Our 22nd Anniversary - Communal Coffee, OB Beans Coffee Roasters & Supannee House of Thai

I decided to just cram our anniversary day in one post so here it is...

Yesterday, with the lovely overcast sky and the benefit of being super early (8 am) at Communal...

TC, while initially reluctant to be a "third wheel" (we assured her that she wasn't), was happy once she knew that we were going here for breakfast and coffee. She really wanted to see the beautiful decor inside.

Well before I get into the full on post, here's a throwback song to 1985 (the year Bert and I got together) featuring the song "Lost in Love" which became "our" song in high school...

Curious me was was wondering why the date was listed as 1984 on the video and here is the answer! Although the song was not released until  February 4, 1985, this Soul train performance was recorded in December 1984 prior to the release of their second album, "New Edition". "Lost in Love" was one of the slow songs the DJ played at our school's Spring dance in March 1985 when we first started going out.    Eons ago!

Funny story, TC was listening to this song in the car before school in the parking lot. One of her best friends came in to keep her company and said, "Why are you listening to that? This is old black man music!". A note, her friend is African American and her parents are OUR age. WTF!!! Old? !? And we're not black either, ha ha. Our generation, at least, those who hailed from Southside listened to New Edition back in the day when the music wasn't considered "old school". Sheeyit!

Our breakfast and drinks at Communal Coffee. We ate inside in the newer room.  As mentioned earlier, we went early (as in before the stroller moms arrived).  By the time we left, there were A LOT of them there along with their noisy kids.

Bert's macchiato proper, my Flower latte flight (rose and lavender), TC's matcha latte. Our foods were the vegetarian quiche for Bert, my breakfast croissandwich and TC's chia pudding with fruit (the healthiest thing on the table).






Everything was good although overpriced because you are paying for the uber twee environment.

The morning was still young and there was a new coffee place in OB that I wanted us to check out. We wanted to beat the tourist rush to OB and luckily, the sun still wasn't out and parking at around 9'ish was still abundant.

Below, a cool mural by Hasler Shark on the north facing alley wall of OB nightclub, Winston's, featuring Jimi Hendrix and Johnny Cash.

View of the OB Pier - the tiny dots are surfers...


Flowers and colorful stools near the Walking on Water Cafe on the pier.



It was great getting some fresh air and seeing all of the early morning fishermen (and women). We even saw one pull up a fish; TC got grossed out because the guy took the fish off the hook, squeezed the air out of it with his bare hands (it was loud too) and then tossed it to the ground where it was flopping in its death throes.

(painted utility box on Bacon Street)

Detail of a lotus on the OB Youth Hostel...

This Helms Brewery on the northeast corner of Newport and Cable Street took over what used to be a hippie clothing store. A few doors away is Belching Beaver. Breweries are everywhere in OB, including Ocean Beach, Mike Hess, Pizza Port, Culture Brewing, and Kilowatt.

Speaking of being replaced, the former Thrift trader used to be in this space between a vape shop and antique store. They've been open for five weeks now and it's one of those mixed use spaces where several businesses are inside one space.  As you walk in, beachy/bohemian store Coastal Natives is to your left. A few steps up is Kailua Ice(three weeks new), a Hawaiian shave ice place. There is a communal sitting area as well.


Prices are not cheap but not too outrageous, although I think that a $5 mocha with a $1 milk substitution isn't worth it.

It was busy when we got there but I managed to snag an unoccupied table. There were waaaaay too many people in here. It also took about twenty minutes to get our drinks, which sucked.

There is a roaster in the back, along with someone's dog and a flat screen playing surfing videos.



TC's Homer donut

Our drinks (specified no paper cups) - Bert's Mocha with a ceramic saucer bowl thing (no handle) and my cortado (served in the typical vessel).  I saw that their online menu and older photos on yelp had it listed as a Gibraltar; it was even listed as a Gibraltar on the receipt.

Since our drink were taking long I had asked when our order was up and made sure to ask them to not use paper cups. I had overheard the guy making the drink that he didn't know how to make it but was going to serve it in paper. I wanted to make sure it wasn't ours.  Another dude ended up making the drink and also assured me that he would be serving the drinks "for here".




Bert's mocha was smoother than mine which tasted a little on the stronger side.

We left OB right when it was starting to get a little sunny and also before it got too overcrowded with tourists.  I like the vibe in OB but when it's not as crowded as it is in the summer.

The rest of the morning was spent relaxing at home, cleaning up and tending to our garden. I'll have to post photos of our garden harvest and tell the story of the now dead gophers in a future post, heh heh.

Bert wanted to revisit Supannee House of Thai for our anniversary dinner so I made online reservations for the earliest time slot, 5 pm. We hadn't been there in awhile and were looking forward to trying their specialty:

Our drinks - cherry hard cider and a Spanish Albarino.

Our appetizers - Papaya salad with shrimp and Thai sausage - the preparation was slightly different this time.  Instead of being whole, the sausage were cut in half.  These looked like about six sausages worth. The salad portion was more than we could finish so we had it boxed early so we could have more room on the table for what was to come.  As for the sausage, we had no problem finishing those off! They were as good as I remembered them to be.


Here it is...once again, the whole fried rockfish.  When we first tried this dish three years ago, the price point was $25. Then it became $30.  I assumed the price was just raised. This time, we were asked what size fish we wanted with corresponding price points.  We chose the $25 (a 2-3 lb fish) since it was just us two.  Again, this did not disappoint. The flavorful chili tamarind sauce was wonderful along with the sauteed mushrooms, onions, peppers, peanuts, fried shallots (adding texture) and the Thai herbs (basil and Kaffir lime leaves).

Underneath all that was a fish, trust me.

We saved the sauce for later! I couldn't stand the thought of throwing away the sauce.

Our server was such a wonderful lady. She noticed my 'note' on my online reservation that we were celebrating our anniversary.  She  sat us near the lotus wall (a table for two) and was gracious enough to take some really nice photos of us. There was one pose, however that I wasn't too keen on, but that won't be posted here, ha ha.  She asked for us to "hold hands" while sitting at the table.  It was a little too lovey dovey for my cold black heart.

A nice little touch was this complimentary dessert she presented to us, coconut ice cream served on top of sticky rice topped with toasted coconut flakes and coconut milk.


Our view of the parking lot as we left.  Note to the wise, when we arrived prior to our RSVP time, we noticed a VW bug in one of the spots with it's right window smashed to bits, with the broken glass still on the asphalt. Yikes!

The bug and glass as gone and the asphalt cleaned up by the time we left, but man, that was something I didn't expect to see.

Another throwback - The song we danced to at our wedding, "For You" by Cameo (from their  1982 album, "Alligator Woman"), chosen by Bert.

Classic slow jam. Period.

A cool trivial note - The woman depicted on the "Alligator Woman" album cover (my brother had the cassette while Bert's older brothers had the LP!) was former Prince protege, Vanity (formerly Denise Katrina Matthews). She led Vanity 6, a female trio from the early 80's (the Prince penned "Nasty Girl" was one of their hits), acted in the movies, "Action Jackson" and "The Last Dragon", before giving up her music and acting career to focus on religion. Sadly, Vanity passed away last year from kidney failure, two months before Prince died.


Last year's post:
2016

It feels like only yesterday that we got married! I am so blessed to be married twenty two years to my best friend (but thirty two years together total), my husband. Bert is definitely my better half, knows me back and forth and is always there for me and TC.  With him, twenty two years doesn't seem like a long time but I can only hope to reach the fifty year mark like my parents.