Jes and I had President’s Day off and Mirian was scheduled to work so we took a day trip to Half Moon Bay.  Surprisingly, it’s only a 25-min drive to the coast and I was reminded of how close I live to the ocean still.

We lucked out on a gorgeous sunny day and stopped at Montara State Beach.  The steps down were really steep and then there was a giant collection of water from the rain last week that made our entrance to the shore a little interesting.

The waves were really rough that day but it was fun to watch.  I can’t wait to get to Hawaii again.

For lunch, we drove down the coast a bit more and found Sam’s Chowder House.  It’s the same Sam from Sam’s Chowdermobile, which we’ve had before at various food truck events.

We didn’t have a reservation but got there early enough to get prime seats in the adirondack chairs out front.  We ordered from the bar and ate from the chairs.  It was sunny and warm and a little weird not having to keep my brain on at all times.

I was able to just take my time sipping my wine and eating poke one cube at a time without worrying about what the kid would be up to next.  I zoned out a few times and had this funny anxiety from having to force myself to relax.  It’s hard to describe but that’s what I was feeling that afternoon.

By the way, the chowder is yummy and they brought out a huge bowl even though we ordered a cup.  I guess someone felt bad for making us wait longer than usual for our order.

The drive back up was easy (no traffic) and we stopped at Costco to pick up a few things.  It was crazy busy and nice to not have to worry about Kumquat totally losing it while we waited in line to pay.  It’s ridiculous how the simplest things can make me so happy nowadays.