Fish Tacos.... Yeah, Baby, again!

When John,

(aka Hubby o'mine)

first moved

to SLO

from

Vermejo Park, New Mexico,

he met

Ross and Joanne.

They

became

fast friends

Consequently,

Ross and Joanne

with

lots of hard work,

time and

energy

(and a killer Clam Chowder)

turned

Splash Cafe

in

Pismo Beach

into

a

cash cow!

Lines around the block

for

Splash Cafe's

chowder in a bread bowl

(as well as their many

other

delectable

seafood goodies)

When

the

time

came

for

the

ever-greasy

Bishop's Burgers

(right next to Petit Soleil)

to

close,

Joanne and Ross

built

Splash Cafe and Artisan Bakery

(and

Sweet Earth Choclate factory).

Good thing for us!

Splash

in SLO

is happily painted

the same colors

at Petit

(butwith happy little clams and sea creatures everywhere!)

They have

seafood galore.

outrageous breads and desserts,

clam chowder in bread bowls,

salads,

sammies

wine and beer

.........

and

FISH TACOS!!!!!

I

invited my favorite

work out buddies

for

fish tacos

after our friday work out

Melissa

was on board

as

Splash's tacos

are her faves

and

Teresa,

the one that whips us into shape,

decided

chicken tacos were for her

(camera shy and hungry)

Sandy,

yup

that's Sandy with the lemons

and

the abs o'steel

was

game, too!

We brought

our

goodies

to

Petit

and

inhaled

our food

(and posed for a photo)

ALL IN ALL,

one

fish

or

one

chicken

taco

is

not

enough for

a hungry

girl.

The

guacamole cilantro sauce

was

yummy,

lettuce not cabbage,

fried fish

(good!

really good!)

...just not enough.

BUT,

I

went back

today

--starving

(we ran six miles this morning)

and

I

ordered

T W O SALMON TACOS

PERFECT!

perfectly

hot

and delicious

and

the perfect amount

for

a

hungry

ME!

In search of....

Fish Tacos

Take

3

I don't know

what

is more

frustrating

....

going

somewhere

really special

......and forgetting your camera

or

taking

a whole bunch

of

great

pictures

downloading them

and

realizing

that

NOT ONE TURNED OUT

(broken camera)

My

friend

Barbara

said

"let's go get fish tacos!"

OK!!!

WHERE?

How about

Ruddell's

in

Cayucos!

(touts the "BEST" fish tacos)

YEAH!

A

picture-perfect

day

overlooking

the pier

in Cayucos

camera in hand

Smoked Albacore Tacos

YUM!!!

different

than most

as

1. smoked fish

2. ONE taco

3. lettuce instead of cabbage

4. no guac

5. no sour cream

but really

really

YUMMY!

Barbara

took

a picture of

me

devouring

my

smoked albacore taco

I

took

pictures

of the

owner

of

Ruddell's Smokehouse

the pier

of Barbara,

a 1940's ambulance

etc.

etc.

downloaded pictures

all

overexposed

grrrrrrrrr

note to self

Camera to camera shop tomorrow

Today

SUNDAY

"Hey, John!

Let's go get fish tacos"

grabbed

John's

uber

super-special

camera

and we

headed out to

our

old fave

...

Pappy MeGregor's

aka

The Kilt

Not like being at the beach

or on a pier

or even outside

but

the fish taco

menu worked

and

the

Giants

were playing

(not a good ending to that...)

I

ordered

salmon tacos

and

John

had the fried calamari tacos

(a respite from the "no flour, no sugar, no preservative diet)

my

fish

tacos

were

so so so so so so

SO

good

(perfectly cooked salmon, lots of cabbage, a touch of hot chipotle, lots of guac, sour cream)

John

LOVED

the fried calamari tacos

The

uber

super-special camera

worked

as it

should

GOOD FISH TACOS!

Barbara

lamented

with

me

about the

broken camera

but

that

always

Positive Polly

great friend

said

"We just have to back to Ruddell's again

and

have

fish tacos"

nice!

to date

n search of

The Best Fish Taco:

1. the Kilt aka Pappy McGregor's

2. Ruddell's

3. Pete's Pierside

Are we at the top yet?

Sister

#

3!

The

BIG

SISTER!

...

Bishop's Peak

I grabbed

my

companion in climbing crime,

Annie

and we were off to tackle

the

Big Sister

Now

I consider

myself

quite

strong

I mean

I work out

and run,

but......

Who knew?

Off we go

first look back

towards

Cal Poly Campus

and downtown SLO

Emerald green

grasses

and

ponds

full

from so much rain

I am

still

talking

(and breathing)

at this point

Next

look behind......

Look!

There's

Islay Hill

in the distance

and

Madonna Mountain

(aka San Luis Mountain)

Sisters one and two

just to the right

up

up up

switching

back and forth

up

up up

UP

Looking back again

toward

Laguna Lake

and the Irish Hills

,

Oh Look!

There's our house!

See......

here's

a

better shot

can you see it now?

Are we at the top yet?

breathing

labored

no conversation anymore

There's

Steph and Brynn

just in front of me and Annie

It's

Foggy

at the

summit

(nice and cool...)

Brynn and Steph are moving pretty quickly

(At this point

I am barely able to catch my breath

heart beating

almost

out of my chest)

Annie so encouraging......not

"Come ON, MOM! You bag on me to finish all my job applications

now I am bagging on you to

keep going

AND

hike to the top!"

are we at the top yet?

At the top

YUP!

AT THE TOP

we found Steph and Brynn

The top of Bishop's Peak

sweating profusely

wishing for water

but smiling

This Big Sister

is

quite

dramatic

down down down

.....

....

...

..

.

easier

that

UP

little flowers

driving home

Annie

shot

Sister Bishop

from Foothill Blvd.

See those rocks at the top?

that's where we were!

Crossed

Big Sister

Bishop's Peak

off my list

......

thank goodness

fish tacos

blog

is next

Searching for the BEST Fish Tacos around SLO

This

last weekend

was

Polywood

aka

(Open House)

at

Cal Poly.

SLO

had

like 10,000

extra people

roaming around

in town!

(that's quite a few)

You

could not

have

asked

for better weather

for

Polywood

...

maybe

80 degrees

soft breezes...

perfect!

The

bright blue skys

and

warm

sunshine

gave me a craving

for the beach

a beer

and some fish tacos

off to Avila

glorious!

We

are still

doing

that

no sugar

no flour

no preservative thing

so

FISH TACOS

are

becoming

a staple

in our diets

We were

(and still are)

on a hunt for the best fish taco in SLO County

we

scooted

to

the

end

of

the Olde Port Pier

(aka the Harford Pier)

to

Pete's Pierside Cafe

Pete's has been around forever

I used

to

know

the

REAL

Pete!

Great guy,

jovial

happy -

loved Mexico,

the Caribbean

and

all of

Latin America, really

and the food!!

OH, Yes!

Pete was a foodie!

(I wonder what happened to Pete.....)

Salmon tacos,

yes, please!

and crab cocktail

(as crab is in season right now)

and

a couple

Red Tail Ales

We grabbed this little table

in the

warm sun

with a view of

San Luis Harbor

Wild Salmon Tacos

and

the Red Tail

scale of 1 - 10 maybe a 5

fish was GOOD

not enough cabbage

and only one tort

Onlookers

looking for our leftovers

No

worries....

we didn't share any scraps

with

our feathered friends

Next stop

for

fish tacos?

Maybe Splash Cafe,

or

The kilt

or Schooner's

...we will let you know

That Phinn...

ok -

way too much information

I know

but I had to

giggle

as Phinn proudly found himself the bottle of

Fanny Wrapper's

(the best lingerie shop in SLO)

brand of KY Jelly

and decided

to chew it up

Why is this funny? I know you are asking....

I guess it is because one of my favorite blogs is about

LIFE

written by

a gal with

three young kids

Her youngest is Fin.

He found the KY Jelly

decided to

spike his hair

with it

and ultimately won the best

crazy hair

at Awanas....

I guess the Fin and Phinn thing got me....

OK!

not so funny

The next few blogs will be about

our hunt for the

best fish tacos

in SLO county

(If you do want a fun read

please click on to

Kasey Buick's

life blog)

Footprints

Some people

come into our lives

and

quickly go.

Others

stay a while,

leave footprints

on our souls

and

we will never, ever be the same.

-R. Hoskins

This is a difficult post,

but

one that I feel

the need to share.

I have

posted

a

few

really

special

"Petit Soleil"

serendipitous

moments

with you,

and

have

shared

a

few

very

special

Petit Soleil

guests

with you

but

this

story

left

a

footprint

on

my

soul

Cal Poly's

2011 Freshman,

and their families

are beginning

to arrive

into town

for

orientation

and

school tours.

The

excitement

is

contagious.

Three years ago we felt this same excitement as a young man from Austin TX,

Carson,

and his family

were

touring

Cal Poly and San Luis Obispo

and

were

making

the final decision

for Carson

to become a

Cal Poly

Mustang.

Tall,

lean

an obvious athlete,

with

charm

and

a

Texas size smile,

Carson

won over our hearts

(and the hearts of

all the

young Cal Poly girls

that work at Petit, as well)

Carson's family,

equally

as

warm and charming,

shared in the

excitement

of

his future

of

architecture,

mountain bicycle adventures,

and

hopeful dreams

The dreams changed.

Carson

died

of

alcohol poisoning

at

a

Fraternity

initiation

party

December 2, 2008

...

hazing was

the

alleged crime

Time stopped

for

his family,

friends,

and

everyone else that he touched

was

started

by

Carson's family

to honor

his

legacy

...

to educate

children, young adults

and their families

about

hazing,

bullying

and

alcohol poisoning

...

Cal Poly

honored

Carson

last week

with

the dedication of

a bicycle rack

in

an

emotional

ceremony

Carson's family

along with

Cal Poly

want

to ensure,

through education,

a

safe

transition

for kids

into

adulthood

The

day was perfect

warm

and breezy

young

people

sang

and many

just

listened,

cried

or

quietly remembered

Carson

Carson's

roommates

and

closest friends

gathered

with

his

parents

With Carson

will

be

honoring

Carson's

memory

Please read the

Cal Poly

bike dedication

page

Parents!

educate yourselves

and educate your children

Young People!!!

Never

Ever

let anyone

bully

you

...

never

become

a

bully

Please read

about

Carson Starkey

here

after knowing him

I will

never

ever

be

the same

Happiness is....

IMG_0708, originally uploaded by TTT with Toulouse.

I believe that kids are like boomerangs!
Whoooosh.....you send them off to college and they spin and twirl and whoosh..
back to you they come!
Secretly, I am thrilled to have them back in SLO; chatting it up with the guests at Petit, eating up leftovers at home, filling up our DVR with hundreds of "Sex in the City" episodes and ESPN programs and whipping our butts (mine and John's) at Cranium, Catch Phrase, Rummikub and Yahtzee. I love their energy and their ability to always keep us guessing.
I did find this plaque - on FACEBOOK,( believe it or not), while I was stalking pictures of the newest arrivals at a charming little shop in Paso Robles called The Cottage. I sent Sandy a message to hold one for me.
John permanently adhered the plaque right in between the doors of Annie and Andrew's rooms (always their rooms whether they live here of not).
I hope they remember what they read here:

Happiness is not a destination it is a way of life.

(I know I appreciate the daily reminder, too)