Journey To Sonoma

Today we decided to take a short road trip up to the town of Sonoma. Takes about half an hour when the roads aren't jammed with tourists. Weather was windy but otherwise perfect.

These are shots of the Cullinan Ranch Wetlands Restoration project happening around Hwy 37. In the first shot, you can see waterfowl if you click on the photo.

Decided to stop at this place just shy of Sonoma advertising itself as having "Southern BBQ"--they do have the right kind of smoker. The food was great, but it was more like a hybrid of Southern BBQ (brisket smoked briefly, no red ring, but very tender), Californian (note the French style roll), and some other cuisine being represented by the use of a brown gravy (Chicago? Cleveland?). Coleslaw was terrific. We just shared a brisket sandwich, as you couldn't order brisket by itself. Had a couple of tacos (not pictured) later at another place that were great, but again, not authentic. More like a NorCal take on tacos with awesome fresh produce.

Fiddlehead ferns & California poppies.

Sonoma.

Sebastiani Theatre on the Sonoma Plaza.

Candy fried eggs. 

There's a bidding war for this charming fixer-upper. My agent's on hold now.

Most interesting thing I saw at Sonoma Market.

Vallejo in the distance. Shot from the Sonoma/Napa County line.

Cherry tree.

Stopped at Napa Smith's Brew Pub for a pint or 3. They get a lot of their malt from Europe. Germany, France and Canada, mostly, from what I saw. Fantastic beer, and a real bargain at $5 each. Speaking of bargains, I scored one in Napa, Rosenblum for $2.99/bottle.

Sacramento Delta V: Rio Vista Wind Farms

When I first moved back here, I started noticing this really strange tendency on the weather radar maps around the Bay Area. No matter what, there was always what looked like blobs of thunderstorms happening in the same spot, every day. Well, here it is. The windmill farms just outside of Rio Vista. My understanding is prevailing winds from the west come whipping through the Carquinez Straits, and up the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. BTW, much of this land is being used, also, for ranching, mostly sheep, some cattle.

Sacramento Delta IV: Rio Vista

Foster's Big Horn Saloon. Pretty impressive, but it doesn't hold a candle to the Buckhorn Saloon in San Antonio, Texas.

Notice I had to take 4 shots to get across how wide the delta is at Rio Vista?

Sacramento Delta III: Isleton

I'm shocked, shocked that there's gambling going on here.

Sacramento Delta II: Locke & Walnut Grove

In my previous post, I mentioned the once ubiquitous (& still very common) pear orchards in this area. After gold was discovered, many Chinese came to California, and an early settlement of Chinese happened here, in the town of Locke, to work in the pear canning factory that was set up here next to the river.

Robin says she and her father came here many years ago and encountered a number of Chinese still living here, descended from the original settlers. Notice the sign just above "Gambling House"--apparently, Locke was one of those places where Anglos from San Francisco would come for "vices." I love the fact I got two American flags in this picture, because, after all, gambling (and vice in general) is as American as baseball and apple pie.

The previous two shots are the Japanese-settled town of Walnut Grove, practically next door to Locke.

Sacramento Delta I: Rivers, Bridges, Agriculture

The Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta is an extraordinary place I've barely encountered in my time in California, and I think today just scratches the surface. Locals tell me it is common to see ocean vessels cruising down one of these channels, and since it is in the very flat Central Valley, one could be looking at fields of crops as far as the eye can see with a huge ship bisecting it. Quite a few people boat and fish in these waters, which are produced by snow melt in the Sierras.

The rivers are criss-crossed with modern drawbridges.

In the foreground, pear orchards, which were all you used to see in the area we were in (along 160), now many are pulled out for vineyards and other crops. You might be able to discern black cows in the green fields to the left.

Taqueria Adelina in Dixon

Robin and I wanted to take a break yesterday (May 9, 2015) from all the work we're doing, but where to go that's close by, not too expensive, and a place we haven't been in a while. Why Taqueria Adelina in Dixon?

So yeah, this is one of those place where the food is made with love. Here you can see corn tortillas being pressed and cooked fresh. The way I remember them when I was five years old in El Paso, Texas.

Don't take these for granted. Impossible to find in most parts of the USA, and store-bought is no comparison. 

So last time we were there, Robin got this, the Birria plate. Next time, we're both just gonna get this. It was even better, with more complex spice flavors. If you're in Austin, Borrego De Oro at South Congress & Ben White has a their own great version of Birria which I highly recommend. In fact, don't bother with anything else there.

It was my idea to also get this, their version of Cochinita Pibil, which is fabulous, nice sour orange and achiote flavors, the pork all tender and stringy. But you just can't beat the Birria. I'm sure everything else here is great too.

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2/21/2015
This is it. This is easily the best Mexican restaurant I've been to yet in California, and judging by today's lunch, by quite a margin. This place would be considered by many people the best Mexican restaurant in Austin if it was located there, and among the best by everyone else. They have the one intangible that all the best restaurants have: food made with LOVE.

We knew about a few places around Dixon we wanted to try, and this one happened to be the first one we went to, located in the heart of the historic old downtown Dixon, near the train tracks. There's been a little bit of renovation, but for the most part, these old buildings are funky. I'm pretty sure the wood floors in this building are original--bent and creaky--I hope they don't change that. I'm sure it keeps the overhead low, and that's a good thing. The plan was just to have one taco each and head to the next place, but when we saw Birria in the window, we hit the brakes hard on that tentative plan.

And here it is. Robin ordered the Birria, which around here usually means goat meat (mutton at one of my favorite places in Austin, Borrego De Oro). It was amazing. Tender, falling off the bone, stewed in a rich sauce. Notice the plastic bottles. Each dispensed some of the best salsa I've ever had, exquisite and singular, each one.

We made a good choice alright. Right after as we placed the order, I could discern the distinct sound of a wooden tortilla press rendering its magic. These fresh-made corn tortillas were brought to us piping hot. And if you're going to try to tell me that these are practically the same thing as store-bought tortillas, which is what you get at 75% of Mexican restaurants, then you need to understand exactly what I mean by the words "no comprende."

Oh bliss and heavens parted, I invoke the names of all the saints, and...OK, so here I ordered 3 Sopes, one with Birria, one with Adobada, one with Cochinita Pibil (Achiote! Sour Orange!). All three were spot on, and note the liberal sprinkling of Cotija. Here's another thing--besides food being made with love, the vibration in places like this is relaxed and easy and slow. With cuisine this good you want to take the time to savor the experience. 

Taqueria Adelina

183 N 1st St, Dixon, CA 95620

(707) 693-8989 · $ · Mexican