in a private cove! For probably one of the best jelly fish displays, I’d recommend the Monterey Aquarium followed by a soothing sourdough bowl of clam chowder. Oh what I’d give for one right now…

Ding! Ding! San Francisco!

First, the trolleys are so much more fun than they look. Tourist or not, it’s best done hanging half off it breathing in the fresh air from the bay. We got lucky and went on quite a sunny day, a rare sighting for the foggy SF apparently. Started it off with some delicious dim sum at Yank Sing in Rincon Center. Chinatown is by far, the best (and probably most expensive) I’ve ever seen — spoken from a frequent Chinatown-goer of Toronto and NYC. No secretive whispers of Gucci purses in dark alleys there! The very crowded Pier 39/Fisherman’s Wharf is of course mobbed for its street-long tourist shops and eateries, view of the Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge, and my favorite: the very noisy but playful sea lions that haul on the dock side.

Last Stop: San Jose/Silicon Valley

After sushi’ing at Blue Fin in Richmond, San Francisco, I decided to shindig it up with some IBM Extreme Blue interns during their last week at a very, how do you say….COUGAR…type bar. Although they were a lively bunch, there wasn’t much to my travels/stay in San Jose except for a quick glimpse of what seemed like a stretch of suburban nothingness. I’ve heard Research Triangle Park, NC being described as the Silicon Valley of the East, so with this in mind, I had pictured Silicon Valley to be…well…a consolidated area of high-tech corporations? Maybe a mini NYC-ish skyscraper type community where you could almost see people leaping from one job to another. Yeah, it’s def not. The companies are quite spaced out with not much of anything else in between. It’s so quiet, I can hear the sprinklers. ‘Nuff said.

To Move or Not To Move?

And herein lies one of the main motivations for my vacation in California: Could I see myself working/living there and loving it? I think for the most part, California has a ton to offer and it’d be pretty difficult to end up not finding something you’d enjoy. It’s almost like its own little country. They say New York City-ers don’t ever have to leave NY because everything you need is there. Well California is that within an entire state! With access to mountains, beaches, city life, good food, spectacular weather, plentiful jobs, and its own culture, could it get much better than this? And so the dream of Californication lives on.