North Carolina with My Little Bro

Days 8-11

I took a slight departure from my road trip to head to North Carolina for my nephew Zachary's confirmation.  For those of you who have never been to NC, it is one of the most family oriented communities I have ever visited.  My brother and his wife Marisa have a fantastic home in a golf community where kids run around the neighborhood just like we used to do in Barstow (unfortunately, we didn't live in a golf community...in fact Barstow only had one nine-hole golf course!).  My son Eli has the ultimate hero worship for his cousin Zachary.  They literally could pass for brothers, though they are four years apart.  They both love sports, games and card tricks (Eli says Zachary gets the ladies with his card tricks). 

We spent four days doing the kinds of things that are very difficult to do when you live in NYC.  We played golf, baseball and a serious game of wiffle ball -- where the old men (Me and John), schooled Zachary and Eli. 

I love my time with John as we really solve the world's problems.  Or least we think we do.  We philosophize, bullshit, smoke cigars and drink a variety of different types of scotch.  One thing that I have learned over the years, particularly after both of my parents passed, is to truly appreciate the time that I get to spend with brothers and sisters.  I never take them for granted!

As Zachary's sponsor I was asked to walk in procession with him and were then seated in the front row (Zach did one of the readings).  Crazy to see how big he has grown and what a man he is becoming.  Makes me proud and hopeful that Eli will have a lot of the same characteristics -- funny, handsome, smart ass and most importantly extremely bright.

Religious Experience

Day 5:

After leaving Sonoma I took Peter's recommendation and drove up through Mendocino.  The drive was windy with lots of vinyards which were constantly tugging at me to pull over for a quick tasting.  Fortunately, I was able to resist and finally made it to Mendocino.  This is a very quaint town with a street that sits directly across from some of the most gorgeous views I have ever seen. 

After have lunch at the Mendocino cafe, I decided to keep on trekking because I wanted to get closer to the Oregon border.  I went through coastal towns like Eureka, Humbolt Bay and Trinidad Bay, which is where I stopped to have dinner.  The views here were magical. 

Unfortunately, it was pouring down rain all day.  This made for slow going and a bit difficult to determine where I was going to stay because I had yet to really open the camper up in adverse conditions, much less sleep in those same conditions.

The upside to travelling in May is that all the campgrounds are nearly empty. No reservations necessary and you just cruise in, pick out your spot, pay the piper and you're good to go. 

I ultimately landed in an incredible state park called Patrick's Point State Park.  By the time I had put my camper up the rain stopped so I did what everyone does when they camp...I opened up my computer and and watched Survivor on cbs.com!  You see I have to stay current because my kids and I have a competition in which we each put in $5 and we draft competitors.  The person who selected the winner gets the $15 bucks!  So fun!  The kids had already seen the episode back in NY and were dying to tell me who got voted off, which I wouldn't allow...

...but anyways, back to my religous experience.  So I wake up in the morning for my first trail run.  It's damp and foggy, which is perfect for a run.  I head out on to this amazing trail that runs along the side of the cliffs overlooking the ocean.  Hard to really explain the view, accept to say, as I was running I saw grey whales migrating south.  AMAZING!!!  I stopped to watch for a few minutes then came across a place they call wedding rock.  It's a landing spot on the top of a rock that overshoots the hillside into the water with a small area on top where people get married.  Great view and fantastic way to start the day.

The Calm and Serenity of Psycho

Day 4:

Hard to beleive that Peter Hansen, one of my closest friends and pledge brother who was known as "Psycho" in college because of the craziness he displayed on a daily basis is now a calm, serene, high school film teacher in Sonoma.  He lives in this cabin-like home, deep into the hills near a state park, with his cat Mush.  Gone are the wild nights and out-of-control days -- I guess that's what happens when you drink wine and go to fund-raising parties at amazing wineries. 

 

I may have mentioned that I am doing some work while I'm on the road, and Peter helped me edit a video for a brand we are pitching.  It was crazy to see the same guy who lived his life pretty well on the edge, managing state-of-the-art video equipment and editing software so masterfully.  We actually are putting the finished video into the intro of a presentation that I will be unable to attend because of my road trip.

Keep your fingers crossed that we win it, cuz I need to pay for this trip!!

Rate-a-Dive 3: A True Biker Bar

Gestalt Haus Fairfax -- Fairfax, California

Yes the mountain biking tour was truly exhilerating, however, what really made it all worthwhile was the biker bar we stopped in afterwards.  Though I have never riden a Harley, this type of biker bar makes me want to ride bikes more regularly.  You roll your bike in, hang it on the wall and don't have to worry about somebody making off with it.  What's better than having a beer with your bike?

Vibe -- 7

The bar was extremely rustic with bench tables, chubby bartender that had had her share of brews and lots of smelly mountain bikers talking about their challenging rides on the mountain tops.  Definitely a good spot to hang with a long-time buddy.

 

Grub -- 8

The bar has very limited food options with sausages and sandwiches making out most of the menu, but Doug recommened the brats.  I had the chicken chorizo brat with lots of mustard, ketchup, relish and of course jalepenos.  It was fantastic -- though I was feeling it for the better part of the day.

Spirits -- 8

They had an excellent selection of craft beers on tap that apparently were hand-selected by Mr. Vice the "Beer Whisper!"  WTF?  Anyways we had a local beer called Trumer Pils, which I've actually had before.  It was very smooth and went very well with the brat I was devouring. 

Marin County -- The Birthplace of Mountain Biking

Day 3:

So I roll into Marin County to see my fraternity little bro Doug McIntosh with the idea that we would meet up for a short mountain bike ride then stop for a bite to eat.  Boy was I in for a surprise.  After a 45 minute street ride up hill (I suppose the thinking is that you need to go uphill in order to ultimately go downhill), we finally hit the trails of Marin.  This is an especially revered place to mountain bikers because it is where mountain biking actually was founded and it is evident everywhere including a monument to the repack trail which was the first "official" mountain biking trail.

The views at the top of the mountains were breathtaking.  You could see all the way to San Francisco bay. 

I think Doug forgot that I don't mountain everyday and I think I forgot that I'm not 25 because the downhill ride was crazy on the edge riding.  He kept assuring me that it was going to get tamer, that we were near the end and that this was not nearly as difficult as the nighttime riding that he and his friends do (freaking nuts), so sit back and enjoy!

The ride was exhilerating!!  It was aggressive, a great work out and one of the coolest things I had done in a long time.  I had only one small crash which was a bit difficult to get up from because I was face first, facing down hill with my body contorted to look like a pretzel all the while straddling my bike.  Doug says "if you don't have a little road rash, then you're not really riding hard."  Whatever!!

Rate-a-Dive 2

Splash Cafe -- Pismo Beach

On my way up the coast my brother Ruben recommended that I stop in at the Splash Cafe because according to him, they have the best clam chowder in the country.  Since my whole trip is about finding the cool, off the beaten path-type of restaurants I figured this would be worthy of a stop-by.

Vibe -- 3

When you walk in this place it's hard to believe it has the best clam chowder in town, much less the best in the country.  Feels like you're walking into a fast-food restaurant from the '70s.  Walk up ordering with a long line, tile floors, cheap tables and fold-up chairs, not to mention the extremely tacky decor.  However, the service was fantastic and the food deliverers have a good time yelling out names like Spicoli (Fast Times)? Stiffmeister (American Pie)? based upon what a person looks like.  The place has been around since the mid-50s in the very same location which is pretty cool but it really is lacking in charm.

Grub -- 10

The long line of people waiting to order should have tipped me off about the quality of the food.  Unfortunately, I'm slow like that and didn't pick up on it. However, once I sat down to chow on my fried oysters and curly fries, I thought I had died and gone to heaven.  The dish was amazing!!  Not too much batter and the cocktail dipping sauce had a nice slap in the face spiciness to it that kept you wanting more.  Oh and by the way the clam chowder was absolutely incredible.  What the place lacked in atmosphere, it more than made up for in quality food.

Spirits -- 5

Fortunately Splash did have beer, which was a nice surprise, however, it only had bottled domestics.  This place was screaming out for an ice cold premium draft or microbrew!!

Four As -- Anthony, Annette, Ava, Alexa

Day 2:

Today I drove up Highway 1 to enjoy the long beautiful drive to SF.  I meandered my way up the coast to Pismo Beach, which is a favorite destination of both my brothers Gary and Ruben.  When I got into town stopped for lunch at Splash cafe.  Though I am trying not to be driven by my watch I had promised my long-time friends Anthony and Annette Eros that I would make it to their house by 6 pm for a barbecue.  Thus, I opted out of the scenic route and high tailed it up the 101 passing through agriculture towns like Gonzalez, Salinas and of course the garlic capital of the world -- Gilroy!!  Nice smell!

Arrived at A&As and began consuming a couple of cold ones (you are going to be reading this a lot).  I've known Annette since college as she was my fraternity little sister.  I met Anthony through her but have actually collaborated with Anthony in the past, as he's a pretty successful Hispanic marketer.

After an awesome tri-tip dinner with their girls Ava and Alexa, we took a walk to downtown San Carlos to a local hotspot for a couple of nightcaps.  Awesome day with great friends.