We decided that today was the day to go to Petaluma...where we stayed on our honeymoon 7 years ago. We headed to San Francisco, across the Golden Gate Bridge then on north to Petaluma. It was a cloudy, misty day...good for driving.
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| Crossing the GGB, sailboat and Alcatraz through the bars |
We parked along the main drag and started walking, looking for a place to have lunch. It was very nostalgic...that was how we selected most meals when we were there before. This time, we ended up at a Turkish restaurant that wasn't there before...mostly because neither of us had ever had Turkish food before.
We ordered a combo appetizer platter and then a sampler plate for the main course. We split both and it was PLENTY of food for us. It was also awesome.
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| Appetizer combo plate |
The place was a little hole-in-the-wall, like we like, cozy, clean and nice inside, with a grape arbored patio outside. There appeared to be 3 employees...or maybe the owner and 2 employees (1 cook, 1 waitress). There was a sign out front advertising for help, so maybe it's new and growing. It must be authentic, too. I overheard a guy in the large group at the next table saying he was from Turkey and he spoke Turkish with the owner.
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| Patio at the Turkish restaurant |
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| From the cover of the menus at the restaurant |
After lunch, we got our jackets from the car and commenced a ramble around town. We walked past the cottage where we stayed on our honeymoon, then down toward the river and the old industrial area that has been converted to shops and restaurants. It looked like a prosperous area.
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| Hotel with field of lavender in front |
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| The cottage where we spent our honeymoon |
It had been misty and drippy all day but then it started to look like it was going to rain in earnest. We saw a sandwich board on a street corner advertising $1 coffee at Petaluma Coffee & Tea Co just up the street so we headed that way. Our timing was perfect because just as we sat with our hot beverages, it started pouring outside.
We sat there for a while...Al reading the NYTimes, I journaled and bought some tea. We mostly just relaxed and hung out until the rain let up. Then we walked back to the car, took a nostalgic drive down main street then headed back home.
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| Petaluma Coffee & Tea Co, waiting out the rain |
We pulled off at Sausalito and parked on the Marin Headland side of the Golden Gate. We walked across the bridge (1.7 miles) and back again. It was overcast and breezy and made for a comfortable walk.
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| Sausalito |
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Stairway to under-the-bridge access to the other side, with bike ramp on the right
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| Us at the GGB! |
On the far side of the bridge we saw signs about the toll for the bridge...for which there are no toll booths. You have to pay electronically...either with a monthly pass thing or by credit card online. And of course there are penalties if they have to track you down. You only pay toll ($7.25) when entering the city...so we didn't owe toll for our drive across the bridge earlier today but would on the way home. We took down the number and decided we'd take care of that before we drove across.
We took care of that, crossed the bridge and headed back to Cupertino. We got caught in a traffic jam but otherwise made it back without incident. The evening was supper, a little wine and watching hummingbirds in the garden out back.
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| My hair on humidity. It's been 20+ years since I had long hair and I never knew it was wavy! |
