A trip to sunny CA or how to gain five pounds in a week

Some weeks back it was decided that my boss and me, accompanied by some of our staff would make a trip out to Orange County.  Since my boss had other commitments at the end of the week that required her in DC, we left Sunday to maximize our time together there.  After her departure, I stayed behind with my team to touch on some other items.

My flight there as well as could be expected. I left on the latest schedule possible, hoping to spend as much time with Dan and Erin as possible.  This should have had me landing at 840PM PST/1140 PM EST.  However, I was delayed in Dallas. But I'm used to this by now. For just this reason I travel fully equipped with several books and at least two movies loaded on my computer at all times.  Waiting out the delay, I found a plug and settled in to watch, "The Switch" with Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman.  When I finally hit the ground (or rather bounced off it - not a great landing) in Santa Ana, I snagged my rental car and headed for the hotel. I rolled in at 1130PM PST/230AM EST.  I was tired but in good spirits since I long ago decided getting impatient with travel, something I have zero control over, will only raise my blood pressure unnecessarily.  I think it took me exactly two minutes to fall asleep when I finally hit the bed.

By 515AM PST the next morning my phone was ringing.  Why would anyone call me that early you ask? Because it's 815AM in DC and the work day has started which means so has my day, like it or not.  I just roll with it.  Three phone calls later, a trip to the gym and a shower and I was in the lobby to meet my boss and get our day started circa 7AM.  This was more or less how the whole week went, filtering in some different players as various staff members came and went from DC. It was a solid, productive week.  We accomplished what we came for on several fronts and were able to head home feeling satisfied with our progress.

But the blog-worthy highlights, of course, have nothing to do with work and everything to do with what's available after business hours in sunny CA.

On Tuesday, we were able to leave the office early enough to snag a seat at The Rooftop Lounge.  The concept is explained in the name and while the drinks are overpriced, the small plates they offer are tasty and you canNOT beat the view.  We spent about three hours here, drinking, eating, laughing and watching a glorious sunset.

The view from the entrance to the restaurant/lounge

Becca and Sara enjoying Sangria

Meatballs with Gauva BBQ

Crispy, delicious enchiladas

The glorious Laguna Beach sunset

We wrapped up our evening at Las Brisas, the Mexican-inspired restaurant that relies heavily on seafood. It has a large menu and seems a little unfocused in general.  But my halibut with tomatillo sauce was well prepared and flavorful.

On Wednesday, after a long morning spent driving to San Diego we stopped just outside the Gaslamp Quarter at Neighborhood, an upscale burger joint that I think is best described as a gastropub.  Justin and I enjoyed "The NH Burger", a juicy patty covered in caramelized onions, arugula and Gruyere both with garlic fries (and there was no skimping on the garlic).  Sara opted for the black bean burger with sweet potato fries.  Michael chose tasty shrimp tacos and Brian enjoyed impressive seared albacore tuna sandwich.  Aside from painfully full, everyone was extremely pleased with their delicious meals.  The restaurant was an incredible pick by Justin and one that I would highly recommend to anyone headed to the San Diego area.

The NH burger and garlic fries, being approved of by Sara

The black bean burger, also being complimented by Sara's thumb

We piled back into the car, headed back to Orange County, still extremely full.  And we were still full several hours later when Dawn collected us from the hotel for dinner at Dana Kai, a delicious sushi place we've been to on a previous occasion and wanted to check out again.  The main reason to go to this place, and certainly there are many from which to choose, is the Japanese burrito, a soy paper wrapped collection of tastiness.  Filled with shrimp tempura, crab and avocado, this thing is HUGE but unbelievably delicious.

Half of a Japanese burrito

In addition to the Japanese burrito, which was the best dish of the night, we also enjoyed a variety of other tasty sushi rolls of which I was even good enough to take photos.  The problem is that I can't remember what the rolls are now, so there will be no photos.  

To say the food was good is true, but the company was better.  Highlights of the night included a lurid description of squid dissection as told to me by my coworker Dawn's 12 year old son, Nick, coupled with further chat on why it is acceptable to kill grey toads as they are not indigenous to the area and a discussion on the Mormon Church and Martin Luther King, as described by Dawn's 8 year old son, Jack.  Follow all of this with being shown a recently caught rainbow trout and getting to witness Dawn's near coronary when she thought that fish had just been chillin' in her fridge unrestrained and you have a recipe for a great night. Dawn's kids are hilarious and seriously cool.  Way cooler than I was at that age.

By the time we got back to the hotel you could have rolled each of us inside - we were stuffed and lamenting our choice of two big meals in a single day.  As a result the rest of the week was filled with varying forms of "light food" in order to ensure that we each only gained five pounds during the week rather than the 10 that might have presented themselves should our delicious adventures around Orange County have continued.