Birthday Trip to Big Sur

This year for my birthday (January 3rd) Mom and I took a special trip to Big Sur together. It was extra special because it's been a really long time since we did anything with just the two of us. I keep remembering the trip with fondness - thinking of the view-filled walks we took, the great food we ate, and the fun time we had together.

The purpose of this trip was, in addition to celebrating my birthday, to have some serious rest and relaxation. Christmas is pretty crazy around our house and so we were both ready for some free time. We stayed at the famous Deetjen's Big Sur Inn, which is known for its bohemian

atmosphere and cute cabin rooms. It is a total gem! The rooms are have just the right balance of cute, not-too-polished, cozy, and fancy feeling. I know that sounds like quite a combination but see if you agree...

Mom walking up to our room: "The Chalet"

Mom's bed with an amazing view of the redwood trees and creek.

(She wasn't too keen on the linen sheets.)

My bed also look out into the trees. I liked feeling like I was sleeping in a tree house and it reminded me of our Bedford (Minneapolis) bedroom that had a view of the leaves.

Our first night we had reservations at the Deetjen's Restaurant. It was nice just walking a few feet to get to a fancy restaurant. They still had tasteful Christmas decorations up and a wood burning stove in the corner, which made for a cozy, familiar environment.

As an appetizer I had Dungeness Crab Cakes with Baby Arugula and Spicy Chipotle Raita. It was the perfect amount of crisp fried goodness and crab flavor. The chipotle was a really nice touch. For the main course I had "Roasted Smoked Bacon Wrap Pork Tender Loin with Mushrooms, Herb Parmesan Polenta Cake, Apples, Blue Cheese and Port Jus". Oh yum! I can taste it now. The pork was perfectly cooked - not too pink, not overdone - and the blue cheese on top added a great tangy flavor. The polenta was thoroughly cheesy and it was pan-fried so it had a nice crispiness too.

(Mom had their soup of the day and the fish catch of the day for dinner, both of which I cannot steal from their menu. Do you remember what you had, Mom?)

For dessert we shared - wait for it... - the dark chocolate mousse cake! Wow! It was beyond amazing. Rather than a light mousse I would have described it as pure chocolate truffle! The chocolate melted perfectly in my mouth and the elderberry sauce on top was a perfect balance.

And that was just the first meal...

The next day was my birthday (yay!) and after a lazy morning with some tea from Deetjen's, we went to the Big Sur Bakery for breakfast. We shared a ham and parmesan cheese quiche (so much cheese on top! it was almost like a cheese sauce), a citrus morning bun (with a citrus glaze that gave such a fresh zing to the sweet bun), and a strawberry strudel (nice flaky pastry dough and fresh feeling strawberries). I sipped a raspberry tea that was made with real, dried raspberry fruit and enjoyed the view of the beautiful California hills.

This is the only picture of the food I took of our trip.

I was too busy enjoying the flavors and forgot the camera.

As you can imagine, after the dinner at Deetjen's and this breakfast we were in serious need of a walk! Luckily the sun decided to come out for my birthday and so we had nice weather as we hiked up Buzzard's Roost at Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park. With all the rain the rivers were huge! It was fun to watch the water rush by.

We also drove down to the Pfeiffer Beach (we had to wade across a creek to get there) and it was warm enough to soak up some vitamin D while we tried to digest! We definitely weren't hungry for much lunch so we just split a bagel from Santa Cruz's Bagelry with Cheese Louise (herb schmear) and smoked salmon spread (not at the same time though).

We browsed around the Phoenix Gift Shop at Nepenthe and then went back to our room and knitted and read until we were finally hungry for another amazing meal.

For my birthday dinner we went to the Nepenthe Restaurant, which is perched on the coastal cliffs. Unfortunately, we were there too late to see the amazing view. I had salad with a blue cheese dressing. The cheese was one of my favorites (Point Reyes Blue Cheese) and there were plenty of big chunks. Then I had the Salmon Filet with tomato, golden raisin and coriander chutney and basmati rice. I love raisins with fish, they give such a nice sweetness the spicy chutney sauce. I also had a nice California Chardonnay that was good and buttery. Mom went with the famous Ambrosiaburger!

None of Nepenthe's desserts caught our eye, so we went back to Deetjen's for dessert (lemon, vanilla cake that was only pretty good) and a glass of port. Can you tell I'm enjoying myself?

Only one more meal to go! For breakfast the next morning we had (on several recommendations) the Deetjen's Eggs Benedict. I can whole-heartedly pass on the recommendation. I LOVE eggs benedict and this was a fine example of the dish. The hollandaise sauce was really good and lemony and a perfect consistency. I had mine with ham and spinach and Mom chose bacon and spinach. The ham reminded me of the fresh "bacon" ham Boyd and I ate in Ireland. We were both full with just a half order.

Breakfast was especially fun because there was a cute New York couple next to us who were obviously a new couple. They were thoroughly living up to their bohemian dream vacation, searching for a room with a fire place and a view of the ocean. They just wanted to relax and enjoy the slow pace of Big Sur. And who can blame them?!

I have lots more pictures that I am posting on Facebook. Even if you are not on Facebook, you can see the pictures as an album without signing in. The album is here.

Thanks for the wonderful, memorable trip, Mom!

Bon voyage, Big Sur! I'll come back soon (hopefully!).