California Day 7 - Back to San Francisco

On our last day in California we made the drive back from Lake Tahoe to San Francisco. Along the way we stopped at an In-N-Out for lunch. Phil had been craving a trip to In-N-Out ever since we arrived in California. It probably didn't help that he was reading a book about In-N-Out on the plane ride over.


In-N-Out has a "secret" menu where you can order things "animal-style". I always thought animal-style had to do with a special sauce they put on the burgers/fries, but according to the lady behind the counter it just means they grill the burgers with mustard. Not sure what it means for the fries in that case...The burgers are definitely better than your standard fast food, like Burger King or McDonald's, but I still prefer Five Guys' burgers (even if they are slightly more expensive).

After we got back to San Francisco we had to check into our hotels for the evening since all of us were flying out the following day. First stop was the hotel Phil and I were sharing with his cousins Alex and Ray - the Ritz Carlton. If you can believe it, this was one of the cheaper rooms we could get because of the Memorial Day weekend. This was the first and probably the last time we'll ever stay at a Ritz. It looks like a museum or some judicial building. I think it actually used to be an academic building before it was a hotel.

The hotel was so big the inside had hallways that seemed to go on forever.

The decorations throughout the hotel had an old classical feel, and the rooms were huge!

Even the bathroom was super fancy looking.

After we dropped off our stuff we took a look at the hotel room being shared by the rest of the cousins at the Hotel Rex. Lucia and Winnie were convinced the hotel was haunted. The hallways were kind of dark and creepily decorated...

Once we dropped off all the luggage we headed out to dinner at a place called Incanto for their "Leg of Beast" - a 3-course set menu.

When you first walk in the have a display case filled with hanging meats. Yum yum.

Ray and Kevin share a quick toast of their mineral water .

You have to order the "Leg of Beast" at least a week in advance, so the restaurant had a table all setup for us complete with menus listing the full 3-course meal. Lydia and Winnie were reading through the menu getting ready for some good eating. The "Leg of Beast" has 2 options - braised beef shank with marrow bones and tendon or the Ham in Hay. We opted for the beek shank.

First they started us out with different kinds of bread and some bread sticks.

Followed by some salad and an assortment of thinly sliced meats and patte.

Right before the meat came out they brought out the beans and some grilled veggies (zucchini if I remember correctly).

Next they brought out the marrow bones and tendon. Who knew you could cook and eat bone marrow?... The cooked beef marrow bones are eaten on toasted bread.

And here's the marrow bone. I think one of Phil's cousins was saying it's supposed to be really good for you. I managed to make it half way through my marrow bone. The texture is definitely something to get used to.

Then it was on to the beef shank. That is one big leg of meat!

Finally, dessert! We got to choose between a flour-less chocolate cake, which was sooo good.

Or a panna cotta - an Italian pudding.

Personally, my favorite part was the dessert, but that's just my sweet tooth talking ^__~

California Day 6 - Emerald Bay

Our last day in Tahoe was our hiking day. First, breakfast, the most important meal of the day - sausages, fruit and I think that was scrambled eggs, spinach and potatoes.

Before we headed out on our hiking journey a few of the cousins went out for a bike ride around the lake, so Phil and I went out for a walk by ourselves. We mostly just visited some of the spots we had been to on that first day we went out sight-seeing, but it was nice and relaxing.

Once all the cousines re-gathered at the cabin we headed out to Emerald Bay State Park. On the way we hit a particularly windy stretch of road. It seems kind of dangerous to have such a curvy road when you're so high up in the mountains...but I guess since you're on a mountain it can't really be helped...

But we made it to our destination safe and sound.

We stopped to take a short break. Phil and Lea were just hanging out on a rock.

While Kevin found himself a walking stick.

After our short break we made our way to a lookout point where we could take some pictures.

Everybody wants to hold the baby already and he's not even out yet.

We hopped in the car to try and get a better view. Although the view even from the car was pretty nice.

We found a good spot by a small waterfall. There were little waterfalls and streams everywhere from the melting snow running off the mountain tops.

We drove a little bit further down to Vikingsholm. A 38-room Scandinavian mansion that the Emerald Bay area is apparently well-known for. Before making the hike down to the mansion we stopped by the lookout point at Vikingsholm.

The cousins at the top of the rock!

With Phil's help I was able to make it to the top of the rock to join the rest of the cousins, and enjoy the beautiful view.

After coming back down from the rock we started down the trail to the Vikingsholm mansion. Lucia, Ray and Kevin are all ready with their walking sticks.

Having the extra weight of the baby definitely slowed me down a little. The cousins stopped to wave hi from down below while Phil and I tagged along in the back.

But we all eventually made it to the bottom. Yay!

By the time we got to the mansion it was too late to take a tour, so we just enjoyed the view from the outside. Not bad for a house built in 1929.

And the view in front of the house isn't too shabby either. I wouldn't mind living there.

And then after some sword fighting with the walking sticks...we headed back up the mountain.

The hike back up the mountain was definitely harder. I blame the high altitude, but I'm sure the extra baby weight didn't help. We tried to take a shortcut near the end of the trail that ended up being steeper than we thought. Good thing I had Phil and Winnie (and the walking stick) there to help. ^__^

Everyone back at the top of the mountain in one piece - mission accomplished!

Next we headed back towards the area near the cabin for some dinner. We went to a restaurant called Bridge Tender, which according to reviews online was supposed to have awesome garlic fries.

They had to split us up into 2 tables. We ended up with all the single cousins at one table and all the couples at the other.

Of course with the reviews online we had to order their garlic fries, and they were surprisingly good. I was tempted to order more, but I could barely finish my meal as it was.

I ordered the chicken ceaser wrap, which was only so-so.

Phil ordered the burger since the menu said it was the BEST burger (in Tahoe city...). I don't think it quite met Phil's expectations, but really how many burger places could there really be in Tahoe city?...

After dinner we headed back to the cabin for some apple pie and ice cream!

And a nice relaxing evening of video games. A good way to wind down from all the hiking.