Tri-tip of the Day

The Hubster and I just came back from a mini road trip through Oregon and Northern California. Only a week, but very much needed.

The last town in California we visited was Calistoga. We were headed for Napa (the city) along highway 128 (incidentally, one of the most beautiful highways I've ever been on), when we saw billowing smoke on the side of the road:


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This, ladies and gentlemen, is Buster's Southern BBQ & Bakery.

The order windows are in the white building, and if you want to eat in, there are tables in the brown building:



This is Buster himself loading up the BBQ:



How much meat does he cook? Oh, just a bit:



The end result. Tri-tip on fresh on site baked buns, baked beans and the most incredible slaw in the world.



I couldn't finish mine. But it wasn't for lack of trying.

Damn, now I'm hungry

The rest of the holiday pics are here.

Paris, 1980

My one and only trip to Paris was with my mom in 1980.

It was a short three day stopover between Amsterdam and Berlin, so not much time to see anything.

We stayed in a smallish hotel near the Place d'Italie in the 13th arrondissement, the Hôtel de la Place des Alpes. I remember it as being quaint, but bordering on seedy. The current reviews seem to agree.

We had a shower and sink in the room, but the toilets were on the landings. The hallway lights were on timers, so you turned on the lights and dashed. If you were lucky you made it to the loo before being plunged into dark. They now have full baths in the rooms. What luxury.


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Our room faced the inner courtyard, but we had the same little Juliette balcony as shown here.

My strongest touristy memory was of trying to visit the Eiffel Tower, but, errmm, we couldn't find it. It is after all such an unassuming little structure.


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Instead we visited the Arc de Triomphe.


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And on the top, we had a revelation and found what we were looking for:

Two Random Things: Snow & a Library

Nothing to do with anything but:

1. Snow

Here is a shot out my den window today. Snow begone!

(Cheap webcam = jerky video)

2. A Library.

I've been spending some time checking out places I've been via Google Maps. I (like many people in the library world) like to check out local libraries when traveling. This is probably one of the prettiest I've ever seen. In Carmel by the Sea, the Harrison memorial Library

Thought: I think I'll make this a regular feature, street views (or bird's eye shots) from places I've been. Great filler. New tag will be Street View


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