I had the day off.  Peanut butter and jelly on whole wheat, brownie bites and ice water.

Courtesy of ”the biggest storm since ‘62″.

This might be my favorite sandwich ever.  Warm grilled chicken, pesto, roasted peppers and swiss cheese.  I had good intentions of only eating half and saving the other half for dinner.  I ate every bite.

I practically had the whole beach to myself.

On my way back to work, I stopped at  Betty Burgers.

So. Good.  They have awesome sweet potato fries and dipping sauce too… but I wasn’t “that” hungry, so I used a little self-control  and just got a burger.  It was delicious.

These tiles are on the wall at the end of the Esplanade in Capitola.  I’ve counted over 50 people surfing  in that spot at one time.

Click on the photo to enlarge.

Not to be confused with the Bologna Festival, the Begonia Festival is held Labor Day in Capitola, CA.  Capitola recently recieved the “Best Beach Town on the West Coast” award from Sunset Magazine.  I hate to spread that around, because it’s still got it’s quiet moments.

The floats are made from fresh Begonia’s grown locally.

A gazebo decorated with flowers.

A pretty house on the river decorated for the festival.

My brother’s 3 9-year olds (triplets) came down and they stayed the weekend with their Auntie.  They are wonder kids!

I’m pretty sure I can’t be old enough to have an 18 year old, and a 16 year old… yet I do (fluke of nature??).  Here’s Leah and Cole in a clamshell at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.  The seahorses were my favorite, and the disco jellyfish that “light up”.  Amazing.  This picture makes me want to sing “Under the Sea… Under the Sea… life is much better, when you are wetter… take it from me.”

And lunch at Bubba Gumps overlooking the bay.  It was very delicious.  Shrimp in a bucket… what could be better?

This little cup was my mom’s.  She went to Bimbo’s 365 in the 50’s with her cousin and yes, ok my mom stole the cup in her purse.   Bimbo’s 365 was and still is a famous bar in San Francisco.  From the website:

In 1931, he and Young, now his partner, opened the 365 Club at 365 Market Street. San Francisco was weary of the Depression, needed some fun, and the 365 Club was there to provide it. The club was crowded with celebrities and stars from across America who were there to see and be seen. On stage, lines of long-stemmed chorus girls kicked high to the music; one of whom was Rita Cansino. Later, we would all know her as Rita Hayworth. Gin was served in coffee cups while everybody puzzled over the optical illusion provided by Dolfina, The Girl in the Fishbowl: She appeared to swim nude in the fish tank behind the bar… you can still find her there today.

I love this little cup, I didn’t realize until reading this that my mom probably had gin from it not coffee.  She had told me about the naked girl in the fishbowl.  I’d love to go one day and see Dolfina splashing around in her bowl.  When my mom died and me and my family went through her things to have, this was the first thing I picked.