Getting down to the business of vacation.

After a truly crazy last few months; traveling between San Francisco and Washington DC on the assignment I am on for the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues the last week of getting ready for our annual Provincetown vacation almost put me over the edge. Luckily the knowing that in a few short days we would once again be in one of our favorite places to essentially do little else than relax, eat, ride bikes, catch up for pals and in Paul’s case, sleep. But before I could leave; finish a few work projects, get the house cleaned, Dino had to be taken to Hightail, finished laundry, write the “house rules” up for a guest house-sitter and pack.

Getting an early start on Friday, I took off out of SFO on a 7:00 am Virgin flight, and while a crowded flight, it was essentially uneventful. I made sure I have my treats for the ride and enough juice on the Kindle Oasis that I recently acquired, with its extended batter cover – I was all set to go.

The nice thing about the west coast to east coast flight is that if you leave early enough, you can get in mid afternoon and have enough time to settle in. After getting my bag, I grabbed a cab over to meet Paul at the Residence Inn Marriott’s Downtown/Seaport facility. The renovated urban building, is clean, bright and well worth its hefty night fee – but its no more expensive than other hotels in the area. Figured I earned all those points, might as well get some use of them. We also found that by staying in Boston overnight – we can take the Saturday afternoon ferry to P’town and already be on the way to relaxing.

Once we got settled – the unspoken plan, is pizza! One of our favorites is Regina’s Pizza. This little, mad-house is not for the “faint of heart”. It’s busy, the wait staff robust and full of personality and the pies rock. The other best part is after, you get to walk the neighborhoods and hit some of the older Italian pastry shops for some regional fav’s I miss, not to mention the occasional “on no they didn’t” item…

One that we often stop at is Brova’s Bakery, with it’s wide assortment of cookies, cakes, and cannoli’s as well as savory treats like stromboli’s.

 

Waking up early, had a lazy morning with breakfast at Flour, and I stopped next door to check out the Bees Knees Supply company, we packed up and took a nice walk over to the ferry. Couldn’t ask for a better travel daythe weather in the east coast has been hot and sticky but it broke the other day and we lucked out with sunny, humidity in the 60’s and temps in the 80’s.

Once getting getting into P’town and checking in at the Fisherman’s Cove, our home away from home” for the next two weeks; we were unpacked, sorted out and “living” as if we hadn’t ever left. After running a few errands, like getting some “hair of the dog” coffee at Wired Puppy; we figured it a good time to eat before the crowds hit and we went with our old standard, Local 186 for burgers. Eating early meant that “someone” would be ready for an evening walk that was sure to include ice cream.

 

If you are interested in my  actual comments on the actual places; I generally review them in greater detail on my Yelp page and/or on Trip Advisor and when I can remember, I cross post here.

Food styling hits food kiosks at SFO’s T2

Fly enough and you begin to notice a lot of differences between airports. In fact, one of the nicer differences being noticed across the country is “Style Food Porn”. So while in the past some of the nicer restaurants at airports served nice dishes to balance the fast food option, snow even the kiosks are getting into the game.
Airport management & leadership seems to be finally getting on board that just because people are traveling, this shouldn’t mean that the food that they buy shouldn’t look nice, be diverse, fresh and have flavor. (I know real concept, right). So they’ve begun to spend a lot more time on the food making them look appealing and appetizing as well as diversifying the options. Think of it as “runway stylists” for food kiosks.

These are a few shots from down in terminal one at San Francisco airport at Dogpatch Bakehouse Cafe. 

Now if they could just figure out how to get themselves open a half an hour earlier so that you don’t have such long lines specially for those flyers who have to get here by 4 o’clock am in order to get on a flight that’s boarding at 5:25 am.

  

    
   

   

 

A crowd sourced multi-media portrait of 24 Hours of Life in Provincetown #Ptown24 ; over 2oo hundred photos, 48 videos all in the same 24 hours.

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Each year we head back to Provincetown for a few weeks to see old friends and chill. We usually go when the big events have passed and before the last big theme party hits. This past summer Provincetown TV (PTV) launched its own version of a crowd-source “day in the life” called #Ptown24 asking for folks to share images from throughout a 24 hour period using the hashtag #Ptown24 (which happened to occur while we were in town).  Below is the summer version and happy to say several of my shots made it.

A crowd sourced multi-media portrait of 24 Hours of Life in Provincetown; over 2oo hundred photos, 48 videos all in the same 24 hours. Heather Reed of Provincetown Television got the ball started.. and I’m hearing a winter version of #Ptown24  is brewing now too. See the message post below.

You can see some of the great work of PTV on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/provincetowntv/ or visit the website http://www.provincetowntv.org

Below is the summer version and happy to say several of my shots made it. 

 #Ptown24

In fact – are you going to be in Ptown in February? Help document 24 hours of life in the winter in Provincetown!

Everyone who lives here in the winter gets asked (like a million times) “What do you DO all winter?” It’s time to stand together and ANSWER BACK! With beautiful little videos and photographs of our lives in our beautiful town when most people are elsewhere.

From 6 am 2/24 to 6 am on 2/25, PTV and LIPTV ask EVERYONE in Provincetown to shoot and post short videos and photos of your day to the first WINTER #Ptown24! Invite your friends to join the #PTown24 Facebook group and contribute videos and photos or follow along as the day unfolds.
facebook.com/groups/ptown24

We encourage you to post and tag your posts with #Ptown24 everywhere on this day, but we learned A LOT about Facebook and Instagram’s privacy settings last time. That’s why this time we’re asking everyone to join the #Ptown24 group and post contributions here. That way your beautiful post doesn’t show up as a white box that says “Attachment Unavailable.”

Questions? Contact [email protected].

PTV is a 501(c)(3) non-profit contracted by the Town of Provincetown to provide a community media center for local residents, and non-profit and educational institutions. PTV is also contracted to provide unbiased cable and webcasts of all Provincetown Regulatory Board Meetings. (Follow PTV GOV here to stay up to date on the latest Government video postings: https://www.facebook.com/ptvgov)

PTV Members have free access to cameras, editing bays, lights, microphones, studio space, and hands-on training classes and workshops. Join or renew your membership here: http://provincetowntv.org/membership/

PTV cablecasts on Provincetown’s Comcast channels 18 (Government) and 99 (Public), with selected programs available on our Vimeo channel www.vimeo.com/provincetowntv.

Hole In The Wall; Road Trip

We did a “jump in the car” roadtrip to get out of the city today. First stop was the always friendly Hole In The Wall. It continues to be one of our favorite “go to” spots.

Friendly staff & good solid food makes for a destination worthy meal or while spending time in the Northern California region. Known for a great breakfast; biscuits, gravey and hash rock thoseorning branches, but the hamburger & sandwiches make for a full belly. On this trip I tried out the ground duck burger on server recommendation, and will say- it was right on the money.

We did an jump in the car roadtrip to get out of the city today. First stop was the always friendly Hole In The Wall. It continues to be one of our favorite “go to” spot.

Friendly staff & good solid food makes for a destination worthy meal or while spending time in the Northern California region. Known for a great breakfast; biscuits, gravey and hash rock thoseorning branches, but the hamburger & sandwiches make for a full belly. On this trip I tried out the ground duck burger on server recommendation, and will say- it was right on the money.

Our new pals Adrian & Julie stopped to swap food dish in between serving up our meals.

Russian River Get-A-Way Weekend; Mom’s Apple Pie

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We decided on a quick visit to Guerneville, Ca this weekend and made a call up to the former Russian River Resort, now rebranded and open as the R3 to see what kind of openings they had. The website it pretty clear and easy to navigate which is a good thing – as when calling to get into – you pretty much are directed back to it to check which rooms are available and to make a reservation. The place it pretty much in keeping with its past – but the rooms are clean and the beds soft. (More on staying at the R3 here)

But I digress. Along the way up to the river after an easy start to our day,, on recommendations from our pal Joe G. (owner of my personal local Barbershop of choice;  Joes Barbershop here in San Francisco), Paul suggested we stop off at Mom’s Apple Pie shop in Sebastapol for “lunch”.

Moms logo

Look for Moms!

Mom’s Crew at Mom’s Apple Pie

Now – not being someone who is a “gotta have pie” kind of guy – I wasn’t expecting much. On walking in – I was thinking sandwiches first, then maybe a slice.

Well, boy was my attention diverted with being greeted by a showcase full of freshly baked pies many of them looking every good as they smelt.  The folks working were lovely to chat with and “Mom” even poked her head out briefly to say hello.

Mom's showcase of pleasure

Mom’s showcase of pleasure

Being a fan of cherry – I opted for the cherry pie and Paul debated a moment or two longer and ended up with the blueberry, then just to be sure – we order a mini apple pie to take with us for later.  Gotta’ love a place that serves the pie simple and unadorned, warm and waiting before the sandwiches arrive. So you know the order of the day was going to be sample first then the protein.

More from Mom

More from Mom

Three things stood out for me; 1) The fruit tasted like fruit! Just the right balance of sweet and tart. I kind of think after tasting his, that the blueberry might have edged out the cherry some on flavor,  2) The crust was flaky and rich, just thick enough with out feeling like it was overwhelming the dish,  an last – it was warm and size right served in recycled tin pie plates.

While not a fancy place – they serve it up right. We also noticed that they now offer gluten free pies. Well worth a trip if you are in the area!

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Mom’s Apple Pie is located; 4550 Gravenstein Hwy. North • Sebastopol, CA 95472 • 707-823-8330, http://www.momsapplepieusa.com

Mom’s Apple Pie