Day 19: World's Largest Muffin

Does anyone else find that your body finds new and creative ways to betray you since you've become a parent? Jarrah, David and I were all sick in the past few weeks, one after another, and just when I thought I was better, something new has cropped up. I'm all hot and achey, and my limbs feel like lead. What the hell? It started last night, seemed like it was better by noon today (I chalked it up to dehydration) but I feel even worse tonight. I just took a hot bath while David got take-out, and hope to get to bed early.

We did have a really nice day today, though. My friend Lesley and her husband, Alex, are visiting from the Eureka area (all the way at the top of CA) and it's a joy to see them. We had planned to go to the beach today, but the weather was not cooperating so we made some other plans. First, brunch, and since I was feeling nostalgic for the days when Lesley and I lived in University Heights (not together, but a couple streets apart) I suggested The Parkhouse Eatery. It's a neighborhood place with yummy food, and I've seen kids there. When I lived nearby, we always went for dinner, but recently David and I have discovered that their brunch is even better.

Today was the San Diego Gay Pride parade, and I kind of forgot this would make it hard to park. But it was worth it to be in the middle of celebration--there were bike chariots cruising up and down Cleveland, my old street, to offer rides to those who had had to park several miles from the parade route. As we strolled toward the restaurant, we ran into a giddy group of men and women in matching shirts who were trying to arrange themselves for a photo with about five cameras--we appeared just in time. We saw men in too-tight shorts wearing rainbow beads and when we got to Parkhouse, the joint was rockin'. Amazingly, we got a table pretty quickly, and my mouth dropped open when I saw how long the brunch menu was. David joked that this is the place known for "tall food," and it's true--most of the dishes arrive with long sprigs of rosemary or knitting-needle thin bread sticks springing out of the top. We were all starving, so Alex ordered a couple of chocolate chip muffins for the table--the baked good of the day. We were shocked when we saw them--Lesley said (in her cute English accent) "It's like a loaf of bread!" They were huge, but nicely brown on top and very moist inside. We certainly didn't need two!

I know that David had the fresh blackberry pancakes, which looked scrummy and were big as wagon wheels. Jarrah had a lot of fun dunking her Bread & Cie toast into the homemade preserves--the fabulous little pot contained big chunks of plum and peach in a sort of fruit stew. I had a scramble cooked just right--I hate when eggs get too brown and rubbery--with homemade chicken sausage on the side, stuffed with fresh herbs. It tasted especially divine with the preserves on top. Lesley had Eggs Benedict smothered in some sort of green sauce--I have no idea what was under there, but she liked it. I didn't hear what Alex ordered (it was loud in there) except that it was the house special and had included the words "pork tenderloin." Let's just say that all our meals were served on platters instead of plates.

After all that food, we were craving a bit of exercise, so we drove to Torrey Pines State Reserve for a little hike. In all her years in San Diego, Lesley had never been there, and I was pleased to introduce her to its charms. You drive to the top of a steep hill of sand dunes (the intrepid can walk it, but Jarrah was a useful excuse not to) bristling with Torrey pines (only found in San Diego and one coastal island) and park at the trail head, a 1.5 mile loop that takes you out to the very edge of the cliffs. Looking south, you can see the folks swooping over the water from the Gliderport; looking north, the happy swimmers at the beach. Sometimes you can see dolphins from up there, though we didn't today. I told Jarrah to be on the lookout for "interesting shrubbery" but I think she was too busy showing us where to go. We tried to take another trail afterwards, but I had a freak occurrence--I twisted my ankle and the strap of my flip-flop wrenched out of the sole, making the shoes garbage. My ankle was fine, though.

We decided to head back down and walk across the street to the beach, just to dunk our toes, which was cold but really nice. It was round about then that I realized I was dementedly tired, and I slept for a long time when we got home. I hope I'm ready to party in the morning.