Bay Park Coffee

It was raining down south (TC told us later that it was coming down pretty hard) but we didn't experience any rain after leaving Nate's to head over to Bay Park, a neighborhood we've only driven by many times while on the 5, but never explored before until today...

We did run into some heavy showers while going through the S-curve on the 5, which tapered off and stopped completely once we moved past it...

The clouds were quite dramatic that day as we turned off the Tecolote Canyon/Sea World Drive exit to get to Morena Blvd...

Breakfast @ Nate's Garden Grill

Our morning date was "cloudy with a big chance of rain".

TC was doing her volunteer thing, rain or shine.

We thought we would revisit Nate's once again since we haven't had breakfast there before...

Seafood Friday #2 - Crisp Fish 'n Chips

TC told us about this new fish and chips shop that replaced the old taco shop on the corner of this strip mall at the corner of Saturn Blvd and Coronado Ave in Nestor (which is NOT Imperial Beach), which is part of an unincorporated part of San Diego (a sliver that shares the same 92154 zip code as Otay Mesa)...

According to yelp, this place opened "2 months ago" but when we spoke to the girl at the counter, she said they'd been open since October...

This photo was taken before we left. When we arrived earlier, there were a few families eating in and other individuals waiting for their orders to be filled...

Pre-dinner dinner @ K-Pasta

It was supposed to rain tonight and boy did these clouds look ominous...

as we drove from the 905 to the 5....

to have dinner at K-Pasta, one of our old faves which we hadn't revisited in a couple of years...

Hot Java coffee kiosk

Recently, I was down south at Kaiser for an appointment.

With some time to kill and the desire to have some coffee, I saw this small cofee kiosk near the Radiology department...

La Marque

After our filling breakfast with awesome views at Tobey's 19th Hole, we headed to the southern part of Hillcrest to a new coffee shop.

This being Hillcrest, we had to park off of a side street since parking pretty much sucks here, even though it is far away from the main action of University and 5th.  This new coffee place is right on 5th with Brooks St being the cross street

La Marque is right on th with Brooks St being the cross street. If you go farther up on 5th, you will see the ridiculously long lines at the overrated Hash House. La Marque is before that...

Anyhow, while walking over to 5th, we were amused by this hairy rodent...

Tobey's 19th Hole and no, this is not about a bodily deformity...

Last weekend was another one of our morning dates. We'd already been to the East Village for several weeks...

I thought it would be cool to check out an older and not so shiny and new place...

located at the Balboa Park Golf Course...

Armenian meatballs and flatbread...

A few Fridays ago, I met up with some friends for a cocktail party...

hosted by one of the gal at the gym...

Return to Sahara and sweets from Pistachios

Earlier today I met up with MFH in her part of town...

We watched a movie. Yes, THAT one. I'm debating within myself whether to post my verbal diahrrhea on it. Or not.  For the time being. Not.  Suffice it to say, we enjoyed the movie especially the unintentionally hilarious moments. Lunch was enjoyed afterwards across the street from the theater...

Moscow Deli

In this strip mall with random businesses was our lunch destination...

No, not Mama Hong's, but the deli of Russian persuasion...

Balboa Village, Newport Beach

I'm in a "posting old posts before I forget" mood. So, this is the second to the last post of our President's weekend trip...from LAST YEAR.    Wut!

(pictured above is the gold dome of the Ali Baba Motel, right off the 55 freeway in Costa Mesa; home of the 1 and 1/2 stars on yelp)

The previous night we enjoyed a Cambodian feast at Siem Reap in Long Beach and would be heading home, but before doing so, passed by the beach side town of Newport Beach...

It still works! The return of our record player...

When I got home yesterday, I was greeted by the sight of this relic...

But oh, what a welcome relic it was...

Nomad Donuts 3x

It was nice having TC with us this morning. After finding a few items (a pair of jeans which she converted to shorts plus early 2000 pop-punk bands cd's for her)...

I noticed that Nomad finally got some signage...

Seafood Friday 2015 week 1 - Fish Fry

Lent has begun and for us that means, Seafood Friday.

This was a local church's fish fry that we wanted to try...

Return to Bean Bar

I didn't quite like (okay, I hated it) my iced coffee from the new Meshuggah Shack so I asked Bert if we could dp a return visit to Bean Bar...

which was just a few steps down the block...

Bert was keen on trying a pourover...

Kettle & Stone

After our hearty breakfast at The Huddle, we headed over to a fairly new coffee shop...

over in the tony West Lewis Shopping district of Mission Hills...

which shares space with a cute gift shop...

Valentine's Breakfast at The Huddle

Bert and I are SO OVER going out to dinner for an overhyped holiday...

Instead, we went out for breakfast in this here neighborhood...

The new Meshuggah Shack, East Village

After our dismal breakfast (well, mine at least) from Bottega Americano, we walked up Park so TC could see the murals on the hArt Lounge building...

On our way there, we saw this bright lime green shipping container serving coffee...

It was the new location of the Meshuggah Shack (the original location is on Goldfinch in Mission Hills)...

Silly Love Songs - Valentines Playlist 2015

Happy Valentine's Day....

Like last year, I put together a playlist, once again  using songs with the word "Love" in the title...

Breakfast at Bottega Americano

We all had the day off (yay for 4-day weekends!) and thought we'd go out as a family for breakfast...

It's nice having TC with us during our morning excursions. We recalled seeing this place during our trolley adventure, Bottega Americano...

and despite our not so great first impression a few weeks ago after we visited Bean Bar...decided to give this place another chance...

The mandatory stop at Cream Pan - LA Roadtrip Day 1

See the window? And it's already February...

Can you tell I'm a bit behind in my posts? Oh well, this was the storefront next to Starbucks off the Red Hill exist in Tustin...

It's our first pre-stop for Bert's coffee (and a much needed bathroom break) before we head over here...

Cream Pan is almost always our first stop whenever we make any trip up north and this trip was no exception...

Panera + St. Tropez Bistro, downtown

Our coffees at WestBean were so good, I was already thinking of when we'd come back!

We all didn't really eat breakfast yet, so we headed over to Panera to get TC's first before ours...

Next to Panera by Horton Plaza is this statue of Pete Wilson...

Denny's Diner + Pistachios 3x

A few weekends ago, I met with a former co-worker and his wife, along with MFH in their neck of the woods...

This was the view of Spring Valley while stopped in a long line at the Jamacha offramp off the 125...

My friend chose the Denny's Diner in Rancho San Diego...

WestBean Coffee Roasters, downtown

TC's volunteer gig for the morning was cancelled because on of the instructors was sick, so she came along with us for our morning date...

We made our way downtown and parked at Horton Plaza (word to the wise, DO NOT park there before 9 am like we did; you will get charged up the @$$; I'll explain later) because I thought it would be more convenient.  It turned out not to be, moneywise, but I digress...

There's a new third wave coffee place downtown, having only opened two weeks ago. It's right in front of the NBC Studios near Horton Plaza and next to the US Grant Hotel...

Like the Bean Bar, one of the owners is a Portland transplant...

Kreuzberg Coffee Company

A few doors down from Rocket Fizz was Kreuzberg Coffee Company...

It serves as a restaurant and coffee/book lounge, as well as the only roastery in downtown SLO...

and is named after a vibrant neighborhood in Berlin.

Rocket Fizz, SLO

Gotta love the font on these signs, reminiscent of the Spanish/Mission heritage in San Luis Obispo...

The brown is kind of blah but I'm sure they chose it because it's the same color as the robes worn by the Spanish friars...

The coffee place we wanted to go to was on Higuera but I spied this kitschy soda shop first...

Crappy sea salt coffee from Tastea Grill + a revisit to Hogetsu & Gunco

Earlier this afternoon, we did a few errands in the Otay Ranch area. I wanted to stop by Tastea Grill for a sea salt coffee, as advertised on one of their window flyers...

The last time I was here and asked for a sea salt coffee, the girl said to "come back later" because the person who made it wasn't there which kind of irked me since I'm of the belief that everyone who works the front should be able to make every drink they offer. Is that so unreasonable? But griping aside, I thought I would try my luck today...

The Bunny Kitty Mural on the hArt Lounge wall, East Village

As hoped and promised earlier, I would seek out the other Bunny Kitty mural I'd been most wanting to see (can you spot it?)...

This time in the East Village right along G and Park and the SD Trolley Line...

We were sufficiently wired from our coffees from the excellent Bean Bar and headed north on Park...

The changing of the Pez...

It's finally February which means...

the random PEZ arranged by TC on our TV shelf switches over to the next themed holiday dispensers...

Lestat's Coffee House, Normal Heights

I'd almost forgotten about this post when we were in Normal Heights a few months ago...

I think the original place we wanted to go to was either too busy or we weren't feeling it, so we decided to make our way to Adams Avenue...

New flavors, Girl Scout Cookies

When I got home from the gym earlier tonight, I was greeted with these...

I spied two new flavors as well...

Thrift store shopping and the murals at the soon to be defunct Thrift Trader on Iowa St.

Fully charged by my cold brew from Heartwork, I took the long way home...

and meandered from Mission Hills to North Park...