California: Day Three, Day Four and Day Five - Chico

Knowing how jam-packed the rest of our California trip was going to be, Brian and I decided to take it easy during the Chico portion of our trip. We slept in on Thursday and Friday, and spent the mornings relaxing and playing around on our tablets. On Thursday, his mom came home for lunch so we ate lunch together, and in the afternoon Brian and I went back to visit his Grandma. We also found the local Starbucks and spent some time sitting outside and enjoying the nice weather. That evening we had dinner with his mom, and went over to her aunt’s house so I could meet Brian’s great-aunt. It was great meeting and being able to put a face to the name! She also gave us a tour of the town.

Friday we met his mom for lunch, and went back to her work. We got to meet some of her co-workers, and see her in her professional environment, which was really interesting and fun! After we left, Brian and I wandered around the downtown area, and visited the National Yo-Yo Museum.

  

I love silly, different museums, which is strange because I am not such a traditional museum person. I have never been to the Royal Ontario Museum, or actually any of the Toronto museums. My first actual museum was the Smithsonian when I went to visit Brian for the first time, and even then my favorite of those is the American History museum, which is usually judged as being the “lesser museum” because its very pop-culture oriented. Seriously though, that museum is awesome and I loved it!

When it comes to silly and strange museums I have been to ones about Jell-o (Leroy, NY), I Love Lucy (Jamestown, NY) and Parade Floats (Virginia) so a Yo-Yo one was exactly something I had to see. The museum is a small section in the back of a store called “Bird in Hand” and also includes a Toy Museum. It took all of about 10 minutes to look through, and was free. But it was a silly and fun experience!

  

We wandered in and out of the local shops which were really cute and unique. We spent far too much time in another used bookstore – and Brian bough armfuls of books. At this point I banned him from buying another book on this trip, as I figured getting a suitcase of books home would be problematic.

To my delight we passed a Girl Scout cookie booth. I had bought some of the coconut cookies in Buffalo a few years ago and loved them, but the Girl Guides (Canadian version) only sell two flavors and nothing similar to the coconut ones. We bought 4 boxes, so I was thrilled. However, when I eagerly tore open one of the boxes to try a cookie, I realized either they have changed them in some way, or they aren’t really as good as I remembered. Fortunately, Brian likes them so they won’t go to waste.

My new life motto!

I guess it's good I didn't want to go here - My Canadian ID wouldn't have been good enough for them. Discrimination!

I had read some great reviews on a local coffee shop – The Naked Lounge – so we stopped off there. They had delicious hot chocolate, and had a really cool atmosphere and décor. It gave off a vibe of being a typical university/college town hangout. On our way back to the house we visited with his Grandma again which was nice. For dinner that night Brian’s mom made us fondue knowing how much I love it. It was awesome! We did cheese and chocolate so it was indulgent but totally worth it. Fondue needs to make a comeback! J

On Saturday morning the three of us went to the Chico famers market after breakfast which was a lot of fun. There were a lot of great stands selling produce, meats, dairy, breads and baked goods. I think that would be an awesome way to shop each week – everything is so fresh and you actually know where its coming from. We have famers markets here, but only in the spring/summer. I definitely plan to check more of them out when they start up again.

Our next stop was for a tour of Bidwell Mansion. 

According to the official site, “Bidwell Mansion State Historic Park is a beautiful, three-story, 26 room Victorian House Museum that stands as a memorial to John and Annie Bidwell. John Bidwell was known throughout California and across the nation as an important pioneer, farmer, soldier, statesman, politician and philanthropist. Annie Ellicott Kennedy Bidwell, the daughter of a socially prominent, high ranking Washington official, was deeply religious, and committed to a number of moral and social causes. Annie was very active in the suffrage and prohibition movements. 

The Bidwells were married April 16, 1868 in Washington, D.C. with then President Andrew Johnson and future President Ulysses S. Grant among the guests. Upon arrival in Chico, the Bidwells used the Mansion extensively for entertainment of friends. Some of the guests that visited Bidwell Mansion were President Rutherford B. Hayes, General William T. Sherman, Susan B. Anthony, Frances Willard, Governor Stanford, John Muir, and Asa Gray. 

When constructed, Bidwell Mansion featured the most modern plumbing, gas lighting and water systems. The overall style of the three-story brick structure is that of an Italian Villa, an informal, warmly romantic style. The building's exterior is finished with a pink tinted plaster.”   http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=460

It reminded me a lot of Parkwood Estate in Whitby, and it was an interesting and informative tour. I love going through old homes/places like that,  learning the history and seeing the different décor. Our tour guide was great, and made the tour enjoyable.

Brian and his mom

The bells like Downton Abby!

Before heading back to the house we made a stop at “Orient and Flume” a local glass blowing company. Wow! They make incredible products with great quality and variety. I could have spent hours in there looking at the different vases, bowls, and decorative pieces. I fell in love with these adorable snowmen and would have taken them home if it wasn’t for the high price tag! But the price matches the products because they are truly amazing. I can see why people collect these items.

I did buy a small ornament for Nanny. She found a similar store in Niagara Falls and buys people special presents for Birthdays and such from it. She got me this gorgeous ornament one year, but of course would never spend the money to buy herself something. So I opted to treat her to something from Orient and Flume. It was a glass heart done in these stunning hues of blue, purple and green. It looks great in her living room.

That night we went to a local charity fundraiser of an organization that Brian’s mom had been involved with. It was Casablanca themed and from an event planner perspective, they did an incredible job with the theme and décor. The tables, the room, the programs – everything was just spectacular. 

The fundraiser was for this amazing organization that helps advocate for foster children. I had the chance to talk to a few volunteers of the organization and their passion for the program was evident in the way they spoke of their experiences. It’s always nice to support an organization that makes such a positive contribution to the community.

They had a silent auction, live auction, and well as a cake auction – something I hadn’t heard of. That was interesting, especially since it was so profitable – some of the cakes went for $300+. I never would have envisioned something like that working, but apparently it’s a popular thing, and cakes at other events have gone for over $1000.00!

The event started later then anticipated, so we left just before the live auction as Brian and I were getting an early start on Sunday morning. It was nice to spend time in Chico with Brian’s mom. It is such a cute town, and having some downtime before a busy week was needed. 

California: Day Two - Berkley, Albany and Chico

On Wednesday morning we allowed ourselves to sleep in a little bit, but still not having completely adapted to the time change we were awake pretty early for vacation standards – by 8:00am. It didn’t take long to pack up so by 9:00am were loading up the car ready to head north. We stopped at a Walgreens to get a few car snacks and drinks, and then drove to Lombard Street. This is a famous street that is super steep - so much so you can only drive down it. It is also the street where Robin Williams has a house. 

The bottom of Lombard 

View from the top of Lombard

Afterward we headed for the Oakland-Bay Bridge. We were heading to Chico (which is in northern California) to spend a few days with Brian’s mother. As it is only around 3-3.5 hours from San Francisco to Chico, Brian planned the day so I could see some of the Bay area.

After crossing the bridge we first stopped in Emeryville, where the first thing we did was find a Peet’s coffee. Brian is a total coffee addict – which is hilarious since coffee is something I hardly ever drink. I am much more a tea/hot chocolate person, and the few times I do have something caffeinated it’s a fancy Starbucks drink that I modify so it hardly tastes like coffee! Peets is a mainly west coast chain, and is one of Brains favorite coffee places. For Christmas’s it’s the coffee he requests his brother to send as a gift. I tried a few different things there, but I am much more of a Starbucks person (they are much more non-coffee drinker friendly).

Starbucks vs Peets!

Brian’s stepfather used to live in Emeryville, so it was an area he used to know – but in the 16 years that have passed since Brian lived in the area a lot had changed. The town has been built up a lot, and has a street of fancy high end stores, and restaurants. The really cool market he remembered had also changed a bit, and what used to be like the St. Lawrence market in Toronto had become more like the food court of the Pickering Flea Market. We didn’t stay long – he showed me where his mom used to work, and his stepfather’s old house. Then we drove into Albany, where Brian had lived. Brian grew up in Maryland, but after his parents divorce moved to California with his mom and siblings. Brian was 16 at the time, and by 18 was back on the east coast for University.

Albany is a small town beside Berkeley that reminded me a lot of Port Hope. It’s a cute town with a main street lined with shops and restaurants. We drove by the high school he had attended – which had been torn down and rebuilt after he graduated. He showed me where he used to live, as well as the insane route he would run as part of his cross country training. The route was full of these insane, steep hills that looked exhausting to walk, let alone run. He showed me places he had hung out with friends, and we stopped at one of them – a burrito place – for lunch. It wasn’t as amazing as he remembered, but it was good.

 

Albany is not very smoker-friendly 

After seeing Albany, we drove into Berkeley and around the university campus and grounds. We parked in the downtown area and spent some time wandering around. We found this wonderful little bookstore tucked away – called Friends of Berkeley Library. Their books were great quality with low prices. I don’t tend to be a used bookstore person, but this place was somewhere I would shop often if I lived in the area. I bought one of the Post Secret books, and Brian bought about 10 Sci-Fi/Fantasy books. All of it came to $15.00! What a bargain.

 

Brian's favorite house - very cool!

We went into a few local shops before making our way onto the campus. What a difference from where I went to school. UTSC was a great school, but it is very much a commuter campus, and to be completely honest, it is ugly. Berkeley however, is the type of university you see on TV/Movies. The large open quad area, booths set up for different causes and organizations, boards covered with different posters advertising accommodations, books, jobs, etc.  The buildings are older but in great condition, and only a few blocks away the fraternity’s line the streets. Maybe the main UofT campus in downtown Toronto, would be similar to this – but my university experience was nothing like this campus! (I’d never trade my experience though – I loved my time at UTSC, even those days when rain would seep through the humanities building and I’d have to step around buckets collecting water!)

As we were leaving the campus we stopped for a few minutes to listen to some of the school’s concert band playing music from the Disney movie Frozen – they were fantastic! And I walked away with “Let’s build a snowman” stuck in my head for days.

The drive up to Chico was uneventful. We stopped a few times for coffee breaks and to get some photos. We drove through Davis, and I was tempted to visit the store where Megan works. Megan is someone I know from the same online community I met Brian through, and was there when he and I first met in person all those years ago. I don’t really talk to many people from there anymore – life takes people in different directions, and friendships change. If I had known our route was going through Davis I would have gotten in touch, but we had initially planned to go up through Napa and do the Bay Area the following week. I also didn’t know if she was working, and would have felt awkward just showing up at her work like a creepy stalker person.

On our way into Chico I made Brian stop at a Lavender Ranch. Lavender is one of my favorite scents, and it was cool to see it being grown. The attached store had an incredible array of homemade products using locally grown lavender – soaps, creams, oils, even lavender to cook with. I bought some cream and body wash, and would have bought a lot more if I hadn’t foreseen problems getting it all home without incident.

We arrived at Brian’s mom’s house just after she got home from work. We visited for a bit, and then went over to the adult-facility that his step-grandmother lives at. We didn’t stay too long, and promised to return the following day. We returned to Brian’s mom’s house and had a nice dinner catching up. The time change started to catch up with us at this point, so it was another early evening.

California: Day One - Toronto to San Francisco

Our trip to California started off with another early flight – this time leaving Toronto at 6:40am. As they did for my Mexico trip, my parents were awesome and drove us to the airport. While I may not like super-early mornings, I do prefer them when travelling because it gives you an earlier start to your vacation. The airport was busy, especially the American Airlines counter. They have multiple hubs throughout the US and had a number of planes departing that morning. The longest wait was the check-in counter, after that security and customs moved quickly. We stopped for something quick to eat at the terminal and were on the plane by 6:00am.

Our flight was booked using miles, and AA doesn’t fly directly to San Francisco, so we had an hour stop in Dallas. Fortunately, we had flown in to Dallas back in November when we went to Brian’s grandmother’s funeral so we had an idea of the terminal layout. This knowledge allowed us to make the connection with time to spare – that airport is huge! We also had a chance to grab sandwiches and coffees for the plane, which we were happy about as the flight was 5 hours. We were on a pretty cool plane – one that had in-seat entertainment and wifi which is always a plus. I find that being able to watch movies, or surf the internet helps the flight time pass quicker. I did have the middle seat for this flight, which is never fun but it was only fair. We had planned for me to have the middle seats on the flights to San Francisco (and Brian the window) and then have Brian take the middle seats on the way home with me on the aisle. It was our way of compromising and ensuring each of us got the type of seating we preferred. But the woman beside me was nice, and spent the entire flight on her laptop working, so I didn’t have to worry about waking someone up to get out of the seat or while reaching over to take something from the flight attendant.

It was only 1:00pm when we arrived in San Francisco – time change that works in your favor is always awesome when traveling. Getting our luggage and rental car was an easy process, though we did need to upgrade the car that had been rented for us. Again it was on points, and was booked as a compact. The woman took one look at our 4 pieces of luggage and told us it wouldn’t work. I really need to work on my packing skills! But it wasn’t a big deal, as the upgrade charge was reasonable. They ended up being out of mid-size vehicles anyway, so we got an additional (this time free) upgrade to a full size. It was a Chevy Impala and a nice car. It wasn’t Elmo (my beloved red Mazda 3) but it worked great for our travel needs.

Navigating out of the airport and into the city center was a bit of a challenge, but Google Maps didn’t let me down. I seriously have no use for my Tom Tom GPS these days, as Google Maps and Waze are amazing navigation tools – especially when you want to be aware of any problems ahead or alternative routes. I don’t think I have forgiven my Tom Tom for the time it directed us to a fuel plant when we were in dire need of gas. Not only did the plant not have a gas station near, it was a super sketchy area in Virginia and late at night. With the street view feature on Google Maps, that type of mistake will never be repeated.

Our hotel for the first night was the Holiday Inn on Fisherman’s Warf and it was great. A bit out of the way from the main sights, but close to a cable car stop and BART (San Francisco’s transportation system). It was also only a few blocks from Ghirardelli Square which was a fantastic feature. The rooms were clean, the people nice, and the parking reasonable – definitely a hotel I would return to.

Once we arrived we took a two hour nap, needing it after very little sleep and a busy day. I made sure were awake and ready by 5:00 so we would have some time to sightsee. After talking to the concierge (Yup, a Holiday Inn with a concierge!) we got directions to a recommended restaurant in Ghirardelli Square. This worked out well as it was an area we wanted to see.

Ghirardelli Square is such a cool area. The Ghirardelli chocolate shop is the main attraction, but inside the square there is a bunch of cute shops with things like – wine, cupcakes, oils, paper products, pet products, and gifts. There is also a Fairmont hotel that looks gorgeous. We spent a bit walking around the square, and then down to the water near it. The sun was setting, so it was a great time to take some photos.

The restaurant we had been referred to was “McCormick and Kuleto’s” which specialized in seafood. When we heard the name we had asked if they were associated with the McCormick and Schmick chain and were told no – both by the restaurant and the concierge. It wasn’t that we cared – both of us like McCormick and Schmick, but they tend to be pricier then what we wanted to spend. The menu looked great with reasonable prices, and the hotel had given us a coupon so we went with it. The food was incredible! Awesome clam chowder, delicious Mahi Mahi and the best crab/avocado appetizer I have ever tried. I would fully recommend that restaurant to anyone in the area. On the way out I noticed the computer screens all had McCormick and Schmick on them – so obviously they are aligned with them in some way. Not quite sure why they felt the need to hide that fact.

After dinner we went to Ghirardelli for desert. We were both to full to eat anything, so we bought some chocolate to-go (yummy Peppermint Bark) and got a hot drink. Brian of course got a Mocha, whereas I went with hot chocolate and wow! The best hot chocolate I have ever tasted… their chocolate product makes a huge difference.

We walked around a bit more, but soon went back to the hotel. It had been a long day, and by this point it was 11pm Toronto time. While it was only 9:00 in San Francisco, we were ready for bed.