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Savannah and Charleston Travel Guide

For the last two years that we’ve been married, I’ve tried to make it a goal (that we will hopefully keep) to go on a trip with just Tim and myself. It hasn’t ever really been on our ACTUAL anniversary, but I’ve tried to make it a point that this is our vacation for us to spend time together without any other family or even our two stinky dogs.

Last year we went to Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada (Banff and Jasper Travel Guide), and this year we decided to go to the Deep South. I had been to New Orleans previously with my sister and cousin for my 23rd birthday (quite a while ago), but this time we opted for somewhere neither of us had been.

I snagged a decent price for this airfare for this weekend (I wanted to go the prior weekend but the Labor Day prices were through the roof!), and since Tim had a flex Friday, this weekend worked just as well.

We flew a red-eye on Thursday night (after class for me), had a quick layover in Atlanta, and then continued on to Savannah. Savannah Airport is fairly small (think ONT or SNA), so there aren’t very many direct flights. The flight was a short 36 minutes (during which Tim and I promptly passed out on).

We landed at about 9:30 AM, picked up our rental (Costco Travel is always cheapest without fail), then headed out to Wormsloe Historic Site. Since we only had 3 full days, I wanted to split the trips outside of downtown Savannah to a minimum. It was an easy 30-minute drive from airport to gate.

Wormsloe Historical Site

Allocate about 1.5 to 2 hours (less if skipping the free guided tour)

Entrance to Wormsloe Historic Site

The entry fee is paid at the small cottage to the right of the entrance gate ($10/person plus tax). Then it’s about a 1.5 mile long drive down a gravel dirt road lined with roughly 440 live oak trees about 120 years old. Their branches meet halfway in the middle in an arbor across the road, and the trees are draped with this soft and fluffy-looking Spanish moss that hangs down. It’s both magical and breathtaking at the same time. These trees are out of every Southern romance you’ve ever read or seen.

Live oaks at Wormsloe Historic Site

Continuing down the road until it ends leads you right to the Visitor Center and a small but ample parking lot. There are set times for a guided tour (no extra fee – it is included in your ticket) that leaves from the Visitor Center every few hours or so.

The Visitor Center has a small gift shop (A for effort but nothing interesting to purchase) and has a small museum that has some points of interest about the Wormsloe-De Renne family that owned (and still owns) the plantation. There are several smaller pathways within the area that you can meander on your own, but we stuck with the tour guide as she golf carted her way around and we followed her for an interesting hourlong history about the plantation, early history of the state of Georgia, and about the Wormsloe-De Renne family.

After the tour was over, Tim and I moseyed our way back to the Visitor Center via a loop that went by an observation deck that looked over the neighboring marsh and some replica houses.

Tim loved this little fence! He really enjoyed the history about Wormsloe.

Forsyth Park Inn

The veranda faces Forsyth Park and was a lovely location for our breakfast the next day!

We headed to our bed and breakfast for the first night, the Forsyth Park Inn. Although our room wasn’t ready for check-in, the concierge was incredibly helpful. This inn had all the charm you would expect of a Victorian, pre-1900s hotel, and everyone was full of Southern hospitality. Booked through Expedia, it was a piece of cake to find parking and get our bearings.

The inn offers a social cocktail hour from 5-6 PM with appetizers and complimentary wine, a dessert after hours (that night was tiramisu), and a breakfast that is part-service, part-continental (ours was waiter-served croissant French toast with turkey sausage with homemade yogurt parfait with self-served hotel breakfast staples).

Downtown Savannah

After getting some recommendations for lunch, we hit the streets of Savannah in search of some Southern vittles. The streets of Savannah are planned out in such a way that it has a very small town and cozy feel despite being such a large city. The downtown area is lined with houses that look exactly perfect for what you’d expect, and the area is peppered with parks and squares and so much greenery you feel like you’re in nature.

That staircase!!

We walked about 0.6 miles to the Crystal Beer Parlor, Savannah’s oldest restaurant located in what used to be a grocery store. Starving as we were, everything looked delicious. We started with fried mushrooms stuffed with cheese (nothing is low-calorie), then Tim opted for a veggie burger with a hazy IPA, and I had a “favorite”–hamburger steak with cole slaw and smashed potatoes, followed by a complimentary mud pie due to a kitchen mix-up. Not only was the food tasty and decently priced, but the mud pie was, as Tim put it, “quite possibly one of the best desserts I’ve ever had… in my life.” Ha! Maybe because it was free 😜

Happy Tim and his hazy IPA

Mud pie – Tim took a spoonful out before I could take a picture!

After lunch, we rolled ourselves out of the parlor moaning and groaning with stretched bellies to wander the downtown Savannah streets.

As we made our way uptown, we stopped at Chippewa Square (the location of the Forrest Gump bench – which has actually been relocated to the Savannah History Museum) to check it out. There is a big statue of James Oglethorpe, the founder of Georgia, right in the center of the square, as well as people walking their dogs or just sitting for a breather.

Statue of James Oglethorpe in Chippewa Square

A lot of the houses in downtown Savannah have porches and verandas or wrought-iron railings that make you feel like you’re in a whole other place and time. I can’t say that many places in California have this nostalgic feeling that makes you wonder what life would have been like way back when.

Our next stop was the Owens-Thomas House and Slave Quarters. This is a very interesting historic home that you can tour and see what a slave’s living quarters were like in the city, as well as tour an antebellum home that was an architectural marvel at the time (built in 1816, it has running water before the White House did!), and then have a chance to learn a little more about slavery.

Part of the Telfair Museums, the admission was $24/person plus tax, but also includes entrance to the other Telfair museums for up to one week after initial date of admission.

The Owens-Thomas House was really fascinating to tour (the tour guide was very knowledgeable and educational), there is a small courtyard garden to see, and we were really happy we did it. I would allot at least 1.5 to 2 hours for both the tour and for the unguided tour of the basement that had a lot of fascinating infographics.

Courtyard garden. It was very charming!

After the tour, it was around 5 PM and we ran out of gas. Having had a prior poor night’s rest, we took the DOT back to the hotel–the DOT is a free-of-charge trolley that runs up and down in a counter-clockwise manner around the downtown are and loops all the way around Forsyth Park. It has several stops along the way and is extremely convenient for transit in the downtown area.

When we got back, we both passed out, woke up to snack a little and get ready for bed, and then fell asleep again.

Forsyth Park

Allot about 30 – 45 minutes

After we got up, we headed downstairs to have breakfast on the veranda with a few of other hotel patrons.  Breakfast included mini muffins, the usual staples of hotel breakfast, as well as homemade granola with yogurt and french toast made out of croissants.  As a side note, this is something that I’m going to need to try at home–the croissant french toast was buttery, rich, and had a crustiness to it that add a depth of textures that was DELICIOUS (and I’m not really a french toast kind of person!).

Tim enjoying the view!

The day before we had peeked a little into Forsyth Park, but today we were able to really take it in.  Located across the street from our inn, Forsyth Park has two parts–one that is more forested with all kinds of live oaks and other trees interspersed with hedges and paths that lead in a star-shape to the centerpiece of the park–the fountain in the center.  This is definitely an iconic image to Savannah (while doing my research, virtually every single blog post or photographic article mentioned or depicted this fountain), and it is very easy to see why everyone talks about it.  After we finished breakfast and checked out, we headed into the park.

The fountain is this large white structure that is framed by trees and plants on all sides, and when standing far down the path, you are rewarded with wedding-quality views of dramatic mossy branches hanging down around the fountain.  It was surprisingly not too crowded on a Saturday morning, but there were plenty of joggers getting their runs in around and through the park.

Forsyth Park Fountain

Bonaventure Cemetery

Allot about 30 – 45 minutes

After we got our fill of the fountain (and some good pictures for our Christmas cards this year), we left Savannah for Bonaventure Cemetery.  This cemetery has been around since for more than 150 years, and has been portrayed by many local artists and more famous artists because of the beautifully somber setting that the cemetery is located it.  It became more famous in recent years, however, since the book and then movie Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil came out depicting the garden.

The garden is open daily from 8 AM – 5 PM, and we wanted to go early to get a head start on our day.  In retrospect, I probably would have done a little more research (and found a map, perhaps) on the garden, as well as the “can’t miss” spots, because when we got there, we had no idea where to go or what to see.  We pretty much drove into the center of the cemetery, pulled over, and started walking around.

I had really gotten too many mosquito bites, but this place was SWARMING.  It is located right next to the Wilmington River, and thus had jillions of little bloodsuckers flying around looking for a tasty meal.  We wandered around and actually stumbled on one of the main sites to see–little Gracie.  Gracie (according to the placard… and Wikipedia) was a 6-year old girl that was the daughter of a hotel manager in Savannah.  She was beloved by all but was struck down with pneumonia one winter and died.  Her parents gave a photograph of her to a sculptor, who then carved a life-like statue of her for her grave, which eventually because famous.  People apparently still leave presents for her at Christmastime.

Little Gracie

We continued to wander around the gravesites just looking at dates and incriptions. Some of the stones had dates of decease around the mid-1800s, and some were as recent as 2008. After a little bit longer, we had our fill of graves (and mosquito bites), and we were off to Charleston!

Charleston, South Carolina

The drive to Charleston was not too bad of a drive–we went back through downtown Savannah, caught the 17N, then the 95N, then the 17N again until we arrived at downtown Charleston.

I think the area that we drove in (combined with a weird trash situation – piles of green waste garbage was everywhere all over the streets and some sidewalks) made us have a less favorable impression of Charleston. I had heard about the charming waterfront and the cute houses, and I was a little confused.

We ended up getting some food at an Italian pizzeria called Monza Pizza Bar, which was actually quite delicious (although pricey). Charleston interestingly enough was more costly than Savannah–all the same foods were several dollars more, parking wasn’t free anywhere and mostly $2/hour, and the sales tax was higher (about 9% vs 7%).

Tim got a veggie pizza that he was really into, and I got a vodka tomato sauce pasta. The pasta was so good that I have been inspired to attempt a vodka sauce of my own! Maybe soon if I have a chance I may add a recipe.

Yum!

Fort Sumter

Allot about 2.5 hours (30 minute ferry ride each way, 1 hour at the fort)

After lunch, we drove over to Liberty Square to get some tickets for the ferry to Fort Sumter. Before this trip, I had no idea what Fort Sumter was all about or what its significance was to the Civil War and American history. I feel much more enlightened now, and more inspired to learn more about the Civil War (since I now realize my knowledge is fairly limited).

Tim about to enter the building!

We paid for two tickets to the fort ($23/person), then perused the small museum before boarding the boat. The boat ride was about 30 minutes, and actually didn’t have very much information regarding history (I thought there would be more), but I was mostly focused on avoiding seasickness so I didn’t think too much on that.

Fort Sumter! The first flag that ever flew there had 33 stars! Something interesting: the fort used to be 3 stories tall, but during the war, it was so badly damaged by cannonfire that it is now much shorter.

When we arrived, we disembarked and cross a pier bridge to the actual fort. Since our tour was the last one of the day, we heard a very interesting summary of Fort Sumter’s place in history, as well as assisted the rangers in taking down the U.S. flag (it took about 25 people!). We walked around the top of the fort, read some infographics, checked out the museum, and then it was already time to return. They only give you about 1 hour to explore the area, so you have to move fairly quickly.

After a smooth ferry ride back, we headed to the Waterfront Park to find the famous pineapple fountain and check out the views.

Waterfront Park

Allot 30 minutes if walking very slow pace

Parking was not to hard to find–we parked on Market Street (which was a happy coincidence, because we ended the day at the City Market on that very same street). Walking through the Waterfront Park was such a pleasant albeit humid experience. Charleston really was improving in our eyes (I think we had a bad first impression), and this park was really nice. The path meanders along the shore but is parallel to a treelined brick walkway that makes you feel like you’re in a completely different place altogether. We followed the path until it turned inward and kept walking.

The famous Pineapple Fountain! It was… just a fountain. Haha.
Walking along the waterfront–the low seagrass on the left made it feel SO east coast.

We continued walking until we hit Rainbow Row–this is a series of shops that had been built in the 1600s, but were completely remodeled and repainted in the 1930s and 1940s in pastel shades, earning them the name “Rainbow Row.” It comprised a series of townhome-type buildings that were Insta-perfect and we saw more than one gaggle of girls taking pictures every which way. Although I don’t really blame them–this street was quite photogenic with its hidden courtyards and wrought-iron embellishments.

Rainbow Row

We turned north on Bay Street, then headed west on Broad Street just wandering around, and then stumbled onto the Blind Tiger Pub. It was PACKED inside, and there wasn’t anywhere to sit but the bar. The pub was really old-fashioned but modern inside and had a really cool brick courtyard in the back that had more seating (but no A/C in 80% humidity..). Tim got a local brew and we shared some truffle fries and cole slaw for a quick snack.

After that, we headed north again on Church Street, passed the St. Phillip’s Cemetery, and then ended at the City Market. Unfortunately for us, the market switches between 6 PM and 6:30 PM from day vendors to night vendors–and it was just about 6:20 PM, so all the day vendors were already gone and the night vendors were still setting up.

It was a peaceful little spot in the middle of the busy part of Charleston–a quiet place to reflect away from the traffic and people.

I had heard about Kaminsky’s Dessert Cafe as a tasty place for dessert, so we stopped in there for a espresso milkshake (Tim) and a hot cider (me). The cider was just okay, but Tim sucked down that espresso so fast I barely even got a picture of it! They had a huge assortment of pies, cakes, desserts, and boozy milkshakes, but we weren’t really feeling any of it.

The boozes they can add to the milkshakes!

After we finished, we strolled through the City Market and saw some of the booths all set up–your typical tourist fare of random knick knacks, weird paintings, homemade jewelry, and some assorted snacks. This was something that was pretty skippable, but also fine to stroll through if you don’t have anything else to do.

Before leaving, I wanted to drive around the “nice” area (translation: million dollar plus homes) just to look around, and I wasn’t disappointed. This was the Charleston that I wish we had seen when we first arrived, because it took our breath away. In the south point of the island (?) is the Battery, where all kinds of antebellum mansions and the White Point Garden is located right next to the ocean, even closer to the water than the Waterfront Park.

These homes are EXACTLY what I imagined Charleston to look like. There were huge three-story mansions with balconies and verandas on every level, gaslit lamps, manicured gardens, iron fences, and everything you could want in a house built in the 1800s. Something that I thought was so cool was that some of the houses had a faux front door on the street that would lead onto the first floor veranda, and THEN there was the real front door that wasn’t even accessible to the public. After that, we headed back to the hotel and called it a day!

The left hand door is the faux front door, and the real front door is in the middle of the patio.

Downtown Savannah… Take Two!

We had plans to visit a plantation in the morning, but we were just feeling so lazy (and also the one we wanted to see didn’t open until 11 AM). After all, sometimes it’s nice to actually relax on vacation (something that my family is not so great at doing, hehe). We ended up eating breakfast at the hotel, then headed back to Savannah at a casual pace. For some reason, it was only an hour and 45 minute drive (the drive there was 30 minutes longer for some reason despite there being no traffic), and we headed back to downtown Savannah to see the rest of the things we missed.

We parked on Bay Street (one street over from the river), which happened to be right in the center of where we wanted to go. First stop was Leopold’s Ice Cream! The line was out the door about 20 people long. The wait wasn’t too bad since the humidity was down a little from what it was before, but the little lovebugs (these mating flies joined at the butt) kept landing on everyone in a most annoying kind of way.

Established in 1919!

I got the banana ice cream and Tim got the chocolate chip, and it was worth the wait!! The waffle cone was so crispy and flaky; it was probably one of the best waffle cones I’ve ever tried, and the banana ice cream was super velvety but not too sweet in a good way. We also go a pimento sandwich (had to go Southern), which was like eating a grilled cheese sandwich with cheese in it that wasn’t quite melted (and actually cold). It wasn’t my cup of tea, but Tim liked it well enough!

Telfair Academy

Allot 1 – 1.5 hours

Next stop was the Telfair Academy, which was included with our admission to the Owens-Thomas House ticket. This Regency house really reminded me of certain squares that I have been to in London where all the house face this mini-park in the center, it has columns along the front porch, and a double staircase that meets in the middle with a lawn surrounded by an iron fence. Since Savannah has maintained the same street structure since it was built, this doesn’t really surprise me that sometimes it feels a little bit British.

Telfair Academy of Arts & Sciences

The Academy itself was quite small, as it only has 3 floors–the first has a few originally decorated rooms, some artwork by 19th century artists I hadn’t heard of, some plaster sculptures, the second has a huge salon that feels very French in style with an interesting replica kitchen, and the third has architectural information about the man that designed the house as well as the Owens-Thomas House and a few other prominent homes in Savannah, William Jay.

The salon was quite interesting, especially this painting. The way the room was designed made it feel like you could imagine some kind of party or ball happening in that very room.

This was supposed to be the Hundred Years War, but I don’t quite remember who the Black Knight was. Tim said this was his favorite.

The third floor had a lot of interesting architectural tidbits, as well as a small exhibit dedicated to Bonaventure Cemetery as well as the Bird Girl statue that used to be at the cemetery. This exhibit was fascinating, and I really enjoyed the artwork of Bonaventure Cemetery. Even though it is a resting place for the dead, it doesn’t feel like it at all, and this can be felt in all the artwork that depicts it. It really feels like a peaceful and silent park rather than a huge graveyard.

Bird Girl statue made famous by the cover of the book, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.

After the Academy, we walked through the City Market of Savannah. This was essentially the same type of open air market area, but it was actually even less interesting than the one in Charleston. All the stores were kind of meh (though Tim did manage to find a place with a moonshine smoothie), and the market only spanned about 2 blocks. We walked up to River Street down some extremely steep historic steps (I told Tim he had better utilize the handrail since he was still drinking his smoothie), and then checked out the riverfront.

The riverfront was your typical tourist area with random art galleries, clothing shops, seafood restaurants, and souvenir memorabilia, but we WERE able to find an art gallery that had something we were looking for. Tim and I like to find some interesting artwork from our travels, and I knew that I wanted something that showcased the live oak trees. We ended up purchasing a photograph print of oak trees in one of the many squares in downtown Savannah in the early morning mist.

We ened up heading back to the car from there since the day was winding down, and after a quick detour to drive by the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, we headed for our hotel. After a quick check-in and some afternoon football, we had dinner at Sam Snead’s (it was surprisingly tasty and nicer than we expected), returned to the hotel, and that was it!

Quick car photo of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. Reviews say that the interesting is quite interesting, but we were just too pooped to go inside.

Returning the car was a piece of cake, and Savannah Airport might be the easiest airport I’ve ever flown out of!

Until next time,

– Sara

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Visiting the Huntington Library in Pasadena, CA

This past June, Tim started having every other Friday off with his work schedule, so we decided to start making an effort to do more interesting things on those off Fridays instead of staying home and watching TV or playing video games. A few weeks ago, we did a family trip to the Huntington Library since my siblings also happened to have the day off and my parents are perpetually on vacation (hehe). Despite having lived in Southern California my entire life, I’d never been to the Library! The Library was originally on a plot of land owned by Henry Huntington and his wife, Arabella Huntington, that they lived on in San Marino, CA. He was a railroad magnate, and both he and his wife were big collectors of art, which is now the basis for all the art collections featured at the Library.

We went early on Friday (it opens at 10 AM on Fridays), and parking was a breeze. Admission was $25/person or $21 with a student ID. On weekends, it is a few dollars more. There were a lot of summer school groups at the time and I was concerned when we were paying for admission, until I realized how HUGE the grounds of the Library were. It is actually comprised of multiple museums, the library itself, tons of gardens, and restaurants, so there is no issue with crowding or too many people.

A veritable desert oasis!

We started by walking south on the main pathway and then curving left on a loop that began in the Desert Garden. It was AMAZING!! If you love succulents and cacti of various shapes and sizes, this is the place for you. There is an app for the Huntington that you can input numbers along the path of get some info (although cell reception is a little poor), or else there are lots of little mini signs that tell you what you’re looking at and where it came from.

More cacti!
Succulent flower – this one was called “April Dawn.”
Little furry ball cacti

It was really fun pretending to be “tourists” in California. There are so many things to do that we haven’t done before (or like my parents, hadn’t been to the Huntington Library in 40 years), and it was nice to spend the day with my family. The last time we did a family vacation was over 10 years ago on the East Coast, and this was a good time!

Family photo!

We wandered through the Desert Garden and then made our way back to the main path to check out the Lily Ponds. There weren’t that many flowers, but the lotuses that were there were really pretty!

Turned towards the sun!
Turtle power!

We left the Lily Ponds, and then kept walking through the Jungle Garden and Subtropical Garden until we reached the Japanese Garden. I think the Japanese Garden and the Chinese Gardens were my most favorite part of the entire trip! The bamboo was really tall, and there were these winding elevated wooden pathways through the forest until it reached a bonsai garden, and then past that, a little bridge by a waterfall, and then finally, a replica house of a traditional Japanese house.

Chinese Elm bonsai
Tim inspecting the Zen Garden with all its bonsai!
My pop and Ben. If you go down those steps and across the bridge, it leads to the Japanese house that you can see in the doorway.
Mom and Pop next to the guardian lion dogs!
Traditional Japanese house
Bridge in the Japanese Garden

After we strolled through the Japanese Garden, we continued on the high path overlooking this little ravine area that had tons more plants and grassy areas with a bridge crossing the stream.

The Chinese Garden was less foresty and more about interesting structures over a pond. There was a restaurant within the garden that had dumplings and noodles and had our mouths watering. The seating area was in the glass and wood pagoda-style house that was quite aesthetically pleasing too!

The seating area for the restaurant styled in a traditional Chinese way
This doorway reminds me of Mulan.. hehe.
Pond behind the structures. It was a really pleasant day!

After we walked through the Chinese Garden, we came upon the Conservatory. This is where the Corpse Flower lives! Inside the Conservatory, it was super warm and humid–maybe around 88 degrees Fahrenheit and about 97% humidity. The Conservatory also has separate rooms so you can feel what it is like to be in a rainforest, a cloud forest, and a carnivorous plant bog.

They have multiple Corpse Flower buds that were growing (the biggest one was growing almost 6 inches DAILY!), but nothing had bloomed yet. When it blooms, it can be as tall as 8 feet high and emits this smell of rotting meat. Too bad we didn’t get to sniff it! Hehe.

Scentennial, the Corpse Flower, with my dad in the background. Hehe.

At this point, everyone was getting really hungry, and we had plans to see the Gamble House as well, but it was getting too late in the day, so we decided to just finish the other museums and see the Gamble House on another day.

We walked over to the American Art Gallery directly across the lawn from the Conservatory, and it ended up being a sizeable museum for what seem quite small on the outside. Something to note is that water bottles of any kind are not allowed in any of the museums (so if it doesn’t fit in your bag, keep that in mind because they make you leave it at the entrance if they see you holding it).

Walking into the American Art Museum

I actually didn’t take that many pictures in this museum, but it did have an interesting room of American Arts and Crafts-style wooden furniture and home decor made by the Greene brothers, two very popular architects that made their mark in Pasadena from the early 1900s to the 1950s.

Next stop was the mansion, which is the Huntington Art Gallery, where most of the European art is held. This is the actual mansion that the Huntingtons lived in, so it has a library that was Henry Huntington’s original office, as well as dining rooms, living rooms, and salons. The big attraction here is the restoration of the artwork, Blue Boy, by Thomas Gainsbourough. It is currently being restored due to damage from age, and guests of the Library are able to watch an artist do the restoration live. It was a fun thing to tour a mansion from the Gilded Age, especially if you are into that era, and it was very reminiscent of mansions in Europe, and the influence is unmistakable.

The final stop of our trip was the actual Huntington Library. When you walk in, the first thing you can see is the Exhibition Hall. It has a little bit of everything on display for you just to get a taste of what the library has to offer, ranging from all periods of time and eras with all types of media. The big things to offer are a Gutenberg Bible, an original Chaucer story from the Canterbury Tales, and an original copy of Shakespeare texts.

One exhibit I found particularly fascinating was a history of maps of the world, showing maps from the early 1600s when men were just beginning to navigate the globe. It was especially interesting because as decades passed, you could see the maps developing from a mysterious blob of the Americas to more and more details that eventually became something recognizable to today’s maps.

Janejira Thai Bistro

After we finished in the Library, we ended up going to get some dinner in downtown Pasadena at Janejira Thai Bistro. Our original plan was to go to Nine & Nine Thai Kitchen next door, but actually they didn’t have much space to seat a group of 6 since it was lunchtime on a Friday, so we went a little down the block. The food there was pretty good as far as Thai food goes! The lunch specials were really hearty for a decent price (I didn’t even take pictures because everyone dug in before I could!), and the Thai tea was delicious. After lunch, we split up and that was the end of our first “Tourist LA” day.

Until next time!

– Sara

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Quick Trip to Aspendell, CA

In the 1960s, Tim’s grandpa built a cabin himself in the mountains above Bishop, CA, in the small town of Aspendell. Named after the many little groves of aspen trees all over the area, Tim’s grandpa spent a lot of time at his cabin fishing, hiking, and enjoying the scenery of the Eastern Sierras. Unfortunately, I never had the privilege to meet his Papa John, but he was loved dearly by many and respected by even more. One of his final wishes was to have his and his faithful dog, Boss’s, ashes scattered at the base of Cardinal Peak by his sons and grandsons in a very clearly marked spot.

We drove up to Aspendell on a late Wednesday night after Tim’s work and my school with minimal stops. Last year, we made a weekend trip to Lone Pine and Whitney Portal for a siblings attempt at Mount Whitney, so I had seen a lot of the scenery before and I wasn’t too bummed about missing the sights of the drive.

The drive was a peaceful one–very few people were on the road, and all the stars and the Milky Way were visible as we cruised up the 395 and then headed up the mountain to Aspendell.

The next morning, all of Papa John’s children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren gathered together to remember him for a moment before the scattering of the ashes.

All the cousins!

Pap John loved the Eastern Sierras and Aspendell so much that he took a picture of Cardinal’s Peak and circled exactly where he wanted his final resting place to be.

No easy task to reach the peak!
This is a view of Cardinal Peak from the General Store.

While the sons and grandsons went up the mountain, the rest of us waited down at the field below to observe their progress.  Among all of us, we had a single pair of binoculars, so we spent a lot of time trying to pick out the small figures climbing up the steep grade squinting and saying, “I think that’s someone?” or “There they are! … but I can’t tell who that is!”

Look at that little rascal!!

When they finally reached the top (maybe an hour and a half later), they walkie-talkied down saying, “We are releasing the ashes,” and then it was done.  It was a pretty emotional moment, especially for those closest to Papa John.

After the summit to the base of Cardinal Peak was completed, the six hikers returned to camp, recovered, and then we had our memorial lunch at the Cardinal Valley Lodge where everyone who wanted to got to share something about Papa John.

Tim and his brothers. Can you tell they are related?? Hehe.
All the boys
Tim’s dad with his siblings – the three children of Papa John

After our lunch festivities, we all hung around a little longer, and then everyone split up to their respective lodgings. Tim and I decided to go fishing with his dad, and on the way, we stopped at Papa John’s original cabin that he had built in the 1960s. It was a nostalgic moment for Tim, who hadn’t seen the cabin since his grandfather sold it, but still remembered all the fun times that he had when he had stayed at it. Apparently, not too much had changed.

The original cabin!
Tim’s grandpa loved bird watching! This is a birdhouse that he had built and mounted almost 20 years ago.. And it was still there!

After taking a quick peek at the cabin, we headed to the reservoir to try our luck at fishing. The day before, Tim’s dad had caught a few trout, so we were hoping for the same.

A lesson on how to attach a worm to a hook
Action shot!

We fished for about an hour and a half, where I learned to cast a fishing line and Tim decided he wanted to buy a fishing pole and go fishing more often.  Hehe.  It was quite nice to spend time with Tim’s dad and just enjoy the silence and the nature and the relaxation that comes with fishing in a lake.

A boy and his father

The rest of our day was pretty uneventful–we had dinner at the cabin with just Tim’s immediate family, made s’mores, and then turned in for an early night.

The next morning, Andy had the idea of having all three brothers run from the 395 highway back up the mountain to Aspendell–a mere 17 miles.  Tim’s dad dropped them off at 6:30 AM and followed them as they ran, making sure they were hydrated (and still alive. Hehe.).  Tim conked out after 12 miles, and Jeff after maybe 14 miles.  Andy was the last brother standing as he ran back to the Cardinal Village Resort and arrived sometime later.

Once everyone got back, we made some hasty goodbyes and headed home to pick up the doggies and stop for a quick diner breakfast in Bishop at Jack’s. Whenever Tim has done a long run, he almost ALWAYS wants a huge plate of American breakfast–usually some kind of omelette with a huge stack of pancakes. Today was no exception. Jack’s pretty much fit the bill of American breakfast diner fare to a T.

It’s funny how similar Bishop feels to the town of Lone Pine. Last year when we went to Lone Pine, we ate at an American restaurant that felt almost IDENTICAL to Jack’s. I think a lot of these small mountain towns on the eastern side of the Sierras feel very similar in look and feel. Hmm.

Jack’s Restaurant and Bakery

Because I like to collect stickers to put on my suitcase and Tim likes to put metal signs up in the garage, we stopped at the 395 Souvenir Store to pick some up, and then began the 4.5 hour drive home.

Tim’s collection of signs is growing!

Until next time!

– Sara

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Siblings in SLO!

Ben’s birthday just passed, and this year, the siblings decided to go to San Luis Obispo for the weekend!  Last year for his birthday, we did a Siblings in Seattle over the long weekend, and this year we ended up having a little more of a relaxed time driving up to the coast to Central California.  Since this was technically Ben’s birthday weekend excursion, we picked SLO because it was his old college town and he wanted to revisit some of his old hangout spots.

Stop #1: Goleta, CA

We spent Friday night at Casey’s in-laws’ home in Goleta, CA.  Tim was really enjoying the drive and pointing out various local spots since he lived in Isla Vista for two years during college.  The home we stayed at is in the hills above Goleta and has an avocado orchard on the property.  We arrived after dark, so it was hard to see the surrounding area, but the next morning, it was a really nice day!

Hass avocados from the orchard. So delicious!!
Ben and Casey striking a pose!

After a delicious breakfast, we headed to church in Santa Barbara. We stayed for the service, then said goodbye to Casey’s in-laws, and then it was on to the next stop.. Solvang!

Walking through the courtyard to the main chapel area.

Stop #2: Solvang

Welcome to Solvang, the Danish capital of America!

We north on the 154 highway past Lake Cachuma and past the Chumash Casino (one of Ben’s old card hangouts back in the day), and then arrived at Solvang.  Parking was pretty difficult to find–there was a lot of street parking and some free public lots, but it looked like lots of people thought it was a good Saturday afternoon to visit Solvang.

The whole time before go to Solvang, I actually thought it was Dutch (haha..) before we got there, and I was quite surprised to find that it was ACTUALLY Danish.  I was looking forward to having some Dutch fare to remind me of Amsterdam.

I had been to Solvang once before when I was young, but the only thing I remembered were the tandem bicycles and the 4-person Surrey bikes as well as the windmills.  With that being said, Solvang was pretty much what I remembered it to be.  Hehe.  There were lots of windmills around, Danish facades on the houses, and a lot of tchotchke shops and other random souvenirs.

Hans Christian Andersen bust in the center of town! (if Tim isn’t blinking, then Jane is!)

One really cool shop worth a visit is the Renaissance Antiques shop. It’s full of really interesting antiques and musical boxes that they will play upon request! The coolest thing I saw was this Virtuoso Violin, which is essentially a player piano but for violins (though after just doing a quick Google search, it turns out it was invented in 1998.. -_-).

Right near the village green on the corner
Full of really cool stuff!

After the antique shop, we visited the Hans Christian Andersen museum, which ended up being an upper floor of a puzzle/bookshop. This is definitely a skippable stop–I literally walked up, poked around a bit, and walked downstairs. I think this is really for kids maybe 10 and under.

Ben and Jane waiting for Casey and Tristan to finish up the museum

We were all getting quite hungry, especially since it was maybe around 2 PM, so we started heading towards the Mortensen’s Bakery, which is one of the “must-sees” of Solvang. Across from the bakery, we first went into the Solvang Spice Merchant shop, which was a cool little shop with an array and large selection of different spices and rubs.

Ben pointing out some spice!

I ended up buying a Santa Maria Red Rub–it will be a tasty rub to try on a steak or tri-tip when summer rolls around. I love collecting things when I travel, but as I’ve gotten a little older and traveled more, I stopped buying most souvenirs except: smashed pennies (I LOVE collecting these! Especially from other countries!), herbs and spices, and snacks. Sometimes I will purchase artwork if it seems like it would fit in our Bear House, but mostly it ends up being snacks.

At this point, we were REALLY hungry and in search of food that wasn’t going to cost us an arm and a leg. Since Casey and Tim are both vegetarian, we can’t always just eat wherever since we like to give them more choices than just a veggie burger.

Right near the bakery in a small mini plaza was a cluster of restaurants, so we headed over there. The place we chose was called Fresco Valley Cafe which, despite its blah exterior, was surprisingly delicious and excellent value. I was torn between the tuna melt and the seared ahi burger, and I ended up going for the ahi burger. It ended up being quite tasty, and the fries were exceptional. Tim and my sister split a veggie sandwich and grilled cheese entree, and according to both of them, it was delicious!

Seared ahi burger and fries. Yum!
Tim’s half veggie sandwich and half grilled cheese. The grilled cheese had some toasted Parmesan on the outside that made it crunchy and savory.

After that, we headed back to Mortensen’s Bakery for some overprice Danish desserts and pastries–though to be honest, they were pretty good, and how many times are you actually in Solvang?  After this trip, probably not that often.  Hehe.

Mortensen’s Bakery
Casey, Tristan, and Ben displaying their pastries

After the pastries, we headed back to our car to drive 2 miles to the next stop…

Stop #3: Ostrich Land, U.S.A.

This was a quick hop back on the 246 Highway, and then a quick left into a gravel and dirt parking lot.  This was a really pretty tree-lined stretch of the highway, and then you pull into this parking lot with high 8-foot fences so you can’t see the birds at all without paying the fare.

The ticket to get into Ostrich Land was $5, and $1 for a little dog dish with a handle full of pellets to feed the birds.  To be honest, it didn’t look like much from the outside, and I was beginning to doubt my suggestion to stop here.  There was a line of about 20 people out the door waiting to pay, so we got in line (in the gift shop) and checked out some ostrich memorabilia while we waited. 

At this point, it was maybe around 4:30 PM, so something to note is that a lot of online reviewers mentioned getting there earlier to feed the ostriches when they were still hungry, and that later in the day, they get pretty full.  Knowing this, we opted out of buying any ostrich food, since a few people had returned their food bowls since the birds weren’t feeling very hungry anymore.

Talk about a rough exterior!

After we paid, we walked through the door past a few ostrich and emu infographics to see this!

Those are some big birds!

Apparently, ostriches full grown are about 9-feet tall and have eyeballs the size of tennis balls.  Although the tennis ball thing sounds a little bit too large, they were pretty gigantic birds.

Looking at the emus, I could see how they might be related to dinosaurs somehow.  They had this weird, wild look to them (more than the ostriches, anyhow) and looked a little frightening.

The emus were terrifying
It was huge when it stood up!

Something funny happened while we were at the ostrich farm:  while everyone was standing around checking them out (there were tons of families with small children, adults of varied age, and teenagers), one of the big ostriches started making this really weird guttural sound with this throat.  It had been lying there, and then all of a sudden it stood up while making this noise, so of course everyone rushes over to that pen to see what it was about to do.  It stood up, and then all of sudden, something large (and obscene) unfurled from behind the ostrich, and splorted right on the ground.  Everyone was like, “what is that… huh??… EWW!!!!”  It was both disgusting but simultaneously hilarious, as everyone gave a collect, eeeeEEEEWWW!!!

Needless to say, this incident created a great deal of ostrich jokes for the rest of the trip.  Hehe.

After this quick stop (probably no more than 45 minutes or so), we headed back onto the 246 Highway to the 101 Freeway to our next destination.

Stop #4: Pismo Beach

Our next stop was Pismo Beach! We drove to the downtown area, got lucky with beach parking, and headed for the Pismo Beach Pier. It was getting close to sunset, so it was a really nice time to be at the beach. It was more crowded than usual (or so I was told), but it was also Memorial Day weekend.

Tim posing for me

The pier walk was really pleasant, and there were lots of families strolling around, as well as fishermen casting some lines to catch some fish.

My favorite model
Group photo (minus me)
Ben took this picture for us!
Look out!!!
Pier shot!

After walking around the downtown area, we headed back to our cars and drove the last leg of our drive for the day to San Luis Obispo.

Stop #5: San Luis Obispo

We got to SLO and then checked into our suite at the Embassy Suites. After we relaxed, enjoyed their happy hour in the main area, we went to downtown SLO to meet up with one of Ben’s best friends from college and groomsman, John. Ben gave us a mini driving tour of SLO as we drove to dinner by showing us the taco place he used to eat at (though it used to be called something else), the first apartment he lived in his first year, the apartment he lived in for the rest of his years at school, and the Taco Bell that makes a ton of money since it’s the only place open after midnight anywhere.

While we waited for John, we checked out some of the little shops and walked over to the Mission San Luis Obispo. A few years ago, Casey and Tristan made it their goal to visit every single mission in California (which they did). Tim and I don’t have the same desire. Hehe.

Something I always think about whenever I go to Europe (or other countries too) is how old the buildings are in the cities. These buildings are hundreds if not 1,000 years old, and yet the locals walk around them like they don’t even notice it! The oldest buildings in California are probably the missions, and those are probably only around 300ish years old.

I guess if you were used to seeing old buildings and structures every day as part of your commute, you’d probably stop noticing them. Hmm.

Tristan throwing up a shaka in front of the mission!

Afterwards, we met up with John at Firestone Grill.  This is one of Ben’s favorite (if not THE favorite) place to eat in SLO.  He didn’t even have to tell me that; if ever tri-tip sandwiches comes up in conversation, inevitably Ben will mention the tri-tip sandwiches from Firestone and how nothing can beat them. 

A lot of people evidently share this opinion, since when we got there, the line was probably 40 people long and out the door into the courtyard.  The line goes really fast, and there is a lot of seating, so it wasn’t too bad of a wait.   We luckily snagged a table inside since it was getting chilly and waited for our food.

The price at Firestone is really excellent value–when they give you a basket of fries, it is a BASKET.  The sandwiches were HUGE and probably like 6 layers of tri-tip on a super crispy (and yet soft) buttery french roll.  Tim gave the veggie sandwich two thumbs up and devoured a ton of onion rings.  Pictures don’t do the food justice, so if you are headed that way, just take my word for it and check it out.  You won’t be disappointed!  After dinner, we were all pooped, so we headed back to the hotel to sleep.

Stop #6: Hearst Castle

Our next stop on our trip was… the Hearst Castle!! I really enjoy this place, and no trip to the Central Coast would have been complete without stopping here. Prices are decent too–if you buy a ticket on site (no time reservation), it is $25; if you buy on on Recreation.gov, it is $25 + $8 for a online fee.

When we were younger, I want to say I was around 8 years old or so, our parents took us on a 4th of July trip up to Hearst Castle and Monterey Bay. I remember this trip as being such a cool roadtrip, as we drove up in our family sedan (my parents never bought a minivan), and checked out the area. My father is a general contractor that designed and built our family home himself, so I think he really loved the aspect of the Hearst Castle that Hearst had this dream to build a huge house on a hill that overlooked everything in his own little kingdom, and especially the fact that Hearst just went for it and fulfilled his dream.

I think visiting the Hearst Castle when we were younger might have sparked my brother’s interest in architecture as well, and it was just a really great memory. When Tim and I have kids, we’re definitely taking a roadtrip up here!

The drive from SLO to San Simeon was a rainy and gray drive through several sleepy beach towns, and really relaxing. So relaxing that Tim told me to stop playing gentle piano music because it was making him sleepy. Hehe.

Driving through Cayucos. Pretty quiet on Sunday morning.
Welcome to the Hearst Castle!

Once we got to the Hearst Castle parking lot, we parked and went into the main lobby area to check in and get our wristbands for the tour.  It was pretty packed (our reservation was at 12:30 PM), so if you plan to visit on a holiday weekend, perhaps the online reservation is a good move.  There are also a BUNCH of penny smashing machines there too.  Maybe too many.  Hehe.

After you check in, there is a little tram waiting area outside where you go to different gates depending on which tour you’re doing.  We did the Grand Rooms tour (which was good since last time Tim and I went–coincidentally 6 years earlier to the weekend, we did the Upper Rooms tour).

View on the winding tram ride of the ocean and rolling golden hills

As soon as we got off the tram, the tour began of the outer parts of the property, and then moved indoors.  If you haven’t been in the last 6 years, they changed the way the tours work.  First, groups will go with the walking tour guide around the outside and then indoors for about an hour, and then when the tour is concluded, you are free to roam the gardens at your own pace to check things out.  At the end, you exit the grounds through the famous indoor pools and get on the tram immediately to take you back to the base area.

Casa del Sol – one of the guest “cottages” that would house celebrities of the times while they stayed on Hearst’s estate.
Neptune Pool – the columns and artwork were all real art pieces and portions of structures in ancient Europe – Hearst had them brought here to give his estate a feeling of authenticity.
The excessively elaborate front door. All the pieces were taken from many different places, and thrown together in this mish mash of world history. A little over the top.
This was the Refectory (dining room). It was the ONLY dining room on the whole property–Hearst wanted everyone to eat together. Apparently, this inspired the long dining tables that they depicted in the Harry Potter movies.
The Billiard Room. Lots of Spanish influence in this room and on the ceiling. The term, “pool,” comes from the idea that when gambling at billiards, all the money is placed together in a pool to be won.
Group shot with Neptune Pool in the background
Tim got scolded by staff immediately after this picture. Hehe.
View of the Mediterranean garden and another guest cottage
Certainly a very distinct profile.
The Roman Pool – this was part of the “gym” area with a weightlifting area and beneath the tennis courts. Last stop before getting on the shuttle!

After we concluded our tour and inspection of the grounds, we headed back to the parking lot on the shuttle. Everyone was feeling a bit hungry, so we decided on one last stop in Cambria before heading home.

Stop #7: Cambria, CA

The final stop on our trip was Linn’s Easy as Pie Cafe, which my sister saw on a blog as a “must-see” stop. We stopped here to try the olallieberry pie (a mix of raspberry and blackberry flavors). I also got a cup of the olallieberry lemonade (which was delicious until I spilled the uncovered cup all over my car).

The cafe itself is an order-at-the-counter type of place, and they give you a number and bring it to you. The inside had all kinds of farmy decor with an outdoor feel–the tables were covered with vinyl table cloths and had patio chairs for sitting.

Very nondescript exterior.
Olallieberry pie — we ended up purchasing an entire pie and cut it into 6 pieces.
It was pretty delicious!

As far as pies go, I would say that this was a fine pie. It wasn’t so amazingly delicious that I would go out of my way to tell everyone about it, but it is definitely would be worth a mention if they told me they were coming up this way. The crust was super buttery and flaky, and the inside was not overly sweet as some berry pies are wont to be.

My sister-in-law, Jane, loves to bake pies, and she is rather good at a tasty apple pie, so maybe my pie standards are too high (see our Pie ‘n Burger review at the bottom of the JPL post).

BUT, with all this being said, the olallieberry lemonade was absolutely fantastic. It wasn’t too sweet, there was absolutely no fruity bits (it was probably really well-strained), and it was this really pleasant pinkish color. (I will say I tried to recreate this when I got home with blackberries, but either I didn’t put enough sugar or I put too much lemon juice and it wasn’t nearly as tasty).

Mmmm. Olallieberry lemonade!

After the quick pie stop, we hit the road again for the long haul back to Southern California.  We stopped at the Costco in Santa Maria for gas and Starbs, then to our parents’ house for a homecooked Vietnamese meal.

The next day, we hit the pickle ball courts (they were PACKED with retirees), hit around a few balls, and then went to Casey and Tristan’s house for a laidback Memorial Day BBQ.  Tristan makes a fine cheeseburger, if I do say so myself!

We also did a a salt tasting test using different types of sea salts, salts from around the world, as well as Morton’s table salt, to see if the regular person could differentiate expensive salts from other salts.  The consensus was… no.  The only thing that everyone agreed on was that the table salt was the identifiable and extremely salty in comparison.  Next up, RC Cola vs. Shasta!!  Hehe.

Tim and I headed home to pick up Winnie and Charlie from the dog sitter, and we just relaxed for the rest of the evening before our work week ahead.

Until next time!

– Sara

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Updates and 2018 Photo Album

Hello all!  It’s been a little bit since the last post, and so I thought I would just write a little something here since Memorial Day weekend is coming to a close.

It’s been a busy past few weeks and weekends (surprise, surprise!), but life goes on.  It just never feels like there is enough time in the day to get everything we want done, but I think just about everyone our age feels the same way (maybe).  This past weekend, we did a Siblings Roadtrip up the coast, traveling through Santa Barbara, Solvang, Santa Maria, Pismo Beach, San Luis Obispo, and San Simeon, and then back home again to have a Memorial Day BBQ and spend time with our parents.  After that, we came home for some R&R, as our vacations are rarely anything but relaxing!  Hehe.

We have a lot of posts in the works, they just haven’t left our brains and our phones to make it to the Bearhouse blog just yet.  Some exciting posts coming up are:

  • Amsterdam and Belgium travel post (this monkey on my back just won’t quit!  I started the post but just need to keep chipping away at it)
  • Grand Canyon travel post (Tim, Charlie, Winnie, and I all traveled to the Grand Canyon about a month ago during my spring break.  It was fun… and exhausting camping with two dogs.  This short post is also forthcoming)
  • Siblings Roadtrip post (this is the trip we JUST took.  I’ll give myself sometime before I post this.  Or see if it’s easier to post when it’s still fresh in my brain)
  • Doghouse post (Tim built a doghouse over the past couple months…  It was necessary but at the same time, completely over the top.  He built a foundational platform, framing, it has a staircase, shingled roof, and a deck on top.  Tentative name: Cattle Dog Clubhouse – “No cats allowed!”)
  • More recipe posts – apparently, the Air Fryer Waffle Fries post is my most popular post!  I think I need to capitalize on this and maybe post more recipe posts.  Some things I’m thinking about are vegetarian sausage pasta (AKA snausta) or some other veggie pasta dishes that I’ve made.  We’ll see.

But really, I need to get cracking on these posts since we have a busy summer up ahead.  Tim is about to get every other Friday off as well, and we’ll be checking out things in Southern California this summer, so the sooner we can get these posts up, the sooner we can post about other things.

The other thing that I wanted to mention is that I just completed my 2018 photo album.  A goal of mine last January 2018 was to create a vehicle for photographic memories that I could look back on easily.  It’s fine to have photos on your phone and when the moment strikes, you can scroll back through the years at your leisure, but if you’re like me, you have 9,000+ photos on your phone and then you end up only looking at the same photos over and over because you have so many it’s impossible to really look at them all.

I ended up purchasing this photo album on Amazon, which worked fine for me.  It holds 300 4×6 photos, which seemed like plenty if I allotted 25 photos per month.  I just finished putting photos in (literally 30 minutes ago), and I had 13 photo spaces remaining.  I essentially went through ALL my photos (phone and DSLR camera combined), added the ones I liked to an album on Costco.com, and printed them all.  I did January through July last August, and then was working on August through Christmas for the last… maybe 9 months.

I’m not gonna say it was easy to do, but I WILL say that it is definitely rewarding!  My sister does photo books every year through Shutterfly, but I found this to be more my speed.  This album gave me a small space to write a quick blurb or memo, so I tried to be specific with pictures so that in 20 years when I look at this with my kids, I’ll be able to tell them where I was and who I was with and what I was doing.

This experience makes my memories feel a little more tangible and a little more memorable–if it was a good experience (or at least an important one), it made the cut!  I think this will make some of my 2018 experiences something I can actually physically look back on, and something I can show my (future) children when they (and me) are older.  I definitely hope that I can be a bit quicker with my 2019 album (start it promptly in July), so that I don’t get 9 months behind like I did for this one.  We’ll see!

Anyways, until next time!

– Sara

Preview pics:

Cattle Dog Clubhouse
Picture with the Neptune Pool at the Hearst Castle behind us!
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Forest Lawn Excursion and Shake Shack Review

In many Asian cultures, it is very common to commemorate the anniversary of someone’s passing rather than their birthday. For our family, we do this by visiting my grandparents’ gravesite every so often.

My maternal grandparents are both buried at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills, and for as long as I can remember (and been alive), we have visited their gravesites there. We used to go much more frequently and with many of the aunts, uncles, and cousins on my mom’s side, but nowadays, it’s more like a few times a year–around December when my grandfather passed away, maybe in May for Mother’s Day or then in September around my grandmother’s anniversary, and sometimes in October when my uncle passed away.

I’m not sure when exactly we stopped going as much, but I think maybe it started happening after a lot of the younger cousins went to college and the older cousins began having kids. It kind of became more and more difficult to organize and coordinate everyone, and now, I can’t remember the last time we had a big cemetery gathering with everyone.

It’s sounds sort of morbid, but we’d have picnics by the gravestones, laugh at jokes, maybe do the occasional human pyramid, but really, just spend time together. It was never a sad event; it was a celebration of our family members that had passed and our own way to remember them.

For Mother’s Day this year, my mom wanted to visit the cemetery, so the siblings all went with my parents after church.

Siblings pic! (Minus Tristan, since he’s taking the picture)

Tim’s parents came down to visit us for Mother’s Day since his grandparents live in nearby Palm Desert, and the plan was for a big gathering out there on Sunday, and Val, my MIL, had mentioned in conversation that Tim’s great-grandfather was actually buried at Forest Lawn, but she couldn’t remember which one.

So after everyone dispersed (Tim and I were going to see Les Miserábles at the Pantages that night and everyone else went home), we had some time and decided to find out where Tim’s great-grandparents were buried. We went to the front desk, and they kindly looked up Grandpa Hopping for us, told us he was at the Glendale location, and gave us his plot number.

It was about an 18-minute drive over to Forest Lawn Glendale. I had been here once before maybe 16 years prior, so it was practically a brand-new experience!

Front buildings

The front buildings were super cute and looked like a little medieval castle village in a bizarre way. It was also a beautiful spring day, so the sky looked especially blue with puffy white clouds.

At the front, we asked the receptionist to help us find the plot location, and she referred us to the Forest Lawn app, which was actually surprisingly accurate down to the GPS directions.

They also had a tour guide pamphlet with some of the artwork throughout the “memorial park.” We grabbed one of those and were off!

The drive was actually a really pleasant trip through meandering streets that wove through rolling hills of gravesites (that didn’t quite look like gravesites), surprisingly enough. It just seemed like a nice drive through a park.

The Great Mausoleum, where much of the artwork is located inside.

I really wanted to tour the Great Mausoleum; however, it was around 5:45 PM, and apparently all the buildings close around 4:30 PM. Inside, it has tons of Michelangelo full-sized replicas, a stained glass window replica of The Last Supper, and another series of windows called The Poet’s Windows. We’ll have to revisit on another day when we can get there before 4:30 PM!

After driving past the Great Mausoleum, you drive under this archway that was kind of fun, which leads to more winding roads throughout the cemetery. You get sweeping views of Glendale as well as a good view of all the house that abut the park, which if you aren’t afraid of living next to a bunch of dead bodies, actually seems to be quite pleasant.

The next stop on the “tour” was the Temple of Santa Sabina, which was a little building that didn’t actually warrant me getting out of the car (it was getting chilly, hehe).

Temple of Santa Sabina

After that, we continued our drive to the northeastern corner of of the park to where Tim’s grandparents are laid to rest. We used the Forest Lawn app directions, and it led us right to the correct area!

After looking around for about 5 minutes, we found the site:

Grandpa and Grandma Hopping

It seems like it’s been quite some time since anyone came to visit, but the gravesites were very nicely tended to. Something I wonder is how long they keep graves before they reuse them (if they do?).

Wikipedia said that Forest Lawn Glendale houses over 250,000+ graves, which I would believe based on all the sprawling grounds we drove through. Some of the graves we saw around were from the 1940s and older! Pretty old. I wonder how many of the people buried here have no living descendants or maybe their family members don’t even know they’re buried here, or if even where they’re buried. Or how long it’s been since some of these graves have been visited? Or if the people buried here would’ve even cared when they were alive that anyone visited them at all when they were dead? Hard to say.

Anyways, we continued our driving tour of the park. A lot of the buildings had very relaxing names like Court of Freedom or Garden of Memory. Again, I’d really like to come back when I can go in some of the buildings and see some of the artwork.

Statue of Justice

Tim inspecting some graves in the Court of Justice

Life-sized replica of Michelangelo’s David. Apparently, Forest Lawn Glendale has the largest collection of Michelangelo replicas in the world!

So relaxing..

A HUGE magnolia tree!! Look at those roots!

This really captures what it felt like driving around. It hardly felt like a cemetery.

After we finished our driving tour, we ended up driving straight over to the Pantages, which was only about 5 miles or so from where we were. For dinner, we went to Shake Shack, which is about a 5-minute walk from the Pantages. Tim had never been to Shake Shack, and, boy, was he excited!!

What we ordered:

Fries, cheese fries, Diet Coke, “ShackMeister Ale,” shroom burger, and cheeseburger

Tim was happy with his ShackMeister Ale!

I made Tim do a Q&A of his impression:

More than In-n-Out?!! If you know Tim at all, those are strong words. After dinner, we headed to the Pantages for a GREAT production of Les Mis, and then home. It was a looong day!

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DIY Cajon Drum

My wife, Sara, likes to tap on things to the beat of the music… even if she can’t necessarily hear the rhythm. [Sara: Har har har. Very funny.] So in order to improve this from a habit to a skill, I decided to make her a cajon. Essentially, it’s a wood box that you both sit on and play as a percussion instrument. It has recently become more popular today, but originally was (and is) very widely used in Peruvian music. My knowledge of the instrument was limited and mostly derived from Mr. Ramsey’s Woodworking for Mere Mortals design.

These are some sample cajons:

Image from Overstock.com
Image from The Cajon Drum Shop

To understand how to actually make this instrument, I needed to know the main components and how they work together. I broke down the project into three main components:

  1. The box
  2. The side of the box you hit (tapa)
  3. The snare

The Box

My box was made of ¾-inch Baltic Birch plywood measuring approximately 12” X 12” X 18” tall. The top and bottom pieces have ¾-inch dados/rabbets along three sides. The top and bottom pieces are identical and measure 12” x 12”. The two side pieces have a single ¾-inch dado/rabbet running along its length and measure 12” x 18”.

The back panel is a single piece of ¾-inch plywood cut to fit. There was no need to cut dados or rabbets on this panel.

Before assembling the box, I considered the location of the sound hole and holes necessary to mount the snare. The sound hole is simply a hole in the back panel (the panel with no rabbet/dados), so I decided to put my hole toward the bottom center of the panel for aesthetic purposes. A hole was drilled in each of the side panels to allow a 1 ½-inch dowel to pass through (this is where the snare would be attached). It’s easiest if these sides are lined up, clamped together, and drilled at the same time to guarantee the holes are in the same place.

The Tapa

The tapa was made of a thinner plywood than the sides. I had some extra thin plywood lying around the shop that was slightly less than ¼-inch thick, so I decided to use that for the tapa side.

Assembly of the box was simple–just clamp and glue the five ¾-inch plywood sides together. The tapa was then cut to the exact dimension of the missing side of the box. The tapa is eventually screwed on the front opening, but access to the inside still necessary to install the snare assembly.

The Snare

The snare is a series of stiff wires that rest against a surface to produce a sharp rattling sound when the surface is struck and give the cajon the “drum” sound. From the inside of the cajon, the snare presses against the tapa (the side of the instrument you hit) to create that rattling sound typical in drums. The snare is mounted on a 1 ½-inch diameter wooden dowel that has the ability to turn, which allows the user to adjust the amount of snare sound heard during drumming–whether you want no snare for a more “wild” tone or more snare for more “drum” sound.

I purchased this snare from Amazon for the project. The length of the snare was adjusted by cutting it to a length of 5 inches with wire clippers. The goal was to get the snare to engage and disengage the tapa by the turning the wooden dowel.

Snare Assembly

For the permanently fixed knob, I glued the walnut knob securely to the end of the dowel rod. To make sure the knob was adequately glued in place, I also drilled a 1 ½-inch diameter recess to accept the end of the dowel. This allowed for a little more glue surface area and a more solid end cap.

Dowel before snare assembly

To create the snare assembly, I created two knobs out of walnut for the exterior ends of the dowel rod. One knob would permanently be affixed to one dowel end, while the other would loosen and tighten the dowel within the box.

For the adjustable knob, I tapped ¼-inch-20 threads into the end grain of the rod to accept a 1/4 inch-20 threaded bolt. I used a ¼ inch-20 bolt and cut it to a length that would allow the knob to tighten the dowel assembly. The bolt was then epoxied into a small recess in the knob.

Final Assembly

The rod was fitted into the box and then the snare was screwed into place. Once I had the snare turning to my satisfaction, I moved on to the tapa.

View of the epoxied bolt into the knob hole before being screwed into the dowel. Casey had to make her mark (of course.. hehe).
Although the snare may look strange sticking out of the cajon, when it is pressed against the face of the tapa, it will create that “drum” sound.

The tapa just needed some recessed screw holes to attach it to the box for a cleaner look. I used some small screws to secure it in place onto the box.

Recessed holes for the screws to sit flat.
Here you can see that when the knob is turned, the snare will either be touching the face of the drum, or if turned more, will not be touching any part of the drum. This will change the tone of the drum from a more tribal sound to a more typical drum sound.

After everything was completed, the box was still looking a bit plain, so I added some walnut inlay around the sides and sound hole for decoration.

The end product was an attractive cajon that sounds pretty good!

The final product. Merry Christmas!
Aerial photo of the walnut inlay and one of the knobs
Back view of the finished product branded at the top
View of the inlay
Closeup of the sound hole

My wife approves.

— Tim

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Siblings at JPL!

Every year, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, or JPL, has an open house to the public to tour some parts of the campus and check out the latest things that they have been working on for NASA. JPL is part of the Caltech campus where they do a lot of outer space research and create lots of the technology that NASA uses for their expeditions.

We went to one of the public open houses a couple years ago, and it was really cool! The event is completely free, all you have to do is get tickets. But THIS year, we were able to go during the JPL Family Day to check out the new projects that they have been working on. JPL is very open about the technology that they are working on and don’t have too many classified projects, mostly because they want people to be excited about space and space technology and be engaged with what they are doing!

Walking in from the PARKING LOT!! (Hehe)
Welcome to Jet Propulsion Laboratory!

Mission Control

Mission Control is the room where all the outer space magic happens! It is where all the satellites are sending information, it’s running 24 hours a day, and is where all the space flights are controlled from.

From the JPL Deep Space Network website:

“The Deep Space Network – or DSN – is NASA’s international array of giant radio antennas that supports interplanetary spacecraft missions, plus a few that orbit Earth. The DSN also provides radar and radio astronomy observations that improve our understanding of the solar system and the larger universe.”

There are three facilities equal distances apart–one in Goldstone, CA, one in Madrid, Spain, and one in Canberra, Australia. These facilities collect information transmitted by satellites that we have sent to space and then send all that information to one place.. Mission Control!!

In the top left, the gray (they look blue) satellites and the green satellite reflect the transmission of information to and from Mission Control. They switch colors as they constantly send and collect information.

In the center of Mission Control, there is a plaque on the ground under plexiglass that says, “The Center of the Universe.” Ha! That’s because all of the information from SPACE is sent all the way to this very room. Science!!

I accidentally cut off the bottom part that says, “Universe”.. hehe.
Sibling shot after checking out Mission Control! (a bit blurry)

The Pulse

The Pulse is a really cool sculpture that they describe as the “heartbeat of deep space exploration.” This structure represents the “live communications of 30+ interplanetary spacecraft and the Deep Space Network.” Basically, the lights make really cool patterns, but when they are moving upward they are uplinking to space, and when they are moving downward, they are downlinking to Earth.

Mars Rover

Last time we came, we were able to see a life-size replica of the Mars Rover driving over a bunch of children laying on the ground (hehe). This time, the replica was located near Mission Control for everyone to check out.

It looks a little bit like Wall-E..

Another thing we got to see is the Mars Yard! Basically, it is a small yard that the engineers created to test all the different rovers and wheels with different types of terrain and rocks to drive over to mimic what it would be like to drive on Mars. It was really interesting listening to the engineers describe how they try to anticipate different things they could run into, but it’s amazing to think of all the backup plans they have for actually running into these situations.

But nothing is certain when it comes to space, which I think gave me an even greater appreciation for what they do, since it’s pretty shocking to me that they can fly something MILLIONS of miles away AND successfully land it on a foreign planet AND then drive around AND STILL transmit information back to Earth. Amazing!

Mars Yard!

Mars 2020 Spacecraft

In another one of the buildings, they had a huge room where they are building the spacecraft for the next expedition to Mars! It was a really brief visit (they make you keep walking the whole time and you don’t have a great chance of taking pictures since everyone wants to see this).

What’s REALLY interesting to me (from experience working in many sterile settings in the hospital) is that all of the spacecraft that head into the great unknown to land on another planet are STERILE. Whoa! That’s because they don’t want to send any weird bacteria or organic Earth material to another planet when they don’t really know what the craft is going to encounter. Talk about foresight!

It’s the center spacecraft that is going on the 2020 expedition.

Pie ‘n Burger

After our morning trekking around the JPL campus, we had worked up an appetite and ended up going to lunch at Pie ‘n Burger, a place recommended to us by some of our friends. Parking wasn’t too bad–it was all street parking within a 2-minute walk.

This place had a very classic diner feel (but not quite classic diner prices… hehe). There was no wait for us around 1 PM on Sunday afternoon, but as we were there, the line started to get a little bit long.

Not that much seating inside!
Pretty classic menu

Everyone was so hungry that I barely got any pictures in before they all dug in. Not even pictures of the pieces of pie!! The veggie burger was apparently DELICIOUS (per Casey and Tim), as was the grilled cheese. Tristan and I got the patty melt, which was pretty tasty as far as patty melts go. Ben and Jane got the chili cheese fries (the Hat seems to give you a much bigger portion) and a chicken pot pie that had a crust so flaky you could feel the butter settling into your arteries.

Patty melt on sourdough bread. The cheese was so soft and melty inside..

Another thing to note is that this place is cash or check only. Who uses checks to pay for food anymore? There is an ATM located right at the front if you need cash though. And they have this cool vintage cash register that they have probably been using since they opened.

Pie ‘n Burger was pretty good, but I’m not sure if we need to go back right away. I enjoyed the food a lot, but I kind of thought the pie would be more mind-blowing, especially if it’s a place with “pie” in the name. Either way though, it was a perfect way to end our JPL day!

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Siblings in DTLA!

This past weekend, Tim and my brother-in-law, Tristan, ran the LA Marathon! This was Tim’s first time running the LA Marathon and his 10th (?) marathon in total. We started off the day going to church before we headed to the marathon expo at the LA Convention Center in the afternoon.

Strike a pose!

Overall, the LA Marathon Expo was actually not one of the best expos that we’ve been to–something I’ve noticed is that a lot of the smaller marathons actually have better “swag” than the big ones–maybe to draw bigger crowds! Either way, there wasn’t really much good swag, unless you count a bunch of mini-Clif bars.

After we finished picking up the bibs and checking out the expo, we hit the street! Our end goal was the Broad Museum, where Casey had gotten us tickets (they are free, you just need to sign up for a time) earlier. We exited on the Figueroa side of the convention center, and then headed north to check out the sights of DTLA while passing the Staples Center and LA Live.

Our first stop was an early dinner at the Original Pantry! Open since 1924, this place has NEVER closed! Ever! It is open 24-hours a day every single day. My dad used to come here in his younger bachelor days when he was sharking pool halls and living life! He would come here after a late-night pool session and get some toast and eggs. This is where he learned how to make a staple of our childhood–sourdough fried toast (“recipe”: butter sourdough toast and fry it on a cast iron until golden-y brown.. yum!).

This place is an LA staple, and there are tons of pictures and autographs from famous Hollywood stars, directors, and celebrities all over the walls. It was equally filled with locals and tourists enjoying their 24-hour breakfast for dinner.

Street view
You sit in diner-styled booths and can watch them cooking right in front of you on large griddles!
They sell these cups at the front of the restaurant.. Tim insisted we get one because he said, “coffee tastes better in cups like these.”
Ben is excited for this toast!!
Tim approves of these pancakes!

After stuffing ourselves thoroughly (and getting Tim and Tristan loaded up on carbs for their run), we continued walking north on Figueroa to make our way to the Broad.

The Jonathan Club – a “social club” that has been here since 1895.
Front view of the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Surprisingly not very crowded on an early Saturday evening.

We ended up looping around so we could see the front of the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and then just going back south on Grand did we arrive at the Broad.

Exterior of the Broad

The Broad certainly has a very unique exterior, but the way the windows were designed is quite clever! Essentially, once you are inside, the windows allow for lots and lots of natural light, but the way that the window is shaped, it ends up bouncing around and becoming very bright indirect and natural light that doesn’t harm the artwork. I guess that’s why they pay them the big bucks!

A very interesting transparent dish..
Giant tulips!
Casey and the giant table

I’m going to be honest–contemporary art is not really my thing. I think that maybe because a lot of it is something that I feel like I could *do* myself–i.e. two colored canvases next to each other; one is green and the other blue. It was titled, “Green Blue.” But I guess for it to be art, someone had to think of it first, and it just turns out that was the guy who thought of it first and it got put into a museum? I think the art I most appreciate is art that I couldn’t ever dream of imitating, like some incredible marble sculpture or an impressionist painting with a few strokes but you know exactly what it is. But who’s to say what is art? I guess art is art.

I don’t know if I’d actually need to come back to the Broad again. I think once might have been enough..

Either way, we finished up at the Broad and then started the long way back to the convention center to pick up our cars, as Tim and Tristan had a long morning ahead of them at the race!

Final shot – the LA Central Library. It used to be the tallest building in Los Angeles, but in order to repair some water damage, it sold its airspace above it. Now it is surrounded by skyscrapers.
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(Potato) Garden Update!

Spring has almost sprung here in the Bear House, and a lot has been happening! I recently returned from a spring break trip to the Netherlands and Belgium, and Tim is away on a boys’ trip to the Soda Springs cabin with his brother and father this weekend!

Ever since the beginning of the year, it has been raining a minimum of at least once a week (and if you live in Southern California, that is definitely rare). The garden has become a huge forest of weeds! Our planter box was actually under siege during one of these rainy weeks by some mysterious unknown creature that upended several of the plants. RIP baby arugula and baby cucumber plants. The dogs were getting cooped up due to all the rain (and my reluctance to continue to wipe eight dirty paws 5x a day), and I think some animal decided it would be fun to dig up some of our new plants. 🤔

To protect the rest, we put wire tomato cages around them leftover from last summer’s garden, which has so far protected the baby plants.

There was also a caterpillar infestation, so we decided to lure some birds into residence with a bird feeder. I purchased this bird feeder and a 10-lb bag of seed from Amazon with the hope that the birds would eat some seeds AND caterpillars. Although we have yet to see if the caterpillar population has decreased, the bird population has rapidly increased, as all of the local birds told their bird friends about our feeder. It was emptied completely in half of a day the last time we filled it up.

In the past month and a half, the real stars of the garden have been… our potato plants!! They have taken amazingly to root and are growing into giant sturdy plants. Because of their success (and more old pantry potatoes), I added two more seed potatoes to my garden. Only time will tell if they will be as successful as the first group!

Bird feeder in action!

Potato growth after 1.5 months! (trowel for scale)

Sneak peek of the Netherlands and Belgium travel guide!