And so we come to the last part of our trip. Our first week was in Hawaii, then we went to Canada, and then we visited a town called Bellingham in the Pacific North West and San Francisco.
We went to Bellingham to meet up with some friends who I originally met online in an author forum nearly 20 years ago. The author lives in the city and so we were able to meet up with her for coffee and then on the Saturday night we cooked dinner for her. It was very cool. Guess what we forgot to do though...take photos! The menu took a lot of negotiations as we needed to take into considerations food allergies, likes and dislikes but we got there in the end. Roast chicken (using this recipe) plus roasted vegetables including rainbow baby potatoes, carrots, onion, served with salad and seriously good gravy. We then had a gluten free apple grunt with whipped cream,whipped by my husband by hand hence why he was inducted into the girls weekend with a whisk! It is something that happens every time we get together. It definitely impresses the girls every time. At home, he uses a hand held mixer. It was a delicious meal.
On one of the days my husband went off to the Boeing factory, and we decided we wanted to see some nature so we took a drive towards Mt Baker, which was just over an hour away from where we were staying. It was absolutely gorgeous, and I got to walk on snow and touch it, much to my husband's annoyance. When we went to Europe at Christmas time he was really hoping for snow and we got none, and then he missed this view as well.
We then travelled to San Francisco, and what is one thing that you need to eat in SF? Seafood chowder which we had for lunch on the first day and fordinner on the last day before we got on the plane to come home. We were staying down in the Fisherman's Wharf area so we had to go to the famous Boudin bakery.
In between those two meals, there were a few other highlights
Whilst this is the third time that I have spent time in San Francisco, I had never been to Alcatraz, so that was the first thing that we booked for this holiday, even before we had booked flights or accommodation. Of course, I was interested in the kitchen. Below is the menu for the last meal that was ever served at Alcatraz. It was a very interesting place to visit, and we also got to see some whales out in the bay.
On another day we went on a wine tasting tour to Sonoma and Napa Valleys, with a stop at Muir Woods and then lunch in the town of Sonoma. It was a great day. I didn't love the wines but the wineries were lovely, the last one in particular.
On our final day we wanted to just wander around a couple of different parts of the city. The first was to walk through Chinatown. It was pretty early so there wasn't a lot open. After that we chose to go and wander through Golden Gate Park, and we spent some time in the Japanese Garden. It is such a peaceful and beautiful place.
We decided to stop and have tea in the gardens. We chose karage chicken, Japanese cookies and Doriyaki which I was very excited to try after reading a book called Sweet As not too long ago. I have the review for that book scheduled for January.
And so, we come to the end of our travels for this time. Time to start seriously planning our next big trip, which won't be until August next year, although I wouldn't mind sneaking a quick trip in but I am not sure my husband is convinced on that!
Weekly meals
I have enjoyed your recaps! Can't wait for you to travel again!
ReplyDeleteGoing to need to wait awhile now Melynda unfortunately
DeleteInterestingly I have lived in both CA and WA, and it was nice to visit again through your travels.
ReplyDeleteI have lived in WA but in my case it was Western Australia
Deletesuch a wonderful trip you took! Love your photos especially of Chinatown and the Japanese gardens!
ReplyDeleteIt's Judee from Gluten Free A-Z Blog the comment above
DeleteThe Japanese garden was gorgeous!
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