We got a late start on Friday because we had some issues with the shower in our room so we didn’t get to the zoo until ~11 am. The San Diego zoo is pretty ridiculous. It seems to be especially designed for lazy people–there are several buses that go around the zoo, not to mention a ski lift type thing. Of course, we gave right into our lazy side and took the bus around to get an idea of the layout. After that exhausting journey, we decided to grab lunch. Eddie found a great taqueria down the street called Mama Testa’s where I got to sample avocado and mashed potato tacos. Excellent. We spent the rest of the day at the zoo, this time toughing it out and seeing the animals on foot. I think my favorites were the orangutans and siamangs.
We got back to the hotel around 5 pm and managed to squeeze in a short run before it got dark. Then we had an amazing dinner at O’Brien’s Pub. We happily discovered that they were having a special Russian River Brewing Company event so we got to try a ton of great beers. Thankfully, you can order 5 ounces pours, otherwise we would have quickly been on the floor. As far as I can remember, we tried Pliny the Elder, Damnation, Blind Pig IPA, Happy Hops, Russian River Porter, Russian River IPA, and Marin White Knuckle Double IPA. We also discovered that Californians are much friendlier than Bostonians. I know, very surprising. We had two separate people offer to let us try their food. And I have to put in a good word for the Brewer’s Plate, which included a delicious mix of sausage, cheese and fruit.
This morning, Eddie dragged me out of bed around 9 am for a run around Mission Bay. It was gorgeous! What a difference compared with running in the ice and slush of Boston. After our run, we enjoyed sitting on the grass and eating oranges while looking out over the bay. We then had a very interesting lunch at Convoy Noodle House. I generally love Vietnamese noodle soups, but I wasn’t quite prepared for the beef soup I got which seemed to have some very odd beef parts in it–not quite sure what they were, but I could definitely identify arteries, veins and intestine. Guess I’m not adventurous enough.
Luckily, I managed to quickly forget this lunch with our excellent experience at Lost Abbey’s tasting. They normally charge $4 for a flight of four but because it was our first time there, we paid $4 for as many 5 ounce samples as we wanted. I think our bartender was trying to get us to try them all, but that would have been quite a challenge. We limited ourselves to Avant Garde, Red Barn, Lost and Found, Ten Commandments, Serpent’s Stout, Duck Duck Gooze, Moonlit Sessions Lager, Wipeout IPA, and Hop 15. Phew. My favorites were Ten Commandments, Hop 15 and Serpent’s Stout.
From there, we headed downtown to check out the Gas Lamp District and enjoy delicious French food at Cafe Chloe. Interesting how our vacation seems to revolve almost entirely around eating and drinking… Luckily, we’re keeping up with our running to balance things out.
