Thursday, June 14, 2012

A Weekend on Tomales Bay (Starring: Oysters!)

Apparently, when you are finishing a book, many things fall by the wayside. Like laundry. And making dinner (Burritos again!). And also your birthday. Mine was about two weeks before the book was due and other than a birthday scoop of ice cream, I didn't do much but nod a hello as the day passed by.

This is why my husband planned a secret getaway for the weekend after I turned in my manuscript, kind of a double celebration for both the book and my belated birthday. We left as soon as Scott got home from work on Friday, waited in traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge, dined at Lagunitas Brewery, but didn't get to our secret getaway spot until well after dark. We both collapsed into bed almost immediately and slept straight through to morning.

When we woke up, we were greeted with the view you see above. Scott had taken me to a little cottage called Anne's View on a bluff overlooking Tomales Bay. It also happens to be about a hopscotch court away from Hog Island Oysters, a place I'd been wanting to check out ever since moving to the Bay Area.

This was going to be a great weekend. Of that, I had zero doubt.














Should you ever finish writing a book or celebrate a birthday or do anything else of similar note, I highly recommend a weekend getaway of this caliber. We feasted the heck out of those oysters - two dozen EACH! Ka-POW! Scott fell in love with Hog Island's barbecued oysters in particular. By the third or fourth plate, we struck up a conversation with the grill guy and ended up getting a lesson in how to grill a mean batch of oysters. If you'd also like to know how to grill a mean batch of oysters, you can!

How to Grill Oysters: A Lesson from the Hog Island Oysters Pros on The Kitchn

After the oysterfest, we basically didn't move for the rest of the day. That's Scott up there lounging on the sofa at the house and reading through the guest book. I alternated between creative vocal interpretations of the book's many entries and watching the birds outside the window. Just before we closed the curtains and opened a bottle of wine, we got this visitor below.

A super special weekend with my super special someone. Thanks, Scott. You're the bestest.

Places of Note:

Anne's View On Tomales Bay, Marshall, CA
Hog Island Oysters, Marshall, CA
Lagunitas Brewery, Petaluma, CA

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