Adventures of a Loon flies to New England

For those of you who do not know, I have migrated back to the East coast! It is great to be back! I love the New England area and getting around pretty well. Just this past weekend I went to the aquarium. It was fun and neat but not sure worth the 22 bucks. I can cross it off the list though! If you have any suggestions out there please let me know!

Adventure 14- The misson, Coit tower, Lombard street and the Kitchen SINK!

One of the many Murals in The Mission District








Dolores Mission- oldest building in San Francisco.  The Mission has been a steadfast witness to the span of San Francisco's history including the California Gold Rush and the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake.

 






















Coit tower built in 1933 on behalf of Lillie Coit who was saved by the firemen of San Fran at age 8. Coit Tower is dedicated to San Franciscos Firemen. Coit Tower stand 210 ft high....

View from Coit Tower

 Lombard street "the crookedest most winding street in the world"

This is the Kitchen Sink filled with 8 scoops of ice cream( one scoop is the size of a softball) 8 toppings, cherries, bananas, nuts and whipped cream....INSANE. This was on Man Vs. Food

 

Mediterranean

Went to Babalou's to experience Mediterranean cusine. Not too bad.
tried the Baba Ghanoush( What a fun name to say!) also tried Falafel( another fun one to say).  Baba Ghanoush is eggplant mashed with different seasonings. A Falafel is made from chickpeas and can have other things added into it.

Baba Ghanoush 
Falafel






 

Tried a Greek beer that had a honey after taste

Ended the Mediterranean experience with Turkish Delight ( had to it was in Narnia, the candy that the White Witch gave to Edmund to convince him to be on her side.)

Turkish delight is made from starch and sugar. Also flavored with Rosewater, pistachios were added to this one. There are several ways to make it I learned.

The Paintings on the inside of this place were hilarious( just part of the wall)....

I would rate my experience a 5. I would try Mediterranean again though.

Adventure 13- Tilden Park...Memory trail

At the top of Memory Trail. Tilden Park is in between the Berkeley Hills and San Pablo Ridge. Tilden  Park was named in honor of Charles Lee Tilden, a Bay Area attorney and businessman who purchased much of the land in order to preserve remaining wilderness areas for public enjoyment.

Adventure 12- Rugby/Muir Woods

Saturday I went to the CAL VS SMC Rugby game. Two East Bay teams going against each other. It was a fun although I did not know exactly what was going on. It was a great way to start off the fun filled Saturday!Saint Marys lost 44-7...Cal is apparently one of the top Rugby teams in the Nation.


















After the Rugby game went to Muir Woods with a friend who is actually also the athletic trainer at Saint Marys. Muir woods is a National Monument with 240 acres of Red Wood Trees...it was spectacular.  Below is the welcome sign into Muir Woods...

As I was walking through Muir Woods and seeing the Red woods, I just could not believe how big they were. I read about them in books and in text book and it does not do it justice...have to see it to believe just how beautiful this place is!

 

The path to the unknown....

Adventure 11- Biking Across the Golden Gate Bridge

For my birthday I wanted to do something new and exciting! Ali and Bryn joined me on my birthday adventure weeekend with one rule...It had to be new and exciting enough to go into the blog.

We rented bikes and rode them around the city then went across the Golden Gate Bridge... 18 mile ride

Off we go...

 

Almost done....Had to pause half way for a photo opp!

The other side of the bridge...Sausalito ( Ali and Bryn said reminded them of Italy)

 

We took a ferry back so we could get the bikes back on time came into Port of San Francisco

I had such a fun Birthday...the ride was well worth it! Ali and Bryn thank you for riding along with me and helping me cross off an adventure on the list. It was a great day and thank you for the birthday wishes. 

Adventure 10- Beach Blanket Babylon Blvd

This was a hilarious show put on with only 10 cast members. It is a zany musical spoof of pop culture with extravagant costumes and outrageously huge hats.
They perform right in the city of San Francisco. I would recommend this highly!

Adventure 9- Brendan and Amy come to visit!

Brendan and Amy came to visit me at campus! Great to see them and I love Brendan's Beard! Saint Marys is in the background of us.

Adventure 8- Long Island

I know what you are thinking...I thought this took place on the West coast? Well traveled with the team to Long Island to play a couple of games. We lost to Hofstra but beat Long Island University. So really I should have taken a picture of the Long island Rail Road because I figured out how to use it and transfer and meet up with some friends from Syracuse in NYC! Great to see some of the gang!

Adventure 7- Hike through Berkley Hills and Stinson Beach

Got up early on Valentines Day took a hike through the Berkley Hills, than took about a 45 minute drive to Stinson Beach where ate lunch with my roomie Nikki( In picture) and another CAL employee. The pictures of the ocean from above we were on HWY 1 for about a mile( just makes me excited for HWY 1 road trip this summer!)
  

Adventure 6- Super Bowl

Super Bowl Sunday I was watching the game on top of this roof! Go Saints

Adventure 5- LA

 

 

     

I went to LA when I got my first weekend off. A friend from High School lives there now, so it was also nice to see a familiar face! Lauren took me to the LACMA, Pinkberries ( which is just frozen yogurt), Hollywood walk of fame ( the AMy Grant Star is for Billy- one of his favorite artist), The Chinese theater where they us to have all the movie premiers ( that is where I spotted Shirly Temples hand prints and foot prints for Erin!), Pinks Hot dogs where all the hot dogs are named after celebrities( This picture if for Kell... she saw this place on the food channel and said got to try it!) I walked up to the Hollywood sign and walked around Santa Monica which was just a beautiful town with the beach ( also where they shot scenes for Hanah Montana. Lauren works for CBS, so I was able to walk around some of the lots.  We also went bowling where I met the producer of Animal House son...He is an interesting fellow

Adventure 4- Mount Diablo

Also known as " Mount of the Devil." I hiked this when I had a Sunday off. It was incredible. The change of weather was unreal...it started off sunny and as I climbed further up  got it was raining and by the time got to the top it was snowing! This is just 20 minutes away from where I live. Glad I got to do it!

Trying new foods- Cuban

Cuban food was delicious I give it a thumbs up! Went with the roomies to Havana's in Walnut Creek. Below is what we tried....( next time I will take a picture of what we eat and either thumbs up or down)

Adovado Spiced Pork Skewers Mango & Cucumber Salad, Orange-Cumin Vinaigrette
Shrimp & Corn Tamale Roasted Garlic Cream Sauce, Micro Greens, Chili Oil
Pan Seared Day Boat Scallops Citrus-Ginger Sauce

The Idea is to not only try a new cuisine but also to try a new restaurant that no one has tried before.  We are trying to do this at least once a month

Adventure 3- Ice Skating at Hotel Del

So this happened the day after Thanksgiving. It was about 70 degrees and  Ice skating outside right on the beach in Cornado...It was a different ice skating experience being right on the beach and watching the waves crash while skating!