Princesses of Tides

On Labor Day Neeracha and I took a subset of the kids to Bean Hollow State Beach to visit the tide pools. The timing wasn't great on two fronts: Dave had just returned home from running the Disneyland Half Marathon, his first (Good job, Sweetie!), and the tide wasn't far enough out to see much. But the ocean breaking against the rocks was spectacular and we all had fun crawling around on the rocks and pebbled beach. Thing 2 has the dexterity of a mountain goat and a lot of curiosity so this was a perfect outing for her.
The terrain was unlike anything I'd ever been on -- very much like I picture the moon to be, craggy in some places, smooth like firm sand dunes in others. The weather was Chamber-of-Commerce perfect -- 70ish and sunny. I recently got a Flip Video. Clearly I am still perfecting my technique, as is evidenced below!

As is typical of any outing Neeracha and I do, food played a part. Bean Hollow is nearly two hours from our house so our first order of business was lunch. By the time we got to Pescadero, the line at Durate's was very long so we had a quick bite at the local BBQ / grocery / pizza place. There was live music outside and lots of people! Pescadero, population 2,042, is not exactly a metropolis so this was surprising.

After the tide pools we drove up to Half Moon Bay for a stop at the Moonside Bakery on Main St. The last time Neeracha and I were in Half Moon Bay together was for my 35th birthday, a weekend we all spent at the Ritz-Carlton. Next to the bakery was a gourmet cookshop and the kids talked me into buying an Ebelskiver pan, a purchase that didn't require too much convincing after eating the kinda-sorta-pancakes our neighbors make with theirs. I'd be remiss if I did not mention our two stops at farm stands.

As I read back through this post I think it should be renamed: Hwy 1 Eating + a stop at Bean Hollow.