My first meal on my first trip to California could be only one thing. I insisted that my brother and his wife pull the rental car into the one, the only - (actually one of over 200 locations) - In and Out Burger. I was pleased with the tasty burger and shoe-string fries - and believe me, I know burgers and fries from eight years of working at a lunch stand in Pennsylvania. What surprised me, though, was that we weren't really "in and out" as quickly as one might hope. In that respect, I think this place lives up to it's reputation, but not so much it's name.
Our next day was what I like to refer to as "a good food day." Usually I can't come to this conclusion until I've had at least two meals, but the small items we did get as we drove to and through San Francisco really made for a great food day. We made our way up north (my cousin, who we were visiting, lives in Lemoore, which is pretty much the dead-center of California) and stopped first at the Jelly Belly Factory, where we took a tour and got some free jellybeans. When a giant sign pointed to a sale on "belly flops," my very smart and observant sister-in-law explained that it must refer to factory seconds, which I thought was hysterical.
After getting back in the car, we relied on the GPS lady, Garmina, as we did for much of the weekend, to get us on the right path to cross the Golden Gate bridge. Before we did so, we decided to stop in a little town called San Rafael directly north of San Francisco and Oakland to get gas and lunch. We stopped in a little taqueria and had basically the best burritos ever and some really good guacamole. That's one food reason that I am jealous of the west coast -- great Mexican food.
We drove right over that big, orange and glorious bridge into San Francisco and found a parking space right in the middle of Fisherman's Wharf. It was a bit busy with (other) tourists, but it was cool to see all the boats and a nice view of Alcatraz Island. All I wanted in San Fran was a bread bowl of soup, so we walked to Boudin, a bistro and bakery known for their sourdough. Our bowls were filled with really good clam chowder and, thanks to my brother's forward thinking, we took what was left of our bread to eat in the car on the way back to Lemoore. Definitely a "good food day" by then!
On Saturday, we had lunch and ice cream sundaes from Superior Dairy in Hanford, CA. I thought they were outrageously priced, but when I saw how big they were, all was explained. None of us finished them. Sunday belonged to the beverages. Wine, to be exact. With guidance from my cousin, a recently converted wino, we stopped at Tobin James, EOS, and Eberle vineyards in Paso Robles, two of which had free tastings. That blows my mind, but it was really fun to be a part of that culture for an afternoon.
I could have eaten a few more burritos or tacos, but overall I think California offered some great food and I'm looking forward to planning the menu for the next trip!
