Swanning around Carmel with Mini-me

It was the all-girl get-away--just me and my daughter (who is taller than me, which I guess makes me the "mini"). We wanted to see the Monterey Aquarium again after many years. We stayed in a modest little hotel closer to Carmel than central Monterey: America's Best Value Presidents Inn Monterey on Munras (it has so many names it should have been more than a glorified motel, but it wasn't). I think the owners were new, as they were renovating the place--it was inexpensive, clean and quiet. My favorite thing about this hotel (even more than the well-kept hot tub nobody used): the waffle-maker in the lobby. Seriously. You'd fill this thing with batter from the dispenser, flip it over, and it would produce maximum-wonderful waffles in three minutes. Even my daughter, a confirmed waffle-hater, loved them. We figured out how to get there early enough to beat the waffle stampede.

The Aquarium was even more amazing than I remembered. The only sour note: I left my tickets at home, and had to buy new ones, not an inexpensive mistake. Ah, travel. The jellyfish exhibit is non-pareil, the otters adorable, and every "tenant" of the exhibits seemed lively and content--not always true for places where live animals are kept for the amusement and enlightenment of human visitors.

For dinner, we trusted Yelp--much as I love Yelp, I know what can happen. We chose a place in downtown Monterey called Sea Harvest on Foam Street; the owners must have a lot of relatives willing to give it four stars. For a place that sells fresh fish, the cooked version tasted suspiciously like dog food--but the "cuisine" wasn't the worst part. The bathroom was in a cinder-block building in the back; some dissatisfied customer ripped out the inside of the doorknob, so when it was time to leave, I discovered there was no way to open the door. I called for help thirty times, then proceeded to karate kick the door until I managed to bang my way open. My daughter thought I had instant food poisoning--a tip, take your cell phone with you if you have to make a journey to the loo.

Carmel Mission

Dametra Cafe

The next morning we awoke to faucet water the color of Coca Cola. A water main down the street broke. No showers for us! Fortunately, they gave out bottled water in the lobby, so we wandered down to Carmel for a long walk on the beach and a fantastic lunch at the Dametra Cafe on Ocean Ave. Delicious Mediterranean food in a charming place--well priced, well placed, and well worth 4.5 stars.

We also made a stop at the Carmel Mission, where Saint Junipero Serra is enshrined. The mission itself is historic and full of character, in spite of Catholic missionaries' misuse of the native population. On the last day, we hung out in the quiet town of Pacific Grove, and had a delightful snack at the 17th Street Grill.

Photo courtesy  of Adriayn Lee

See a better-quality version of this video on Vimeo:
http://vimeo.com/170577746

All in all, a great get-away, and a superb chance to bond over waffles with  my best gal.

It's about the Grass: Stemple Creek Ranch Grass-fed Beef, Baby!

My name is Joanne, and I am an Omnivore. There, I said it. I was a vegetarian for years, but realized one day that the entire world operates by eating something else, and ALL of those somethings were alive at some point, be they plants or animals. I lived on a farm in college, and raised my own meat: beef, pork and chickens. My animals enjoyed full, good lives, and met a quick and painless death (we should all be so lucky). I vowed if I was going to eat meat, it would be from the best possible sources. I'd like to say I kept that vow, but I often bought the cheapest meat I could find simply for lack of alternatives: that's where Stemple Creek Ranch comes in.

Loren Poncia and his wife Lisa  took over the 120-year-old  ranch from his parents in 2001 and expanded the ideas his father had set out years before: improving the quality of the creek that ran through the property by planting trees, improving the soil with more than 20 different types of grasses, and moving his herds of Black Angus from patch to patch to feed (and fertilize).

Hidden away behind the gentle hills off Fallon Rd. in Marin County, Stemple Creek is part of a 10-year soil study, the Marin Carbon Project--as dry land farmers, the Poncias depend on carbon in the soil to absorb rain like a sponge, producing clear run-off into the waterways. Last year, the farm saved the equivalent of auto emissions from 81 cars.

I was at Stemple Creek for a tour, which is scheduled on their website throughout the year (below). The tour started with an outdoor barbecue that left every fervent carnivore in the group sated (coulotte steak, yes!). Loren cooks up several different cuts of beef and there's plenty to go around, even if you're tempted to sneak a piece to Bailey, the very attentive golden retriever. The tour takes in the grounds and gives a lot of history of the place and the ideals which are the driving force of Stemple Creek Ranch.

Loren gets down to grass level to talk about soil improvement

To everything there is a season, and so it is with animals. The cattle wander fertile pastures for  24 months before they reach the valley of the shadow. Some calves are born in the spring, some in the autumn, and each year only a certain number are ready; however, from November to March, less beef is available because the grass quality is different, and Loren takes quality seriously. One of the objections to grass-fed beef is that it's too lean (and therefore tough when cooked). That is NOT the case here; all the cuts were some of the best fat-marbled beef I've ever laid tooth to, perfectly tender and tasty.

Beeeef!

You can schedule a tour or buy pastured, grass-fed Angus beef and lamb from Stemple Creek's Website (www.stemplecreek.com)  and have it delivered to your door. The site also lists all their current purveyors, including:

San Francisco Plaza Farmers Market, Ferry Bldg. Plaza on the Embarcadero, San Francisco, 8AM-2PM Saturday year-round    Ferry Plaza Market 

Marin Farmer's Market, San Rafael Civic Center, 8AM-1PM Thurs. and Sun. year-round   Marin Farmer's Market

The Local Butcher Shop, 1600 Shattuck, Ste. 120, Berkeley, CA    thelocalbutchershop.com/

V. Miller Meats, 4801 Folsom Blvd., Ste. 2, Sacramento, CA   vmillermeats.com/

Thistle Meats, 160 Petaluma Blvd. North, Petaluma CA    thistlemeats.com

Lisa and Loren also rent out a cute rustic cabin on the property through Air B&B--great for a farm stay for families ($175/night): Rustic Cabin

All photos copyright Joanne Orion Miller unless noted

Toddling in Tuolumne: A Sweet Visit with Mr. Twain, Followed by Psychedelic Bowling

Buffet option at the Black Oak Casino (Photo: Bonnie Kamin Morrissey)

While in the historic town of Columbia, I chanced upon Mark Twain (who preferred to be addressed as Mr. Clemens, his birth name). Mr. Clemens entertained with amusing stories of his time in the foothills and answered questions so authentically that I forgot our Samuel was really actor MacAvoy Layne, visiting from the Mark Twain Cultural Center in Incline Village, Nevada, where he appears regularly. If you love Twain and his humor, Layne's performance is worth a trip to Tahoe. I left him as he wandered off to find his "carriage" in the parking lot.

Inside Kate's Tearoom

Nelson's yumbos! Chocolate porn!  (Photo: Bonnie Kamin Morrissey)

Columbia has a few unique places to visit: Columbia Kate’s Teahouse on the outskirts of town is the perfect spot for ladies who lunch; they also sell a plethora of tea blends. The nearby bakery offers killer scones and other baked goods. 

As a true sugar connoisseur, I feared Nelson’s Columbia Candy Kitchen was going to be another of those places that sold bulk wrapped candies in barrels, but was delighted to find they made most of their confections—for five generations, since the 1930s. In fact, they were named among the top ten sweet shops in America by USA Today. The chocolates, fudge, jellies and many other types of candies are all made in-house: a rare find these days. I remember with great fondness the milk chocolate/caramel/pecan turtle I devoured there. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the Candy Kitchen holds a “make your own candy cane” event that’s so popular participants are chosen by lottery—go to their website (below) for information.

While in Tuolumne County, I stayed at the Black Oak Casino Resort Hotel. The hotel is new, the rooms are clean and spacious, and it’s a non-smoking facility located a sufficient distance from the casino that makes it both quiet and convenient. The casino is…a casino. Smoky, busy, loud and full of action: this is the place to go if you’re craving excitement. The two restaurants within the casino have filtered air, the better to enjoy decent quality meals. There’s a special occasion restaurant on another floor for big spenders. In the lounge, a rocking cover band (the Spazmatics) played hits from the 80s, put on an energy-filled show, and whipped the crowd into a dancing frenzy. The bowling alley in the basement is a party in itself.

It had to happen: folks who live in the old mining towns of the Sierra foothills want to enjoy a lot of the same distractions that urban dwellers do, from local theater productions to boogeying down in front of ear-shattering speakers, but it’s nice to know that the foothills have retained a lot of their rural and historic charm—the real gold these days--that makes the area so nice to visit.

Mark Twain Cultural Center, 760 Mays Blvd., Ste. 10, Incline Village, NV 89451 (775) 831-2820. This is a small bookstore and theater. Call to make sure a performance is scheduled.

Columbia State Historic Park, 11255 Jackson Street, Columbia CA 95310 www.visitcolumbiacalifornia.com/

Columbia Kate's Teahouse, 22727 Columbia St., Columbia CA 95310 www.columbiakates.com/:

Nelson's Columbia Candy Kitchen, Main Street, P.O. Box 191, Columbia, California 95310 www.columbiacandykitchen.com/

Black Oak Casino Resort, owned and operated by the Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians www.blackoakcasino.com

All photos by Joanne Orion Miller unless otherwise noted.

Gold Country/Columbia, Gem of the Mother Lode

Strolling the streets of Columbia (Photo: Bonnie Kamin Morrissey)

Everyone has heard the story of Sutter’s Mill, and how workman James Wilson Marshall found a few flakes of shiny stuff in a nearby brook in 1848; word spread to San Francisco and the subsequent gold rush built that city from a sleepy Spanish colony of 1,000 souls to a megalapolis of 100,000 in a year. Miners competing for claims spread out, and gold was found in the town of Columbia in 1850, many miles south of the original discovery site; between the first grains panned out of a boulder-strewn stream and the early 1900s, $87 million in gold was removed from the surrounding hills. Unlike many boomtowns of the Mother Lode, Columbia wasn’t deserted when easier methods of gold extraction petered out: because the lack of flowing water in the area didn't lend itself to destructive placer mining, the town remained a pleasant place to live. Though the population dwindled from several thousand to less than 500 at a low point, locals lobbied to make the town into a State Historic Park, succeeding in 1945. Buildings that were once hazardous were refurbished over time to create a sort of *Williamsburg West of the Gold Rush period (without the high prices to get in the buildings—all of the buildings, parking, and tours are free in Columbia).

Photo: Bonnie Kamin Morrissey

Though the historic part of town covers only a few blocks, many buildings have costumed interpreters that enlighten visitors as to who lived and worked there (the nonprofit Friends of Columbia sponsors interpretation and education). A stagecoach takes riders around the town for a fee, and many of the storefronts house real businesses; some with touristy souvenirs, others with more substantial products like leatherwork and ironwork. 

Hot babe on the Fire Engine

There are displays of authentic period goods in a few buildings (the pharmacy and firehouse are particularly interesting), a couple of restaurants, and a playhouse that features modern performances. 


Two of the original hotels of the era are nicely refurbished and open for business: the Columbia City Hotel (most rooms have a toilet and sink, with shower down the hall) and the Fallon Hotel; both run from $50 to $105 per night, depending on choice of room. The state park has also fixed up three “modern” cottages in town ($115-155).

The upstairs parlor of the Columbia Hotel

Yes, it is touristy, though not at the level of Disneyland, where every shop sells trinkets emblazoned with Mickey Mouse. It's more of a cross between a well-preserved ghost town and a small-town downtown. I found the interpreters—often volunteers—to be a friendly font of information—they love what they do. In a following blog, I’ll review a few of my favorite places in this charming little historic town.

Inside the Pharmacy (Photo: Bonnie Kamin Morrissey)

Columbia State Historic Park, 11255 Jackson Street, Columbia CA 95310

http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=552

Map to this location

*You can read about Federal-era Williamsburg, VA in MoonHandbook: Chesapeake Bay

 All Photos by Joanne Orion Miller unless otherwise noted.

Gold Country/Father Knows Best: Railtown 1897 State Historic Park

Photo: Bonnie Kamin Morrissey

Conductor Brian gives us the goods (Photo: Bonnie Kamin Morrissey)

My dad was a railroad man—he worked for the Southern Pacific for many years, and loved it. You can see that ardent love of the rails in all the volunteers who populate the Railtown 1897 State Historic Park in Jamestown, one of only two fully operational roundhouse complexes left in the country (the other is at East Broad Top Railroad in Broad Top City, PA—yes, it’s in my book, Moon Travel Handbooks: Pennsylvania). A roundhouse is the shop facility that maintains and repairs rail engines and cars; equipment that's being restored is on display. The roundhouse is open for tours year-round, but there’s far more here. Most of the repairmen and "rail personnel" are volunteers, many of them former rail employees like my dad.

Our engineer by his locomotive (Photo: Bonnie Kamin Morrissey)

Hollywood saved this historic site from being scraped during the Great Depression. Starting in 1919, more than 200 movies and television programs were filmed using the former Sierra Railway's steam engines, buildings, and other equipment. This historic landmark hosts regular round trips on a three-mile long-track Saturday through Monday from April through October: steam trains pull passenger cars on Saturdays, and vintage diesel locomotives operate on Sundays, plus Wednesdays in July and August (tickets $10-15, under 5 free). Each passenger car has a “conductor” that tells of rail days gone by. There are multiple events held throughout the year, and volunteers dressed as passengers during the hey-day of rail travel wander through the park and answer questions. One of the most popular and fun events is the Polar Express Train Ride in December; families can enjoy hot chocolate and cookies with costumed characters from the animated film, Polar Express. When passengers reach the North Pole, Santa comes aboard and gives each ticketholder a silver sleigh bell, “the first gift of Christmas.”

Photo: Bonnie Kamin Morrissey

 The singular smell of the roundhouse—grease, dirt, steel and smoke—though rooted in a long-distant past--brought back so many memories of my dad returning from work, bearing a whiff of engines and rails on his clothes. The people who dress up and give their time and energy to this bit of American history, engineers in their stripped caps and Victorian ladies with parasols alike, are equally dedicated to the gritty romance of trains. This is a special place.

Railtown 1897 State Historic Park, 
10501 Reservoir Road, Jamestown, CA 95327

www.railtown1897.org


Map to the location