Pizza in San José

((( Please, take our Leaders ))) The Dish at Stanford University

We left Grass Valley and headed to San José for a night before the weekend festivities. On our trip, we managed to get in and out of San Francisco in a dozen minutes to pick up Mardi Gras beads. Those would come into play later.

Then it was off to Berkeley to check out plants at the Berkeley Horticultural Nursery. I’d never been to Berkeley, and I was sorta amazed at how urban it seemed. Here I thought it’d be some lush campus-like place with lots of trees and wide sidewalks. Nope. Just kinda tight and congested from all I saw (which I admit wasn’t much). But we had a schedule and wanted to press onward.

Passed by Alice’s Restaurant on the way to The Yerba Buena Nursery out in the middle of nowhere it seemed, yet a hop skip and a jump from The City, or Frisco as I like to call it. Too bad I forced Dan to eat at Chipotle… (they totally over-salted the chips). It woulda been cool to eat there, even though it’s a piece of musical history that isn’t that worthy.

This nursery reminded me of my mom and the herb garden we had growing up. A kind lady welcomed us under the shade of the shack-like storefront, next to a tea room. They had a mixture of commercial areas with the usual pots and trays of plants, but gardens too. Nice wild gardens that meandered under trees. It was tranquil.

A highway sighting of a Schwans truck brought back more memories of youth. How excited we were whenever it came barreling up our remote driveway to deliver tasty frozen treats. Ice cream and meats I believe… It’s kinda hazy.

Next stop would be Trader Joes– another place that was off from my expectation. I imagined a huge grocery store, but it was an inconspicuous strip mall place. I finally got some o that Brommers soap I’ve been pining for, along with snacks for the rest of our journey.

That night we kicked back nicely with delivery pizza and beer watching the Tour de France.