Sun and Sea Festivl - some weekend fun

In mid-August Imperial Beach hosts the Sun and Sea Festival at the foot of the Imperial Beach Pier.  We still have fog every night into late morning and this Fogust Saturday morning we loaded up the bicycles for a ride to/around Imperial Beach.

Sun and Sea Festival
Welcome San Castle

This is the first time the festival was not accompanied by a sand castle building event on the beach.  The beach and ocean remain too contaminated to guarantee the health of the builders.

However the the music was nonstop.

The numerous booths offered various art and collectables.

But the booth that interested us most was the Sea Shepard.  We toured Farley Mowat, one of the Sea Shepard cutters, when it was in San Diego.  That blog can be found HERE.

And again when the cutter was in San Felipe … HERE.

San Felipe, Baja MX.

The efforts of the Sea Shepard remain to preserve the wildlife of the oceans including the beloved Vaquita Porpoise in the Gulf of Mexico.  Now numbering less than a dozen. :(

The welcoming sand castle continues to take shape throughout the day.

In years ago there were food trucks at the festival  But for the past couple years the food trucks have been moved to the Farmers Market at the library a mile away.

We’re not ready to leave, so a walk to the Tin Fish at the end of the pier for lunch.

Walking the pier is fun.  I enjoy the humor of the one-liners along the way.

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You get the idea, there are over a dozen of these!

Sunday we enjoyed an afternoon picnic on the grass at De Anza Cove.  The event was to welcome long time friends Mike and Gail back for a visit. 

They retired and sold their PB home to retire in Delaware.  That’s definitely on the other coast!

We were busy visiting, and with the strong sun/shade contrasts not many pictures were taken.

I took a little time to visit the National City Depot.  This depot was the Santa Fe west coast headquarters from 1885 until 1889.

It continued to serve passenger needs and support of the electric trolleys after Santa Fe moved their headquarters.  This is a restored electric trolley that serviced the Panama-California Exposition of 1915

Another trolley served to move workers to/from the South Bay Salt Works

Returning home I stopped for lunch at El Indio

No fish taco this time!  Instead I wanted a beef tostada!

Now that Aj has returned from Spain we see a bit more of her.  She continues to work nearby in Mission Valley and rather than commute from San Marcos she stays here during the work week.  And we are very happy to have her!

Enjoying Some Art

I certainly enjoy preparing for a trip than the chores that accompany returning home.  certainly always find it a welcome to return, but fairy does the chores while we are on the road.

With the yard work mostly caught up, the RV cleaned up the house in shape it is time for some fun.

We took the trolley to Old Town for the Latin American Festival, which included a selection Mata Ortiz pottery. 

But first lunch!  Fiesta de Reyes this time.  The Fiesta de Reyes (Party of the Kings) restaurant group also includes The Cosmopolitan Hotel and Restaurant, and Fran's favorite Barra Barra Saloon.

We split the 2 item combo of a chicken enchilada and a carnitas soft taco.

The artist displays were across the street at Bazar del Mundo.

So many fun hand painted ceramic works, some tiny

some a bit larger

But the real draw is the pottery of Mata Ortiz!

The pueblo of Mata Ortiz was a small a agricultural village.  The men worked the fields, the women kept the homes.  Until the railroad left in the 1960s and the village fell into neglect.

A local artisan, Juan Quezada Celado, began making pottery in the traditional pre-spanish, style and by 1980 the village began a rebound.

All the pottery is formed, fired and hand painted.

I like hummingbirds, and the detail on the vase almost made it home.

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But there were so many other worthy choices.

Fran like the black clay vases.  And I too was intrigued by their construction.

From tiny little incense holders to flower bouquet vases.  The hand painting is just exquisite.

For sure there were also handmade dresses,

Porcelain dishes with hummingbirds,

An interesting ceramic chess set,

Ceramic dog dinner napkin holders

And a vase worthy of being my urn

It's August! that means Hatch Chilis are in town1  It’s the season, and Lazy Acres Market in Mission Hills is hosting a chili roasting.

Lazy Acres Natural Market

Lazy Acres is a chain of markets featuring natural foods, with an great looking salad bar

A nice selection of samples made with the chilis and of course available for sale.

The market did not have the large rotating tub, but a grill that held maybe 18 chilis.

For $50 a 25lb case could be purchased! That's a lot of chilis

I did not wait in the long line for the roasted peppers, but bought a couple dozen to roast at home.

Once well blistered, I placed the roasted peppers in a sealed zip lock bag, with a damp paper towel to steam a bit.

The skins are so much easier to remove.

I made some open faced chili rellenos (stuffed chilis) with chicken and shrimp.

Fran pronounced them DELICIOSO!

We now have a cute little gray squirrel in the yard.  The Macadamia nuts are not quite ready to harvest.  And if he’d only go for the ones high on the tree …. But alas … he can easily take his fill from the same ones I can reach

I’m having to bring in the ones I can reach early.  There’s 2 different trees.

There’s still a lot that I can reach and will bring in early

Aj requires 8 credits in humanities at UCSD.  Rather than take two courses, with tests, she went to Spain for 6.weeks!  Obligation met!  She arrived in San Diego at 10pm from Toronto.  We had her for the night, with a promise of breakfast at Kono’s in the morning.

To complete steps for the weekend, we enjoyed the Art Walk at Liberty Station.

So much talent on display

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There wee more displays than last year, still with live music a beer garden and a food court.

‘Fire Me Up’ looked good, but we’re still walking of our Kono’s breakfast ;)

I can hear the that pesky rodent in the Macadamia tree.  Guess I'll bring some more in this morning.