After- thought: Get Crackin'

We knew this day would take us back to the sea. We set out on a winding road through See Canyon that dropped us out onto a small highway and right next to Salisbury Winery.

We had a free tasting of some delectable wines! J discovered he likes "fruit forward" wines and had a discussion about this with the Sommelier while I wandered around the art gallery.

I found a painting I wanted badly but, luckily, it had already been sold and saved me $1500. :)

It was grapes on a vine done in a Klimt style, but in more of the California sunbleached tones and antiqued golds rather than Klimt's vivid jewels and brazen golds.

We may have had wine tasting on the agenda but this trip was really about getting J a crab feast. Elizabeth (our endeared sommelier from Churchill & Claiborn) had told us just where to go for, "a real palpable, physical, gustative experience"! (See why I liked her?)

He was excited when we pulled up to the Cracked Crab in Pismo Beach, but when they put his bib on for him and brought out 'the tools' he couldn't contain himself!

Then they dumped 2# of heaven on his plate, handed him a beer (he said tasted a lot like Cold Smoke), and I didn't hear a comprehensible word for the next half an hour. It was all maniacal laughs, muffled sighs of delight, and grunts as he ripped apart shells to get to the glory inside.

He told me after that we needed to get these little warmers for home. :)

I'm not supposed to eat shellfish, so I had a bit of halibut smothered in green tomatoes, oyster mushrooms and herbs. Needless to say, I was done much sooner and had time to draw on our table cloth.

It's hanging in the restaurant now ~ LOL! Not bad for having just tasted a flight of wines and having another glass with my meal.

There's the man who just finished every last tidbit of that 2# of crab and took his bib off. Does he look a little dazed? Time to walk it off. Paul Boy metabolism. No rest for the full. hee hee!

Pismo feels like an Annette Funicello & Frankie Avalon movie. Straight out of the 50s/60s era.

The Pier had it's own Photo-Op Props...

J wasted no time getting down to doing the tourist thing.

I talked to the guys working at this shop on the pier. It's original to when the pier was built! They even try to keep it painted the same way.

AND they still sell some of the original kitchy souvenirs from that era!

We went into the candy store that is famous in Pismo for being the original purveyors of candied insects. Lolipops with scorpions, salt & vinegar larvae, BBQ flavored crickets, and, of course, candied apples with candied worms...

The only sweet I eat... heh heh... :D

J bought Salt Water Taffy with no insects or soon-to-be insects in them.

We headed back to the B&B and stopped at one more winery that I won't mention the name of because we were totally unimpressed with everything we tasted but we did get some lovely shots of the surroundings.