Pre-Christmas

It's been very quiet in our corner for the past couple weeks. Not much really blog worthy.

Our biggest adventure was a attending the Holiday Celebration presented at The Welk in Escondido.

The Welk Theater at Lawrence Welk Village continues to draw top talent.

The show was a very high energy performance of holiday classics, including Feliz Navidad with Folkloric dance and a rap version Silent Night. We both enjoyed show and the holiday decorations in the lobby.

A one and a two …

We continue to bike ride along Mission Bay and into Pacific Beach.  Saturday we rode into PB  for the annual Christmas parade.  The Mission Bay High School provided the only band this year.

The LoRiders from South Bay put on a show with their hydraulic antics

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and beautiful rides

and restored classics

The Old Mission Bay Athletic Club (OMBAC) Fire Department is present at most local events.

No holiday parade would be complete without Santa!

In responses to a comment left by Jim, I challenged myself a couple blogs ago to make a rattle out of a Coyote Gourd, as that's all their good for.

Coyote Gourd

Rather than wait weeks for it to dry I used the kitchen oven (don't tell Fran)

A native Kumeyaay shaman would use a sharp rock, but …

The seeds are the only part of the gourd that is edible, although there are a lot of seeds, it's defiantly an acquired taste!

Yes that is a Julian Pie tin holding the seeds :)

I put the dried seeds back in the gourd.  And used a hot glue gun to secure the gourd to my pine branch.  A Kumeyaay craftsman would make one as show in this YouTube video  HERE.

We always seem to have a puzzle on the puzzle table.

Wishing all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  And that’s all for now, we'll be heading back to Borrego for their New Year festivities.

Tacos, Bombs, and yard work

It was a short bike ride to the Pacific BeachFest.  This gathering is more for geared toward us locals, rather than a tourist extravaganza.

The draw for us was not the 3 stages with live music, but the Best of PB Fish Taco Contest.  We purchased just a single $10 ticket to taste 5 competing fish tacos.

Note: Below are our rankings, not that of the votes cast at the Fest.

Fish Taco Contenders

1. Royal Rooster is way off in Quivira Basin.  Making it a destination, not a chance stop at more convenient Belmont Park.  This is a favorite stop on our Bay/Library bike rides.

Royal Rooster on the right
PB Fish on the left

2.  PB Shore Club is another popular hangout.  And it should be, with those sunset views!  The grilled Mahi-Mahi was seasoned nicely as were the toppings.  This was was our favorite until I brought us a Royal Rooster to share ;)  I didn’t tell Fran it was an RR taco either!

PB Shore on the right 
Sandbar on the left

4.  Sandbar Sports Grill is next to Belmont Park, popular with the college crowd and a frequent winner.  They won again this year.  Altho a generous portion of Mahi-Mahi, too much grease on the fried corn tortilla and weird toppings, such as deep fried onion bits.  But I’d give them another chance  ;)

5. PB Fish Shop is a popular chain in the area.  As such it’ll never disappoint, but will not be remarkable either.  At least their tacos are huge! with able toppings and include a fork :)

I deliberately skipped #3, as Aquaris was not at the fest, but is also on our bike route.

3.  Aquaris Bar and Grill in Quivira Basin at the point.  It’s also in zip code 92109 and should be included.  This is also a favorite stop on our Bay/Library bike rides.

Did I mention they have an 11:00 am weekday happy hour?

Alas I cannot include the OB Pier, our current favorite, but need to revisit while the competition is fresh in our minds.

W.O.W Cafe fish taco on OB Pier

 

As we rode to the BombFest at Crown Point we passed Heali'is Polynesian Revue in De Anza Cove.  It was fun watching the drummers and dancers during their practice.

I was asked not to post pictures of the kids ...

Bombs at Mission Bay

The Bombs are back at Mission Bay and there are more than ever.  The Bomb Fest is bigger than ever!

Please forgive the bluish photos.  My Lumix camera sometimes has a mind of its own …  Display cars and trucks are 1960 or earlier, altho I did see a few I’m sure were a bit newer.

I put some effort into the 2019 Bomb Fest HERE.  I suggest you check that out for more info on the Bombs.

Here’s a few blue-tinted pics of the couple hundred Bombs on Mission Bay.

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Carrier for a baseball bat on a Bomb bike

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Suicide doors and a gull wing hood

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Awesome old Chevy, but check out the slammed Bomb behind it

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I do like old trucks ...

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Slammed, topless and chrome

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Yard Work

A lot more needs to be done but a couple items are blog worthy.

The Macadamia Nut harvest is getting close.  I’ll add a piece on how I shuck and shell those guys on a future blog.

Each nut hangs from a single stem.  Like a bunch of green Christmas ornaments

With the City of San Diego removing all the majestic non-native palm trees in the area, I planted one!

I didn't want it to get this big!

But it grew to over 6 feet in a few years and was becoming more of a liability than a protest.  I cut it down to about 4 feet and it started growing back at about an inch a day.

EGR Valve

The continuing issue with the check engine light has been resolved.  A bit of money can fix a lot of things.  The valve uses coolant, with sensors at both in intake and outlet.  Replaced both the valve and sensors and it’s sure to fix something! 

With that fixed I’m looking forward to the next outing. ... Perhaps Borrego Days …

Bike Mission Bay - for library access

Our local library is a block away, but this March it will have been CovidClosed for 3 years!

Baypark library remains closed

The book return has reopened and the there’s fresh paint on the building.  Maybe it will reopen soon.

But the Pacific Beach branch is open!  So we a place a book we want on hold online, and bike ride to PB.  We enjoy this ride in a counter clockwise direction.

Crown Point

With a stop at the Earl and Birdie Taylor Library on Reed Street.  That’s not a play on words read vs. reed, as Reed Street was there when this building was an elementary school.

Pacific Beach Library 

It may seem backwards, as we start the ride opposite the water on the 'Bay Side', but on the 'Ocean Side' the water is up close.

Gals playing soccer on the beach

Mission Boulevard bisects Mission Beach.  We cross it at Santa Clara Place to Ocean Front Walk.

There's a stop light help cross

When Fran first moved to San Diego she had a studio apartment on San Juan Place.

  

All the streets that cross Mission Blvd are either called ‘Place’ or ‘Court’.

A bit of trivia ... All the ‘Place’ streets are named after California Missions, a ‘place of worship’.  All the streets with ‘Court’ names are named after beaches, a place for a ‘volleyball court’.

Appropriate names for the Mission Beach community.

Ocean Front Walk  ends at the Entrance Channel to Mission Bay.

Here we cross back to the bay side at Mission Point Park.  Water sports again on the right side, play grounds on the left.

At this point we have to take West Mission Bay Drive to cross the bridge to Quivira Basin.  Our ride is now 12 miles or 3/4 complete and we’re here for lunch.

In Quivira Basin there’s 3 choices for grilled fish tacos:

1.  Sportsman's Seafoods
OK, we have not yet stopped here as their only grilled fish taco is with Ahi, not Fran’s favorite.

They also have a seafood market.

2. Royal Rooster

Grilled Mahi or Grilled Rockfish at $8, it's not cheap, but so good with the spicy red sauce

There is a large menu

and a nice selection of beers

Don’t order wine, your choices are only ‘house red’ or house white’ …  and the red is served chilled!  Never again!

Nice outside seating

with a good view of the marina

 

It's common to find moms'n'tots sitting on the grass here, also enjoying the marina.

Totally Fran approved!

3.  Aquarius

Aquarius has a full bar

and decent draft beer selection

The seating is kinda lame.  Basically picnic tables in the parking lot.

But it has daily live music and a Happy Hour that starts at 11 am!

And grilled Mahi tacos are 2 for $7! after 11 am.  Tacos are served with a good mango salsa.

Aquarius bills itself as ‘Fun vibes on the Jetty’.  Well the Jetty is 100 yards away.  But for cost alone it's Jeff approved!

All the pics were taken with my old iPhone on a few different February rides.  Yupper February!  Clear, warm days!

Next up our Fumigation StayCation, bet nobody wants to miss that!