Hooray, Visitors!

In the almost two years since we've lived out in California, we've had all sorts of great visitors to our house in the LBC.  My mom has come a few times, Chris' Mom and her fiance Andy visited last Thanksgiving, Chris' Dad visited last October, and we've had several day-trippers as well:  Meg and Murph, Uncle Gene and Aunt Linda, and of course, my Dad and Risa multiple times (it helps when you live just 30 minutes away).  This weekend, we were pleased to host our friends Tara and Ryan, with whom we became close in the past few years, joined together by our shared hobby of spending hard earned cash doing lots of exercise for no foreseeable reason (of the four of us, I'm the only one not an Ironman, if that tells you anything).

We initially planned to see Tara and Ryan last November, as Ryan was originally on our Ragnar McDowell 2017 Team, but when health concerns caused him to drop, and Tara's cousin's wedding occurred the same weekend in Tucson, we started making plans to do something else together on our end of things after the turn of the year.  Since we all love to run, we picked a day where there would be a 10K race occurring in the general area between the LBC and San Diego, and on Friday night after work, they headed out west.  Although setting the clock back an hour once they crossed the CA border helped, they still got in late, so after a tour of the house and some quick visiting, we all headed to bed, knowing we'd need to be up early the next morning.

The race we'd picked was the Coast to Crest 10K, organized by the Endurance Race Series, which was held down in Del Mar, most of the way to San Diego.  It would take us about an hour and a half to get down there, so we were up early and out of the house around 6am.  We easily found the venue, checked in and picked up our packets, dropped them at the truck, and headed back to the start line to warm up and get ready to begin the race.  Tara, Chris, and I preregistered for the 10K, and Ryan signed up for the 5K on race day, so he could test out his fitness and see how things were going for him at this time.

Our 10K racers lined up...

Tara and I, ready to go!

...while Ryan made friends with a local resident:

You don't need the sound to enjoy the video,

but you will hear the start of the 10K

if you turn on your speakers.

The run itself was a lot of fun - Chris took off and did his own thing, while Tara and I hung together the entire way, enjoying our time chatting and sightseeing.  The course included part of the Coast to Crest trail in Del Mar (hence the name), and we mainly stayed in and around San Dieguito River Park.  We lapped around the park, through a tunnel underneath the 5 freeway, and around the back of the Del Mar racetrack and golf course.  We got to overlook the river most of the way, and we even saw a mamma osprey bringing fish back to her babies in the nest at one point.  Although the day was overcast, and there was a slight drizzle, it was actually perfect for running, and I think all of us really enjoyed the event.

Afterward, we also thoroughly enjoyed the snacks and drinks provided for finishers, which included freshly grilled hot dogs and brats and even beer!  What?!?!?  That never happens at short races!  We ended up with cool t-shirts and medals as well (even if Ryan's 5K medal was actually one from last year, we think), and it seemed to justify the price point for the event.  We're keeping these guys in mind for more races in the future.

Done!  Time for drinks and hot dogs!

After we finished snack time, it was back to the truck where we changed into dry clothes and hopped back on the 5, heading north to Long Beach.  We knew we'd be back in the LBC around 11, so we stopped for lunch at the Belmont Brewing Company, right on the Belmont Pier, to overlook the beach and water.

Action shot

At BBC, we sat on the covered, heated patio and ended up each ordering a breakfast burrito, which were all quite tasty.  After lunch/brunch, we strolled back to the truck, passing an aid station on the pier for a triathlon that happened to be occurring that day (next year for these crazy kids, maybe?) and getting a few more quick peeks at the coast and the Astronaut Islands, even though it was pretty foggy.  We drove home through the bluff area and along Shoreline Avenue, to show off the touristy sites of the downtown area, and then it was time for dessert.  To the Creamery!  We all enjoyed our ice cream (due to the weather and the relatively early hour, we were the only folks in there, so we had time to taste plenty of options), and on the way back home, we drove through the Country Club neighborhood, showing Tara and Ryan the famous movie houses.

Once we made it home, it was time for hot showers for everybody, and after that, all of us headed for naps as well (Kaylee was more than happy to join in at this point, too).  By 4pm, we'd rebounded from our early start, and we chatted for a bit while we got ready to head out on the town for the night.  We planned to stay in our local area of Bixby Knolls for the evening (which turned out great, particularly given the crappy weather), so of course, our first stop was Dutch's for great beer, pizza, and queso dip.

Yeah, Dutch's!

We enjoyed our time there per usual, but since the party next to us was SUPER loud (as in, we could barely hear each other over a small table, they were so loud), we were ready to head out after we finished our food.  We wandered right next door to Stateside Crafts (a great bottle shop with a small taproom in the back), where each pair of us split a tasting menu of their on-tap offerings.

The non-creepy-eyeball picture of Ryan

By the time we finished at Stateside, we were getting close to our reservation date at our final location, so we edited our plan to head to Rasselbock, a great German place down the street, and went straight to Roxanne's, a bar a few streets away.  Needing a bit more food, we grabbed some apps at Roxanne's, and when 9pm rolled around, we headed to the rear of the bar and into the telephone booth to attempt to gain entrance to the Exhibition Room, the speakeasy in the back.  Since we made a reservation, the Room texted me the password earlier that day, and we were ready to use it!

Ready to give the password!

Chris supervising me,

and Ryan supervising Chris

We were given admission to the Room, and we headed inside through a door that opened in the back of the telephone booth; we were led to a table near the live music area that was setting up, right in front of a display case that held this, to Chris' amazement:

20 year!

The inside of the Room -

not my picture.

We each had a few adult beverages (except for Ryan, who wasn't feeling great - he had water, the most adult beverage of all), and we enjoyed chatting and listening to the live music, which started up soon after our arrival.  After that, the decision was made to head home and get back into comfy clothes to enjoy a nightcap and hang out with the dog, which is exactly what all of us did.  Eventually, midnight rolled around (super late for all of us old folks), and everyone headed to bed.

The next morning, we were all pretty bleary-eyed, both from our late night and from losing an hour to Daylight Savings Time in the middle of our slumber.  We put together a breakfast of homemade harissa shakshuka and amazing cinnamon rolls from the Merchant, a local market.

Also not my picture.

It's hard to find a cinnamon roll

that tastes as delicious as it looks,

but these don't disappoint.

Following a quick tour around the backyard (which was too rainy to see the day before), Tara and Ryan packed up and headed back east to Phoenix.  We really enjoyed having them visit, and we can't wait to see them again!

Later!

Amy