One of the many benefits of living in California is the State’s 840 miles of Pacific coastline. So, needless to say, finding fresh seafood, including Sand Dabs and Crab, is a pretty common thing. Whether you go out and catch it yourself or pick it up from the market, freshly caught fish is relatively easy to come by. Our neighbor, who occasionally takes chartered fishing trips out of our local Monterey Bay, often shares some of his catch with us. Fresh-caught Ling Cod, Rock Fish, and Halibut are always thoughtful and appreciated gifts. Recently, he surprised us with a big bag of Sand Dabs and two Crabs. We made a…
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Best Ever Crab Bisque Recipe
Sometimes we get spoiled with the abundance of fish and seafood in California. And there is nothing better than to cook a catch of the day, like Crab, fresh off the boat! Crab Bisque, anyone? Thanks to our neighbor, who enjoys taking fishing trips in the Monterey Bay, just under an hour away from the San Francisco Bay Area, we got two beautiful Dungeness Crabs after his recent expedition. These were especially fun to prepare since we had never cooked Crabs at home. Fun Facts In California, Dungeness Crab season runs from November through early June (although the official commercial fishing periods vary from year to year due to whales…
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Asian Art Museum: Tips for the First-Time Visit
Located across the lush lawn of the Civic Center, the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco is a museum not to be missed! Its thirty galleries display 2,000 objects from the Museum’s permanent art collection of over 18,000 items. Also, the museum hosts a variety of temporary, traveling exhibitions, special events, and classes throughout the year. If you enjoy learning about Asian culture and art — this place is for you! Tag along on our first-time visit to the Asian Art Museum! The First Floor The First floor of the Asian Art Museum is home to special exhibitions, classes, a boutique, and a cafe. We started with the Continuity experience.…
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100 Things We Want to Do in 2022!
Here we are again, stepping out of the old year and optimistically leaping into the next. One way to organize yourself for 2022 is to create your “100 Things We Want to Do This Year” list. We have been doing this traditionally for some time now. Every New Year’s Eve, we take down the list from the past year and check off all the completed items. Then on New Years Day, we create a brand new one. Many times we’ll take items from the previous list and transfer them over to the new one. This isn’t “cheating”, just consider these things you want to continue doing. We have quite a…
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3 Memorable Days in Zion National Park, Utah
Zion National Park, Utah is about a 3-hour drive northeast from Las Vegas, Nevada, near Springdale. Known for its scenic landscapes, majestic sandstone formations, and the spectacular Virgin River, Zion National Park has been on our radar for years. Our friends were fortunate to visit Zion National Park and were excited to tell us about their trip when they returned home. Not having the chance to visit Zion ourselves yet, we thought it’d be a fantastic idea to have our friends share their experiences with all of you as well. Enjoy this guest post by Naina and Vinod! All images in this post are their own unless specified otherwise. Day…
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Bespelled by the Oregon Coast — Road Trip
Every Fall you’ll see caravans of cars driving from the San Francisco Bay Area up north Highway 1 and 101 to chase the gorgeous change of seasons along the Oregon Coast. Oregon Coast is beautiful any time of the year but truly magical in the Fall. So, after booking the hotels, we loaded our car, converting the back seat into a luxurious road accommodation for our dog Monkey, and joined the fun. Chandelier Tree, Leggett, California On the way to Eureka, California (our first overnight stay on the road trip), we swung by the famous Chandelier Tree in Leggett to stretch our legs and let Monkey sniff around. Looking up…
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Fort Ross, CA: From Russia With Love
Surrounded by majestic evergreen forest, Fort Ross, the 19th-century Russian fort, is perched above the Pacific Ocean, a mere hour and a half north of the Golden Gate Bridge. While the San Francisco Bay Area has its fair share of historical sites and unique attractions, Fort Ross in Sonoma County is a destination in itself. Beginning our trip on a Thursday morning, traffic was fairly light and stress-free, versus white-knuckling it most of the way stuck in weekend traffic. And, once out of the City and up the road a ways, we were weaving through the countryside and the farmlands of Petaluma. Hungry and looking for a place to eat,…
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San Pedro Square Market: Taste World Cuisines in San Jose!
Among the many things to see and do in San Jose, you most likely need a place to eat as well. San Pedro Square Market in downtown San Jose is a favorite local hangout with a variety of eateries and watering holes to choose from. So, when you want to eat something and are not sure what exactly it is you want, the Market is a perfect spot. Stir in some cool live entertainment (hello, Vinyl Replay 😊), with a side of California history, and Ta-Da! – you get San Pedro Square Market that will charm the pants off you. Well, at least, make you unbutton them after filling up…
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Hunting for Treasures & Odd Artifacts in the British Museum
Considered to be one of the largest museums in the world, the British Museum is truly magnificent. With free admission, it’s a must-see stop on your first trip to London. People cherish a chance to visit the British Museum and dedicate an entire day or two to admire its vast treasures. Be it the Rosetta Stone, Assyrian Lion Hunt Reliefs, Parthenon Marbles, Egyptian Mummies, Hoa Hoakananai’a (The Easter Island statue below), or more obscure ones, like the artifacts we were after. With over 80 MILLION items in its collection, only one percent is currently on display – that’s 800,000 things to look at, and you don’t want to miss a…
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Foothills Park: Outdoor Adventures in San Francisco Bay Area
Foothills Park has been accessible solely to residents of Palo Alto, a posh town in the San Francisco Bay Area. Actually, you could earn yourself a fine of $1,000 if caught on the property without an accompanying resident of Palo Alto. No kidding! But in December of 2020, after half a century of exclusivity, Foothills Park finally opened its gates to the general public (non-residents of Palo Alto). Recently, our local news has been reporting about the park and its history. Naturally, we had to see what all the hoopla was about. Is Foothills Park worth visiting? And what is so special about this once-private park in the foothills of…
