Day 2 - Montecito, Fort Bragg and beaches :D

 After a very disturbed nights sleep at a hotel without any air supply, we all got up late to start our day !!

We started with brunch and local shopping. We headed for the local pub serving good food and ordered egg with tortilla salsa and beans and fettuccini Alfredo pasta .. 

We shopped at local clothes store and decides not to buy anything because it was very expensive. The local beads store was run by a indo Nepal couple who explained how they perceive five elements of universe to bring together the incense sticks and other aromatic products with therapeutic power. Since I am a sucker for chocolate, I found a chocolate shoppe run by a man who moved from Brussels. Bingo! Belgian chocolate collection that's exactly where you will find me !! I shopped Belgian dark chocolate chunks for making a wonderful cake at home and a chocolate bar with hazel nuts. I usually get a fridge magnet wherever I travel to build my memory wall back home, I got one of that and clicked pics near Mendocino downtown. 

Then we went to big river beach which was beautiful ... 

Then we drove down the scenic path via elk city towards point arena to see the light house . We stopped near vista point saw sea lions swim in the ocean took some pictures and videos and headed to see the light house and museum. 

It was one of the most beautiful coastal view I have seen 

We grabbed a milkshake from local cafe and then drove back to fort Bragg to look at glass beach then leave for willits to drive back to Bay Area on Sunday. 

So the local tale is around 1950's-60's glass beach was used as a dumping site to trash the bottles and garbage. Since then the ocean  had washed up and broken the bottles into several small bits of glass which you can see in the beach .. We picked up a spot to sit and see the glass shine and ocean soar higher. It was very calming 

We grabbed dinner at Denny's and headed back via CA 1 to Willits to get some sleep before heading back to Bay Area. 

Eggs for my dinner and a desert to share 

Goodnight :) have a fab weekend everyone !! 

Much needed weekend out of town - Mendocino day 1

August 7th Friday - En route Montecito day 1 

My weekend started early - today!! After weeks of stress and a non stop regime at the gym, it was long overdue. Fortunately for me there were friends/family who were leaving town and wanted to take their kids to see the beach and we made a plan :) :) :) Montecito and Fort Bragg !!!

Starbucks was essential to start my day -- :) - some say it's never really coffee if you get it with milk or as a frappe, I love all coffee at Starbucks https://instagram.com/p/6FvUj6mZSb/ 

After picking up friends we hit the road. It was unreal to see everyone rushing to work and we were singing and driving (try the app saavn for good playlists). It was satisfying to not think of meetings or about how much time I had left to eat. 

We decided to get fun fruit juices at jamba juice to keep our cool for the summer. 

Citrus kick was really good and refreshing - my fav at jamba juice 

Then we drove past Sacramento and it was almost time for lunch !! We stopped at an Indian restaurant 

Mango lassi and veg coconut curry 

Here comes the windy roads, that is the worst night mare for everyone with a weak gut, literally. For those of you new to California this road is known as CA-1. 

After taking the roller coaster and several sessions of nausea later , we arrived at Mendocino .. The view at the end of the cliff near the Inn was well worth all the pain.. 

And it was indeed an inn with a view 

Roamed around downtown Mendocino - so many lovely boutiques, bookstore, cafe, pub, bead shops .. Everything fitting  for a small lovely village. 

We couldn't get our room with beach view :( :'(, still the lady at the reception was kind enough to upgrade us to a garden suite !!! 

Then we walked to the cliff to snap pics and headed to a nice little inn for dinner. Everyone eats early around here and shops close early too !! my food arrived and it was great!

Pita bread mozarella herbs drizzled with olive oil !!

For main course fettuccini Cajun Alfredo pasta 

But the dessert - lemon tart was divine 

It was time for me indulge !! 

We went for a walk, read few prologues at the book store, watched a movie and decided to sleep and wake up fresh tomorrow ! 

It's nap nap time :):) goodnight !!