Beach Bums and Bleached Blondes- So-Cal-09 The Real Deal finale 4/25 updated on 5/6

Wow, what a tour....as it always is when you post one of your tours, wanderingjew.  I am not exaggerating when I say that you are one of my heroes; a real chow-hound's chow-hound.  You make me aspire to keep a much more detailed photo journal of the roadfood I seek out on my next vacation, and to double up on lunches and dinners so I can take in more roadfood (the wife's protests be damned!).

I love this report. An epic journey with every chapter new and informative. I am very eager to read about the rest of your journey.

Sorry WJ, I didn't set up any spies from Pittsburgh to follow you.  You will have to get in and out of trouble without my help.  So, did they try to put fries on your yogurt?

Excellent report and some of the best photos I have ever seen you post.  Looking forward to your return to San Diego pics.

Fantastic trip report!  Thank you!

johnnyMolson

Thanks so much for the compliment...
Keep in mind that I "wasted" some food due to doubling up on lunch and dinners, if I were shelling out big $ for lunch or dinner I certainly wouldn't have done it, however roadffood wise, this was a very "budget" oriented trip. The only meals where I had to spend over $20 were Daichan and Parks BBQ, with Parks BBQ being the most expensive meal of the trip.

Buffetbuster,

every time I decline dessert or can't finish what I ordered, your face always pops into my mind  and it always has an "expression of disapproval"

Part 7
Thursday April 23

I woke up early today to assure that I can make 2 more stops in the LA area and arrive in San Diego early enough in the day to do some sightseeing...

I drove a few miles north for my first stop



Sloopys in Manhattan Beach
When I arrived shortly after 8am, it appeared to be closed...I saw a guy inside washing the floors and knocked on the window....the guy told me that they don't open until 9AM. Who would have thought, a breakfast joint not opening until 9AM?! Buffetbuster is usually on his 3rd breakfast by then! Ok, no big deal, the beach is just a block away. I walked around the beach, unfortunately it was a gray gloomy morning, probably the grayest morning of my trip....Shortly before 9am I returned and it appeared that people were walking into the Restaurant...

I love the feel of the this place....It has a real "beach cafe" atmosphere





and what I found interesting is part of the restaurant is "uncovered" there is no roof..

Besides shakes and smoothies..



They offer an omelet bar



as well as salads



burgers



and other items as well...

I of course decided to order the smoothie...You're given a choice of 4 different fruits-
I chose- banana, strawberry, raspberry and blueberry which they mix together with apple juice

The result being a straight fruit concoction



refreshing but a slight notch below the smoothie I had at G's Juices or The Orange Inn....it was a good smoothie but it was missing the "tartness" that those 2 other smoothies had....
I did like the fact that they featured coffee from Urth Coffee House, so I had an excellent cuppa joe too!

Overall I would love the opportunity to come back and try some of the other menu items one day...Sloopys has the potential to be a very "Roadfood worthy" joint.

I was now heading back south and my final stop prior to leaving the LA metro area was actually a return visit to
The Orange Inn in Laguna Beach....Besides smoothies, the Orange Inn is also famous for their Date Shakes...
I ordered one



and I thought it was even better than the one I had at Shields Date Farm in Indio, the main reason being
is that it wasn't nearly as sweet as the date shake at Shields 3 years earlier which I thought was shockingly sweet. 
There are little bits of date in the shake too which gave it a nice texture....

Afterwards, I spent about an hour or so walking around Laguna Beach...Unfortunately it was still gloomy and somewhat foggy too..

First I walked around the beach





 

and then around the artsy community.
















Afterwards I drove down towards San Diego for lunch stop #1



Juanitas Taco Shop in Encinitas about 20 miles North of San Diego

I looked at the menu board



but already knew what I was getting



Two Fish Tacos....

This was your standard textbook no thrills "baja style" fish taco....I spritzed some of the lime on the tacos and they did the job- they were decent "adequate" fish tacos...I did like the salsa.....

Now for lunch stop # 2 a few miles south...



Fidel's Little Mexico Restaurant in Solana Beach...

A sit down Mexican Restaurant..




with both indoor and outdoor seating...
I chose to sit outdoors...

The Mahi Fish Tacos come a'la carte and they're not cheap- they go for around $4.50 each...You also have the option to order them fried or grilled. I ordered one of each...

Chips and Salsa come first...the chips were warm and fresh but I found the salsa to be bland and lacking character...

My meal arrived.....



Not only were these fish tacos HUGE, but they were by far the best Fish Tacos I had during the entire trip....
The corn tortillas are doubled up and the tortillas served with the fried mahi were actually grilled
House made salsa is  served separately on the side so you can add it yourself to the taco...If only they served THIS salsa with the tortilla chips I had earlier! Even the mayo based sauce had a spicy zing....
Unfortunately due to glare and shadows my photos turned out horribly bad (obviously the sun came out after I left Laguna Beach) however these fish tacos were just so outstanding I returned for another visit the following afternoon so these photos were actually taken the next day on Friday)

After eating 4 Fish Tacos for lunch, I was stuffed....

I drove into San Diego and deliberately decided to play tourist...




Located on the pier in downtown San Diego I parked my car and checked out the museum which consists of 5 historic ships.  ship replica  and a submarine....for $3 extra, they also offer a 45 minute boat ride. Who can pass that up?
The five ships were the Star of India , the HMS Surprise, The Medea, The Pilot and the Berkely (which serves as the actual museum) as well as a replica, The Californian

Here are a bunch of photos....






















This was taken inside the sub- and YES- I did fit through this!








And here are some photos during the boat ride..



skyline view of downtown San Diego..





nuclear warhead carriers..





The Coronado Bridge



Petco Park- home of the San Diego Padres







It turned out to be a perfect day....in beautiful downtown San Diego..

I checked into my hotel- the Rodeway Inn, downtown and touched base with my friend Cliff..

We agreed to meet for dinner  in La Jolla

Some of you may have noticed that I haven't had the chance to enjoy the Southern California Specialty, Cobb Salad
Well, here I thought was my opportunity, our plan was to have dinner at The Cottage....
I got there and noticed the "we will be opening for dinner beginning May 24th" sign. and said to myself "uh-oh" it happenned....I officially got "Travelin Manned" for the first (and last time) on this trip...Oh, yes, it did happen at the Getty Center too, but this was the first meal stop.....Cliff arrived within seconds, we were still across the street from the Cottage and I told him that it looks like they haven't opened for dinner for the season yet, even Cliff was surprised, he replied " I thought you know these things"....We opted for plan # 2- let's find a decent place to eat..
Cliff followed his nose and the smell of garlic which led us to an expensive high end restaurant a few doors down...However next door , this caught our attention...



Extreme Pizza

Pizza? In California??!! You ask- what's happening to Wanderingjew?? Extreme Pizza, serves up  the regional specialty California Pizza my friends....which is basically Pizza with Creative Toppings...Is there a theme here???
everything creative seems to be Californian! Creative salads, creative burgers, creative sushi...etc....



As evidenced by the menu board- they offer some really creative fare...

Even the decor was very "Californian"



We decided to go with the Ragin' Rooster Pizza ie BBQ Chicken Pizza- we ordered a large



This was actually a good decent Pizza with a relatively thin crisp crust. Keep in mind it's not NY Style...but I'll admit, I was somewhat leary when I walked in and didn't know what to expect, however I was pleasantly surprised..
We asked the guy behind the counter if he knew of any good (traditional)  fro- yo joints nearby...He recommended a place a few blocks down....



Froglanders...

I ordered a chocolate fro -yo


 with reeses peanut butter cup topping..



This was a creamy-rich dark chocolate, I never would have guessed that fro-yo could taste so good...

After dessert, I headed back to my hotel, decided to forgo the $14 parking fee that evening , found parking right on the street about a block away and called it a night...

more tommorow..

Fantastic report WJ. Southern California is out of my reach this year but Northern California is on my agenda now. Parks BBQ and California Roll Factory will go on my list if I ever get out there. Only you could strike up a conversation about lutefisk in Southern California.

Oh I'm jealous about the mahi tacos--they look great.  And I jumped back a little at the creepy doll in the ship.

cute names for those California pizzas, "yard sale", "green with envy", etc ....
the pizza DID look good...

Okay, we'll allow you to get "California" pizza in southern Cal, WJ... !   ...   you get enough good NYC pizza back east, huh?!?

great reports!!!  I'll be sad when you finish your #9 final part...
hate to have it come to an end!!

wanderingjew


Buffetbuster,

every time I decline dessert or can't finish what I ordered, your face always pops into my mind  and it always has an "expression of disapproval"

That is funny!  I know I can see your look of disapproval everytime I order something regionally inappropriate, like when I had Japanese in Cleveland on Saturday.

Excellent, WJ!

What a beautiful day it turned out to be.  Our June Gloom arrived early this year but seems to have lifted just for you.

Great pictures and I absolutely love the way you eat!

Okay now... who posed the doll?

Dale:  Loved every photo and description and just wish you could show us around the east coast as thoroughly.  Some day.

Glenn:  We will be in Vegas Friday night 5/8/09 very late at Frankie's 1712 W. Charleston.  I don't have your email address or phone number.

C'mon down to Cincy for Cincinnati style pizza

Thin crust
cincy chili
onions
beans
mild cheddar

I want to go to Sloopys now. Thanks for the great pictures Dale. I was a little creeped out by the doll at the Maritime Museum though.

Davydd

Fate literally set up the joke for me to provide the punchline...Who would have thought that on the first day of my trip, the first thing group of people I converse with are tourists from Sweden!

Nancy and Marlene

There was no doll there when I took the photo!

Buffetbuster

I'll remember that as I eat my Chowder and Pierogies

Redpatti

It's just a little plane ride cross country- just say when

Morganen

I think you'd really like Sloopys'. Perhaps you can check out the rest of their menu and do a restaurant review if it's "roadfood worthy"
Here is their website

www.sloopysbeachcafe.com/

TJ

Cincy Style Pizza? Well, I've had Pierogi Pizza in Pittsburgh, so it doesnt surprise me...

Part 8
Friday April 24

We're getting into the home stretch....This would be my last full day of my trip...

I woke up early to make sure that I moved my car before the meters were in effect at 8am...I thought the best thing to do would be to give in and pay for one day  of parking at my hotel, because a- It was a Friday b- because the Padres were back in town...

I walked the one half mile downhill to a new coffee house, Java Jones half way between my hotel and Petco Park..
I had a slightly better than mediocre dark roast but it was nothing that blew me away...

Afterwards, I walked back to my hotel and drove up to Ocean Beach for my final smoothie stop of the trip...



The OB Smoothie Bar and Sub Express

Some of you may recognize the building as this used to house the now defunct OB Juice Bar previously written up by the Sterns on the website and in one of the books earlier in the decade...

I conversed with Tony, the owner. A friendly gentleman, he told me that there were two other establishments that went in between. He has owned the current establishment for the last 3 years.

I looked at the menu



as well as the chalk board



I also noticed this at quite a few of the Juice Bars I visited..



Tony said that Acai is very popular...

And of course the wheatgrass was in full view



I decided to order the "Breakfast of the gods"




Consisting of stawberries, blueberries, banana, peaches, orange Juice, apple Juice and Plain Yogurt...Like the smoothie at Sloopy's the day before, it was a good smoothie albeit a little thicker and creamier due to the yogurt, but no overbearing dairy taste, however it still lacked that tartness that I liked at G's Juices and The Orange Inn..

After breakfast....I took a stroll around Ocean Beach and the Pier...











Unfortunately, today was another gray day, however the gray stayed with us most of the day with only a few occasional peaks of sunshine....

It was now time for lunch stop # 1



The long time Stern's favorite El Indio

Since there were a few places I wanted to check out today, I only ordered one fish taco...

I was bummed when it was served "already wrapped up"....



I had to  take the wrapping off and tried my best to "pimp out" the fish taco prior to taking the photo...

Here are some much better photos I took 3 years ago




These are clearly the 2nd best Fish Tacos of the mini fish taco smackdown...
Thick pieces of fried fish and a spicy chili infused mayo sauce that really sets it apart from the rest...


I was now ready for Lunch Stop # 2

A re-visit to Fidel's Little Mexico in Solana Beach...



Consistency is a good thing. The grilled and fried mahi tacos were just as amazing as the ones I had the day before.. See part 7 for a full synopsis..

After my second lunch, it was time to "check in" for my flight the next day since my flight was on Southwest Airlines, there is no advanced seating, so the sooner I checked in, the better. Since I don't own a laptop, I had to rely on the ol' GPS to find the nearest library, luckily the local Solana Beach Public Library was only half a mile away...

After checking in for Saturday's flight and checking my e-mail, it was now time for final lunch stop # 3




Taco Surf in the Pacific Beach neighborhood of San Diego

I ordered one fish taco..



another basic, but good, no thrills baja style fish taco....I squirted some hot sauce on it from one of the squirt bottles, but what's this- LEMON??? Unfortunately this one loses a couple of points since it was not served with lime wedges..

The Taco Surf also doubles as a "surf museum" Another joint with a really great atmosphere





After lunch, I headed to the Pacific Beach boardwalk. This boardwalk extends south into Mission Beach... Which made for an excellent long afternoon stroll...
This was the first day of my trip that I wore my sweatshirt  all day...Temps didn't go beyond the low 60's...




Here's a roadfood joint that I passed by as I was walking...









Mission Beach...




On the walk back, I noticed this really cool house on the boardwalk and just had to get a photo..



I noticed alot of beachside shacks like this offering "shaved ice"

On the walk back to Pacific Beach, I did stop at a bar called The Open Bar for a refreshing Red Trolley Ale made by the local Karl Strauss Brewing Company

My friend Cliff called me just as I was completing my long afternoon walk...He was done with his job assignment and was going to spend a few extra days in San Diego prior to returning to Rhode Island...We finalized our plans to meet up at Petco Park later this evening for the Padre's game...

Prior to returning to my hotel. I stopped for an early Dinner at



DaKine's Plate Lunch in the Point Loma section of San Diego...

I can count on one hand the number of times I went to a roadfood restaurant having certain expectations and ending up with something competely different....

For some reason or another, I pictured da'kines as a beachside shack....Even if it wasn't necessarily right on the beach, I still had that image in my mind...
Located in an office park, it had the atmosphere of....well... a sterile sandwich shop in the middle of an office park.

After viewing the menu board



I kind of had an idea of what I wanted...
(sorry for the photo- glare from the lighting)

I started out with




Spam Musabi...

Prior to this , I was a spam virgin....There was really nothing noteable I remember about this, other than it tasted like what I pictured "canned ham" would taste like....unmemorable...

I then decided to go with the Kalua Pork and Loco Moco Combo



served with a scoop of white rice and a scoop of macaroni salad

The Kalua Pig had a nice "pit smoked" taste and went very nicely with the cabbage that accompanied it...
The Loco Moco, which is a burger with brown gravy and a fried egg on top, was actually quite good and very filling. Again nothing I would want to eat on a frequent basis. The rice and macaroni salad were just that....

I'm not sure what to say about DaKine's....It wasnt' a dissapointment, but certainly was far from a trip highlight...
I guess the best way to sum it up is.....interesting....

After dinner, I drove back to my hotel and then walked the mile or so to



Petco Park- Home of the San Diego Padres....

I met up with Cliff who luckily found meter parking a few blocks away...Cliff told me all he had to pay was 50 cents for parking because the meter is only in effect until 6pm...

We got seats in the lower part of the upper deck in between home and third...

The Padres were hosting the Pittsburgh Pirates.. Having lived in Pittsburgh for 5 years, I felt obligated to root for the Pirates...

Petco is one of my favorite new parks...Many of the new parks have been criticized and have been labeled "the new cookie cutters" however Petco is quite distinctive....












Since it was Cliff's first visit to Petco Park, I told him he can choose where we sit... At first he wanted to sit in the "all you can eat section" but I talked him out of it...




It was a close game with the Padres taking a slight lead at 3-1










In the 6th inning the Padre's starting pitcher allowed two runs tieing the game...
The game was still tied at the bottom of the 9th... I had a long day the next day with my return flight home...
Cliff stayed, I walked back to my hotel, when I returned, I watched part of the game on TV as it was now in the 11th inning....I later found out that the Padres beat Pittsburgh 4-3 in the 11th inning...

The final chapter tommorow...

WJ

Your adventures with the fish tacos are making my mouth water.
Nothing like good fish tacos

Petco looks like a nice park

wanderingjew, I can't help but wonder what your healthy diet is when you are home to make up for how much you eat on your adventures. You must be trying to teach buffetbuster a thing or two. Ah yes, I forgot about the smoothies 



Dennis in Cary

Redpatti........ I am driving home  Friday Afternoon...Dang!

Part 9
Saturday April 25

What a beautiful morning. It figures, the last morning of my trip is nice and sunny. Why couldn't the last two days be like this?

I felt compelled to get up somewhat early. For some reason I thought there would be a line to get in for my final breakfast stop...




The Cottage in La Jolla

Although I was Travelin Manned here two days earlier for dinner, I knew they were open for breakfast..

 I already knew what would be befitting for my final Southern Cal breakfast...



A bowl of house made granola...Made with pecans and craisins and served with fresh fruit, it comes with either yogurt or milk...I chose milk
Now I thought that the granola at the Home Restaurant in LA was amazing...well...The Cottage pushes their granola over the edge....It was another amazing unfreakinbelievable  highlight and a befitting last meal in sunny San Diego...

Although the meal was flawless, the coffee was wasn't. I decided to drive the few blocks to the La Jolla location of the Living Room Coffee House. For those who remember I was at the Point Loma location exactly one week prior and had an amazing cuppa joe there.. The counter girl, who had somewhat of an attitude told me that there house blend was the dark roast....there was another choice too, and I should have asked for a taste, because the house blend was neither dark, rich or strong..

After my large cup of coffee, I walked over to La Jolla Cove and enjoyed these breathtaking views...










On the other side of the cove, I observed some onlookers looking down...I went over to see what they were looking at ....Well the next three photos are my favorites of the entire trip...







This little guy was actually "walking" on the beach...

I really wanted to take one of them home with me....Perhaps they would fit in my bathtub?

It was now time to depart San Diego and head home..
After dropping my rental car off, I arrived at the Airport....
I enjoyed a Red Trolley Ale at the airport lounge to signal a ceremonious goodbye to Southern California...
It was only 11AM, but hey..I had to get myself back into the mindset that it was "really" 2PM again...

I arrived at my layover in Nashville in time for dinner....with about 2 hours before my next flight leaves...
I knew what I was looking for and looked all over the airport and ....



FOUND IT- NEELYS!

I was told to go to the other side at the Tennessee Tavern and they would take my order...



out of all of the Pork Sandwiches I had on the Memphis Presidents Day Weekend Trip this past February, this one was the best, too bad it was in Nashville during my layover of my Southern California Trip...
The slaw came on the side and I dumped it on the sandwich prior to taking the photo...Even the onion rings weren't bad...

Well, my trip just wouldn't be complete without



A peanut butter goo-goo cluster....I had one....just one and then this happened!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlfcF1I5e_g

(yes you have to watch the entire video)

My flight arrived back in Rhode Island at 10:45pm and i was home before midnight..

I still have some final commentary and foot notes but will save that for tommorow.

This has been a fantastic trip report! Those of us that haven't been to So Cal (or any part of Cal) thank you for "taking" us there. Now I want a berry smoothie and a piece of that pizza! but maybe not together.

Teresa

Bravo! Dale.

I've just got one suggestion for you. You said you rented a GPS for $72. I don't know if you had done that before but GPSes are so cheap now you would be better off buying one and carrying it. You could pre-load all your favorite destinations before you leave home. A Garmin Nuvi is so small it could slip in your pocket. I've seen them as cheap as $99.

Excellent my friend, just excellent!

How neat that they have a Neely's at the airport.  

I like eating in certain restaurants at the airport.  Prior to 911 I'd go to LAX to have green tamales at El Cholo's.  

You could sit and watch all of the people rushing to the planes and getting off of the planes.  People watching can be fun.

You really did Southern California Roadfood justice!

I love that you ended your trip with a Goo Goo Cluster.  LOL!

What a trip!  

I'm so glad that I could enjoy it with you... both in dining and reading about your adventures.

Davydd


Bravo! Dale.

I've just got one suggestion for you. You said you rented a GPS for $72. I don't know if you had done that before but GPSes are so cheap now you would be better off buying one and carrying it. You could pre-load all your favorite destinations before you leave home.  I've seen them as cheap as $99.

real good point, Davydd..
I love bringing my Tom Tom gps with me when I travel....   for instance, when I fly up to Boston later this month, I'll be pre-loading some of my beef rib and burger stops!
 
And, like you said, the Tom Tom /Garmin  prices are dirt cheap now..
I even  bought a surprise gift for my bf, a Tom Tom 3rd edition, (the same one I have)
It was on sale for $99 at Wal Mart... (usually it's around $130)
It's fun to click on POI "points of interests" in various towns I'm in .....
I love seeing what restaurants pop up!


 

Dale, one heck of a trip, I loved all the pics you have posted of it. How in the world to do you get such clear pics? I have trouble with our camera.



Dennis in Cary

Yaaaaaay!  Good show indeed.  And I love the sea lion pics--aren't they sweet?

I can't think of anything to say that hasn't already been said except to mention that I'm now suffering from a severe case of sensory overload!

Interesting shot of the Spam musabi.  Are its origins in California or Hawaii?  When I was in Iowa 2 weeks ago it was on the stadium menu board right next to the hot dogs and hamburgers, but I guess it shouldn't be too much of a surprise to find Spam creations in the heart of the Midwest.

Brad

WJ-
You get a standing ovation from me.  No doubt, this is one of the all-time great trip reports.  I am going to give you a 9.99.  The only reason I didn't give you a perfect 10 was because you didn't go to my favorite place in San Diego, Hob Nob Hill.  But then you made up for it with terrific sea lion photos.  Looking forward to seeing the reviews for Orange Inn and the others.

Oh, and thanks for rooting for the Buccos.  The good Lord knows they need all the help they can get.

WJ,
Just wanted to add my thanks to everyone else's. You could make a living doing this as a "pay per view".
May I ask what kind of a camera did you use? The pictures are terrific and add so much.
Looking forward to your next adventure.

Wow WJ, It's great to visit SOCAL virtually through your report.
Makes me wish even more than usual that I could eat Tex-Mex. Guess I'll have to be content with sushi! Poor me!

two things:
No pic of Solana Beach Public Library?

And, hate to be the bearer of bad tidings:
http://www.extremepizza.com/index.html

Cathy, who ate there once and remembers nothing about it