Oysters and Sardines

Since I have to drive 25-30 miles every weekday to rehab, I usually stay home, do the laundry, the gardening and pay the bills on the weekends. I rarely leave the house.

So, it was a shock when we took off last Sunday morning around 9:30 for a beautiful drive. I had been along Tomales Bay north of the Golden Gate Bridge many years ago for a retreat at the Marconi Center with the school. Michael had never been along this stretch of the Coast.

The Bridge was not crowded and the long drive through San Anselmo and Ross was no problem. Soon we were in the Samuel P. Taylor State Park than a National Park. We drove through huge redwoods along a creek then it opened up to pastures, horse farms and those spring green hills. Simply beautiful. The sun was out, no wind and warm. We had the windows down and the sunroof opened. It was so peaceful.

We wound our way to Olema then north on Highway 1. We stopped at a shack in Marshall and had oysters sitting outside right at the water's edge. There was not a breath of wind. We sat and just drank it all in. Michael ate six raw oysters and three Oysters Rockefeller while I had some chowder and three of the cooked oysters. We didn’t want to leave. There was no one there! No tourists! It was marvelous.

We kept driving north and saw Nick’s Cove. This is a much-touted rather new restaurant owned by a famous San Francisco restaurateur. We heard that he threw millions of dollars into it to make it look like a shack. Well, we just had to stop.

So, Michael had six more raw oysters from various areas and three of my perfectly cooked oysters with just a dab of BBQ sauce. He also had a spicy crisp Riesling with the oysters.

I have been on a hunt for fresh sardines for months because all the food magazines in the past two months have recipes about how to cook and serve then – not the tinned ones. I cannot find them in any of the grocery stores. So, I was thrilled to see fresh Monterey sardines on the menu. We ordered them. Three arrived with their heads attached. They were crispy and were served with picked red onion on a bed of perfectly dressed greens. Very rich. I could only eat most of one.

I was so relaxed that it was a struggle to leave the restaurant. We climbed back into the car and made our way north to Tomales then headed east on a road through dairy farms and rolling green hills to the freeway just north of Petaluma. Even driving back over the Bridge and down our Coast was really easy. No traffic.

We arrived home at 4:30, totally spent, relaxed and happy. I was in bed by 7:30 and slept until 8:15 the next morning.

We are now planning to drive to Santa Cruz for breakfast early next Sunday. A year ago, I would not have had the energy.

I so hope this era of growth and wellness continues.