San Clemente and the Beach

We went down to St. Clemente to meet Tom's brother Frank, his sister-in-law Cassie, and niece Kate.  Frank took us to a few overlooks and the beach.  Behind us is Dana Point.  There were a lot of sailboats out on Saturday.  It was awesome! Most of you know how much I love sailboats.  It reminded me of the trip I took with my mom to New Zealand with all of the sailboats.  It was just beautiful.

After Dana point, Frank took us to a place called The Strands.  It is a public beach by these multi-million dollar homes.  They had a walkway just above the beach.  It was just awesome!  You can see the rocks in this picture.  People were exploring the rocks looking at what I assumed to be sea creatures.  I would have loved to have gone down and joined them, but we were not dressed for the beach.  Again--another time.

Great picture of Tom and I near the beach.  You can see the hill jutting out behind us and it almost looks like there aren't any people on the beach.  If you look hard at the water you can see the surfers.  The water is really cold, but there are some crazy surfers who don't care about the cold.

Frank drove us down through Lagoona beach and then to Newport Beach.  Lagoona looked like a great place to shop--lots of cute boutiques and art galleries.  We headed back to San Clemente and got there just as the sun was going down.  It was just gorgeous!  I was so happy to get this shot with all of the palm trees and if you look hard in the middle you can see the sailboat. 

I even had time to get a picture of Tom and I with the sunset.  We were glad to have our jackets as it was cold out near the water.  I just loved being around the water and seeing the waves and the beach.  It just fed my soul.  Somehow it makes me feel more alive.  We had dinner right on the water at Fisherman's Wharf.  We had multi courses including clams.  I had never had clams as an appetizer before.  They put it in a broth that Tom loved.  We'll have to see if we can find it on the East Coast, but I've never seen clams served that way.  Tom said it was a very Asian thing to drink the broth.  I tried it and thought it was ok.  It's not something I would order for me though. :)

The next morning Cassie and I went on a long walk.  She took a picture for me and you can see the trail we were on.  I think we walked for about an hour and forty minutes.  We would have gone longer, but we had to get back for Dim Sum (Yum!).  I needed the walk because Cassie served me this bread that was divine!  It was flaky and had cheese and garlic on it and must have been soaked in butter before it was cooked.  Wow!  I was able to buy another piece later (we went to the bakery.)  I had WAY too much bread that day!  Usually when I have bread I only have some at one setting--not several times in a day.  It was just so good I didn't want to stop.  My tummy is still a little raw from it, but it was so worth it!  Cassie said that usually there is a long wait at the bakery and you can wait for over an hour to buy your food.  It was SO cheap!  I couldn't get over how cheap it was!!!  It's a good thing I don't live there.  I would probably gain ten pounds the first two weeks. :)

We went to a place in Irvine for lunch that serves Dim Sum.  When we got there we parked far away from the restaurant and had several spaces in between Franks car and Tom's rental car.  What's funny is Tom usually parks far away from the entrance of anywhere we go.  I tease him a little bit about it because it's so funny to me.  I thought with the rental car he wouldn't because he wouldn't care about dings from other people's car doors or whatever, but no he still parked far away.  Cassie commented, kind of apologetically, that Frank always parks miles away from where they are going.  I was totally laughing and told her that Tom does the same thing.  What's even better is that Frank made some comment about people just parking wherever, as if that was an appalling thing and of course you would find a spot with no one around.  I loved it.  It gave me a new perspective about parking.

The Dim Sum was delicious!  Tom had introduced me to Dim Sum.  They had chicken feet too.  I had listened to a podcast about chicken feet so I did taste a little bit.  It wasn't something I would spit out, but it also isn't something I would eat.  We had yummy steamed shrimp potstickers (I'm actually not sure what they call them) and some yummy pork one's too.  Even the leek one's were delicious.  I just like that they bring these carts around and you choose.  It's fun. :)  Cassie even said I was good with the chopsticks.  It was really nice of her to say because I often cross them or feel like I'm doing it wrong.  However, I like using them because I feel like it's kind of part of the experience of eating. 

I have to say that it was a fabulous trip!  Tom really made it wonderful!!!  He really considered what I would enjoy doing.  So even though this was his holiday and time to spend with his family, he really made it my holiday and he did all of the work.   I so appreciate his generosity and all of the time, effort and thought he put into the trip!  The weather was amazing and the company was even better.  I am grateful that his family was so kind and welcoming.  I loved everything we did and everywhere we went. 

Mom, Tom says I have you to thank for the amazing trip because you told me to get on the phone and tell him yes I would come after my idiotic comment. :)  I had come to my senses, it just took me a little while.  So thank you mom. :)  Really, I have Tom to thank because he just kind of ignored my idiotic comment and moved ahead--I guess figuring I would catch up after I had thought about it.  I'm all about processing. :)

Tom has made me a California lover. :)