The Dukeses » Travel

Heading South

Casey — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 20:04:05 +0000

We’re moving to Orange County! Jason got a new job so we’ve been busy packing and apartment-hunting. It has completely spoilt us living within walking distance to restaurants, entertainment, and multiple forms of public transportation (our current place has 89% walkability) so we’ve decided to live in Laguna Beach.

We’re really going to try to document this transition as much as possible. It’s quite the adventure for us!

LA Trip: Day 1

Casey — Fri, 01 May 2009 15:29:21 +0000

We arrived yesterday in Southern California after a short, five hour drive. (How did that happen?) Last night we ate dinner at home with Jason’s parents, catching up on life and ardently discussing this year’s American Idol (which is especially interesting when your in-laws are in the music and television biz).

Today Jason and his dad and brother are out bicycling around the Rose Bowl and vicinity, and I think my mother-in-law and I might go for a walk later on. Ah vacation!

This video accurately depicts my feelings of having 5 days off in a row.

Random Roadtrip Mondays™

Jason — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 06:58:01 +0000

When I lived in LA, I tried to make a (intermittent) habit of doing short little day trips around Southern California. Because I was initially alone in Northern California, when I moved up here, I tried to make day trips even more of a habit. Since Casey and I have been married, the day trips have sorta tapered off for a variety of reasons, but today that changed.

Today, I dropped Casey off at work, hopped in the car around 11 AM and attempted to get myself pretty lost. I did a pretty good job actually. I did such a good job, that within the first hour, I managed to hit two dead ends while trying to get over some hills. However, after a few wrong turns, I managed to get myself over the hill, and through a few cities I had no idea existed. I’d love to tell you what cities they were, but I have no freaking clue.

I can tell you that I ended up in Marshall, CA at a great restuarant/inn called Nick’s Cove. It’s a fun, quaint restaurant, and from what I can tell, some kick butt food. I’ll spare you the minute details, but basically everyone I encountered was extremely friendly. The Petrole Sole, fried in Lagunitas IPA batter, with fresh french fries, was easily the best fish and chips I’ve ever had.

fried food heaven.

Two nice little touches were: the waitress brought me a kayaking tour guide and let me know what else was out in Marshall. I had informed her that I was completely lost and was wondering what else there was to do. The other was when I stopped by the inn’s office and they offered to give me a tour of the (awesome) property.

Overall, the day was pretty great. I traveled about 160 miles in about 5 hours, saw some amazing scenery that only Northern California has to offer, and had some great fish and chips. Can’t beat that.