24 hours in Mendocino

I took a little solo trip while Matt is in China this week.  I booked a cabin in Hendy Woods on Sunday night, threw my camera and a bag of groceries into the car, and drove north for about 3 hours.  The weather *sort of* cooperated in that it didn't rain, but sort of didn't in that it mostly misted on the coast and made the sky and the sea the same bright, blinding shade of grey.  But I still managed to have a couple of adventures (and one VERY tasty campfire pizza).

 

Bowling Ball Beach

The "bowling balls"

Glass beach

A few of my finds at Glass Beach

Date night in Davenport

Yesterday Matt and I decided to check out the Davenport Roadhouse, which we've driven past numerous times en route to our favorite strawberry patch. Davenport is a seemingly quiet little town along Route 1 with one flashing yellow light and not a whole lot else. If you're not looking for it, you can easily miss it. We'd heard about the Roadhouse from one of Matt's coworkers, and they'd been written up in Sunset Magazine recently, so we decided to check it out.

On our way there, we took a detour through Soquel to check out a local farm stand. Everett Family Farms did the flowers for our wedding, and I'd noticed a really excellent spread of fruits, veggies, and flowers in their farm stand when I was there meeting with Carra about flower arrangements. So Matt and I decided to make a pit stop there to load up on some produce.   It was a sunny and quiet in the late afternoon when we arrived.  Aside from a farm cat hunting in the grass outside, we were the only ones there (the stand is run entirely on the honor system). The plums were some of the juiciest and sweetest we've had all summer, and the raspberries and strawberries didn't disappoint either.

 

From here, we headed south to catch Route 1 and then headed up to Davenport.  We arrived around 5:45pm and got a great table by the window immediately.  A live band was just warming up as we looked over the menu.  We had a hard time choosing what we wanted to eat for dinner -- the menu is full of local produce and lots of yummy-sounding veggie options.  In the end, we decided caramelized brussel sprouts (surprisingly sweet and buttery), garlic and pepper crostini with lemony arugula, and two pizzas. YUM!  Needless to say, we will be returning again soon for another date.  Who knows, we might even stay a night at the Inn upstairs, too.

Lake Winnipesaukee family vacation

Last week Stacey and I headed to the east coast for a much needed vacation. We kicked off the trip with a visit to Boston, where we stayed with our good friends Mark and Colleen. They were generous enough to pick us up from the airport at midnight on Friday and let us crash at their place in Boston for two nights (thank you!). We had part 3 out of 4 of our wedding activities on Saturday: a picnic by Lake Waban on Wellesley's campus with a small group of friends. We all enjoyed plenty of yummy picnic food, beautiful weather, adorable dogs, and one inflatable kayak. Then on Sunday we headed up to New Hampshire.

We stayed at the same place as we did two years ago -- a little cabin on Furber Point of Lake Winnipesaukee.  We spent just under a week there with my parents, my sister and her boyfriend, and my two uncles.  

 

The cabin on Furber Point

Much like last year, we rented a boat for the first part of the week to explore the lake, waterski, and take the scenic route into town. This year, we got a much more powerful boat, which made water skiing easier and tubing much more exciting/treacherous than last year (they don't call us the Action Taylors for nothing).  My parents were the guinea pigs for the first tubing run and got tossed dramatically into the lake, although they were (mostly) all smiles at the end.  Luckily everyone survived their experience on the water with only a couple bruises and sore muscles the next day.

We also managed to fit in some canoeing and swimming, too.  And just like our last visit, we were treated to some gorgeous sunsets from the dock.

We don't get summer sunsets like this in California

Sunset over the lake

We managed to see a little more of the town of Wolfeborro (or, at least it's surroundings) this time, too.  Stacey and I joined my parents for a walk along one of the trails that heads out of the town and visits some of the neighboring lakes.  It was a beautiful day, and we ended up walking for about 2 hours through the outskirts of town and the surrounding forest. We even made a feline friend along the way...

New feline friend

Lush forest undergrowth

Stacey and my dad stopped for a lengthy berry photo shoot

On Thursday we all went for a family hike up to the top of Mount Major, a moderate climb with a steep scramble near the summit.  Luckily, our efforts were rewarded with thick patches of wild blueberries at the top of the mountain, and Stacey and I wasted no time picking enough for everyone.  Once we got to the top, we enjoyed lunch and incredible views of the lake.

Trail signs

Moss photoshoot

New froggy friend

Picking blueberries

One of many handfuls

Wild blueberry bushes

Stacey and me at the summit of Mt Major

On our last full day at the cabin, we spent most of the time relaxing/napping in the hammock, making a run into town for some post cards, and one last trip to Bailey's Bubble for monstrous ice cream cones.

Hammock time

There was talk of going back to Winnipesaukee again in two years, although since the house where we stayed is currently for sale, it's unclear whether we'll get to go back to what seems like "our" little cabin on Furber Point.  Even so, we're already looking forward to more waterskiing, boating, swimming, puzzles, ice cream, s'mores, and quality family time.

We're married!

We're officially official! On July 5th, 2013, we tied the knot at Memorial County Park in Loma Mar, CA. We were thrilled to have our families in attendance for a small and very private ceremony among the redwoods. The ceremony went by so quickly, we're thankful that Matt's dad captured the whole thing on video:

Part 1: Walking down the aisle and welcome

Part 2: Passing the rings

Part 3: Terry's remarks and vows

Saying our wedding vows (photo by Eric Taylor)

After the vows, we took family photos among the trees and enjoyed some refreshments. Then we headed down the road to Harley Farms, one of our favorite places. Dee Harley really outdid herself for our farm dinner. Guests arrived to lavendar lemonade and a cheese tasting in the garden, followed by a tour of the farm and a trip out into the pasture to meet the goats and the guard llamas (yes, guard llamas! Ruby the llama tolerated our attention and many photos). Chloe, our tour guide, even let us hold a baby goat for a great photo op!

Getting acquainted with a baby goat (photo by John Wirt)

We all made our way through the milking parlor and in to the dairy, where we made a special "wedding cheese" with fresh goat cheese, flowers from the garden, and herbs de Provence. Then we gathered in the hay loft, which was gorgeously decorated with huge flower arrangements and candles. Guests enjoyed various goat cheese-themed appetizers, then we passed the champagne and shared some heartfelt toasts.

Harley Farms hayloft, all decked out (photo by Eric Taylor)

Dinner was several courses of vegetarian scrumptiousness, prepared by Dee and her staff. Dee announced each course with the chime of a bell and was the most gracious and radiant host we could have asked for. The first course of the evening was rosemary garlic red potatoes with eggplant schnitzel and creamy dill sauce. The second was goat cheese ravioli, a specialty of the farm and easily the best ravioli we've ever had. The third course was acorn squash with cruciferous vegetables on a bed of lentils. Last but certainly not least, dessert was mini goat cheese cheesecakes with fresh flowers and a plum compote made from 40-year-old plum trees in Dee's orchard. Accompanying the cake was a pot of warm ricotta, made fresh with the evening's milk and topped with honey from the hives in Dee's secret garden.

We have so many happy memories of the day, and we are grateful for the generosity of our friends and family who supported us in countless ways throughout the process. We also could not have had such a memorable and joyful day without the talents of our wedding vendors -- Dee Harley of Harley Farms and Ara Roselani of Aralani photography in particular helped make the day seamless.  Here's to a happily ever after!