NoCal Road Trip: Days 6-8 (Soccer Tourney)

The initial impulse for our road trip was the Santa Clara Invitational Soccer tournament. It was only fitting that waking up on Friday, that we would enjoy the company of the Seattle Sounders FC coaching staff and team and players during breakfast. ;)

After sleeping in and a hearty meal (with inspirational guests), we departed for Morgan Hill, CA – where the initial qualifying round-robin portion of the tournament was played. In 95 degree midday weather, Caleb’s team took the pitch for its first game against the first of 3 California club teams. Notwithstanding some apparent heat exhaustion (and nausea by some of the boys), Caleb’s team played well, but loss on a couple of careless mistakes. It was a good effort, but unfortunate.

Mid-afternoon, Caleb returned to the team hotel for to unwind with his teammates, while Janelle, Anthony and myself went into central Morgan Hill for lunch. While the community has the appearance of placeless California suburb from the freeway, downtown Morgan Hill was actually attractive and boasted some great restaurants. We surveyed our options and settled on lunch at the “Good Fork.” We were delighted! Opened just one month, the former French Laundry sous chef had opened the Good Fork as a farm-to-table restaurant outside the bustle of the central bay area (and he was succeeding). Highlights included Organic Sirloin Burgers with Candied Bacon, Truffle Fries and a Golden Beet salad. It was splendid and surprising inexpensive. One of the best lunches I have ever enjoyed – hands down. This is a must revisit on a future Bay Area excursion.

Late afternoon, Caleb and his Seattle United teammates returned to the pitch – this time on natural turf. Notwithstanding a solid performance by his team, a couple of careless mistakes resulted in a close loss. It was a disappointing start to the tournament, effectively ensuring they would not advance to knock-out rounds. Sadly, they weren’t beaten – they simply lost. Caleb returned to the team hotel for the evening, and we departed for Sunnyvale to meet close friends for dinner.

Matt and Kristin met us on Murphy Street for dinner. If you’re seeking a Bay area cultural experience, I suggest avoiding this area of Sunnyvale (it offered little character and presented a faux experience). We did manage to get some good food at DishDash – a Mediterranean restaurant with Turkish/Lebanese inspired menu. Following a good meal and conversation with our friends, we retired to the Fairmont Hotel to watch Olympics coverage.

After sleeping in on Saturday, we worked out at the Fairmont Hotel gym, and made a quick exit to Morgan Hill (stopping by Bijan Bakery). Caleb’s third game was another despairing loss, despite a relatively well-played match. Small mistakes compromised the team’s collective effort and resulted in a frustrating loss. Bummer!

Afterwards, we jettisoned for Santa Cruz via a local route (Heckler Highway) that offered some splendid scenery and farms. We fought cross-city traffic at this coastal getaway, to arrive at the Santa Cruz Mountain Brewery. Matt & Kristin met us for a pint of beer and street vendors dogs (mistake!). While my stomach wrestled to digest a “hot dog”, we scurried to the beach to find a patch of sand to briefly soak up the sun and surf.

In San Jose that evening, the Seattle Sounders played the San Jose Quakes at Santa Clara stadium. We dropped Anthony off to join Caleb (and his teammates), while Janelle and I spent the evening together – alone! We dropped the car at the Fairmont Hotel and walked to Mezcal to unwind. Beyond the ambiance, the restaurant offered nothing memorable in terms of food or drink. Nonetheless, Janelle and I relished the time alone to catch up on our trip experiences. The boys taxied home from the game, and we all crashed in bed with intentions to depart for Seattle in the morning.

After an early rise, we packed the car at the Fairmont Hotel valet (saying hello to the Seattle Sounders as they too departed). We drove north to Vacaville, CA to meet our extended family, Peter and Erika, for a quick visit and coffee. Although the visit was short, it was great to catch up in person.

En route home, we pulled off in Williams, CA for a 5-mile detour to the Charter Family Fruit Stand to pick-up fresh produce (which I had promised to Janelle). 200 miles later we made our last California destination, the Liquor Wholesale Warehouse to pick up desired spirits (sans tax!). We pressed ahead and arrived in Eugene Oregon that evening around 730pm for dinner at a local college pizzeria, before completing the remainder of our drive to Seattle (arriving at 100am)!


Sleeping in our own beds made it worth the 12-hour return drive home from San Jose to Seattle. Despite a disappointing soccer performance, our family experiences in the Bay Area made the trip well worth the effort and solidified memories to last a life time. Life is short – make it count!

NoCal Road Trip: Days 3-5 (College Tours!)

Settled into the San Jose Fairmont Hotel for the week, we took it upon ourselves to find great coffee and pastries for to kick off our morning routine. Anthony stumbled upon Bijan Bakery below the hotel, we took a gamble and were not disappointed (a love affair ensued for the week with their classic French pastries). I only wish that I had found their Raspberry roll earlier – it was my favorite!

We kicked off our first Bay area college tour with Stanford University. Wow! We were all impressed (Janelle remarked, can I go back to college – here!). We had the good fortune of a fantastic tour guide, an acrobat (literally a circus stunt student). He gave Anthony and Caleb some great insights to college life at Stanford, sharing great personal stories, and inspiring all of us. We were all impressed with the Chapel inside and out (mosaics), the academic buildings, the overall expanse of the campus – including the athletic facilities (four soccer fields), and the avid use of bicycles.

Following a full-day on Stanford campus and attending various sessions, we then strolled down University Ave in Palo Alto to unwind for the evening. Having spent a lot of time in Palo Alto for work, I took my family to one of my favorite local restaurants – Nola (a New Orleans restaurant boasting classic creole and Cajun foods). In addition to our Mojito pitcher (Janelle), the most memorable aspects of our meal included gator pot-stickers (Caleb), short ribs and gumbo (Anthony) and jambalaya (James). Sitting outdoor in the open-air two-story courtyard was a treat. We drove home slowly and crashed!

On our second day of college tours, we targeted Santa Clara and California Berkeley. Following a short stop at Bijan Bakery, we spent the entire morning touring Santa Clara campus. Granted, following Stanford was going to be hard, but the Santa Clara kick-off was lengthy and uninspiring (which did not do the college justice). Fortunately, we had a good guide for the campus tour. The athletic facilities were impressive, and the boys had a brief meeting with the soccer coach too.

We drove up to Berkeley for the afternoon. Auntie Kristin met us for lunch on campus (bringing take-out), and then giving us a personal tour of campus (we had missed the earlier, official tour). We went up the (in)famous clock tower, toured the graduate library, paleontology museum, and the redwood and eucalyptus groves.  Afterwards, we stopped at Bancroft to shop for some souvenir clothing.

Wednesday evening, Kristin and Matt took us a local venue, Pizzaiolo for dinner. The outdoor eating area in back boasted picnic-table style eating, bocce ball and a chicken coop! The wood-fired pizzas were splendid, the bartender was talented (a perfect Manhattan), the weather was good and conversation was great. Afterwards, we went to Emoryville to visit Kristin and Matt’s boat, walk the jetty (looking back at the San Fran skyline), and to enjoy after-dinner drinks at Trader Vics. It was a memorable day!

The third and final day of our college tours included a brief return to Stanford, before heading onto to University of San Francisco. The boys had a chance to meet the Cardinal soccer team and coaches – cool! After picking up some memorabilia, we drove north, into and through a fog bank to arrive at the University of San Francisco (situated at the top of the hill!). Prior to the official tour, we strolled through campus to find lunch (whereupon the boys ran into the soccer team and coach – small world!). After satiating ourselves with Falafels, we commenced the USF tour with a group of a prospective students (including some local Seattleites). USF was a beautiful, intimate campus, with great academic and athletic facilities, a gorgeous church (St.Ignatius), and a delightful student body. Situated closely to downtown San Fran (3 miles), it was obvious why the school attracted so many international students (30%!).

Afterwards, we drove to the Nobb Hill Fairmont Hotel to drop the car, considered a trolley ride (but gave up given the crowds), then proceed to walk to Union Square to shop (Levi’s Store, Nike Town). Following a quick change in the hotel, we spent Thursday evening in the Mission District at one of my favorite restaurants – Foreign Cinema! The ambiance and people were beautiful, but the food was star of the night. We splurged: pork belly (appetizer), bavette steak (Anthony), duck (James), cheesecake chevre and apricot cobb (shared), and grappa! Notwithstanding the long drive back to our hotel in San Jose, it was tremendous day in San Francisco.

After 3 days and four college visits, Anthony and Caleb got a better sense of the prospective opportunities before them, and all of us got to enjoy time together over some fantastic food. Conversation was good and laughter was abundant.