“Treat It Like Cheese”

“Treat it like cheese.” She said. I suppose a statement like that requires a bit of an explanation but let me digress. The last weekend of September, Tim and I snuck away to Cambria, CA for 3 days. The last time we were able to go to this quaint little beach town was 7 years ago, the first night of our honeymoon so this was a long overdue, slightly delayed anniversary trip. We stayed in a romantic private bungalow with a jacuzzi tub, fireplace and a partial view of the beach. They gave us a bottle of champagne at check in. We were in heaven. Okay, more background to come but I must explain the cheese comment. We pulled into the quaint little town and saw there was a farmers market closing soon so we made our way back to it following check in. Trying to be mindful of diet and avoid the eating mentality of those on vacation, we decided to stop there and pick up some fruits to stock our little bungalow refrigerator. However, our good intentions went straight to hell when the first booth we ended up at was that of an Italian bakery where we purchased hazelnut cannolis and apricot pastries. Moving on, we purchased two containers of fancy flavored hummus, a stack of fresh pitas and two servings of baklava. We did circle back around to the fruits and purchased a fair amount to assuage our guilt. The fruit stand caused us to take notice of the local personalities when we asked the lady if she had anything sweet and she pointed to herself. Ummm…no. On our way out we stopped at a booth selling chocolate resembling blocks of fudge. After all, what’s champagne in a romantic setting without chocolate? (We justified away.) The fudge-like chocolate had been picked over by now as it was the last hour of the farmers market so the selection was limited. On top of that, we were quite taken aback when we saw the word “Chipotle” on a chocolate label. We consider ourselves to be an adventurous couple so when she offered us a sample we graciously accepted. We chose a chocolate called “Black Tie” which was merely a layered combination of dark chocolate and white. It was tasty so we decide to steer clear of the spicy chocolate and bring back a block of “Black Tie”. As she’s wrapping up our parcel, she says “Treat it like cheese.” It must have been the blank stares she received back from our dumbfounded faces, when she proceeded to tell us, “The chocolate sweats in room temperature and it needs to be refrigerated.” We smiled politely and thanked her and had the cash not exchanged hands, we may have run. It still sitting in our fridge, mind you, unopened and you’ll be happy to hear there is no expiration date. We weren’t purposely trying to avoid the chocolate; we just ate one too many rich meals and honestly didn’t get around to eating it in Cambia.

Cambria is a slow paced, laid back town. It is a full of shops, restaurants, wine boutiques and is famous for Moonstone Beach Drive which is a long stretch of road lined with romantic inns across from and set above the beach. It’s definitely a place people go in search of relaxation with no schedule. A good example of this would be closing signs we passed that would say “5pmish” rather than “5pm”. We noticed right away that we were part of an age minority. Based on the speed people moved and the cars they drove, it was ripe with retirement. It was entertaining to drive by a rousing game of lawn bowling in action where the participants looked like retired house painters trading secrets at a company BBQ. We don’t quite know if “white” is the required attire for lawn bowling or if they were all on the same team, but we saw a lot of it. You know there are just places you go that chase away the hustle and bustle of your regular every day lives. No matter what, the atmosphere here just relaxes us.

When we arrived, it was a gorgeous clear sunny day at the coast and we were able to experience a lovely sunset. The weekend for us was full of fresh air, poking in and out of shops, experiencing the sun, the fog, the rain, the ocean sounds and the wildlife. Though all of the food we ate was good, one particular highlight was the romantic atmosphere of the Italian eatery, Mustache Pete’s. We believe Mustache Pete to be alive and well. The food was fabulous and we were stuffed. We also really enjoyed being less than 50 yards from the crashing surf while enjoying a late dinner at the Moonstone Beach Bar & Grill. We are both water signs after all.

Another highlight included our Sunday morning stroll, taking in the foggy sites of the ocean with its high tide crashing against the rocks as well as the local residents of the ocean: the sea lions, pelicans, seagulls and what Tim dubbed as the “slender salt water loons”, not having a clue what they actually were. I think we were a tad over excited because it was our first adult weekend away in 7 years, however, we were positively overjoyed at every single experience, even walking on the wood path along the beach in the mist. We are so thankful we had the opportunity to go. Thank you, Mother Gilmer for taking care of Quinn and the homestead. What a true gift!!

BTW…yes, we were back at the Italian bakery on our way out of town. Yum!