Beach House Friday - The Cliff House

Okay, so it's not really a "house" it's a historic landmark restaurant in San Francisco.  Full of romance and stories, it's perched on the point just at the entrance to San Francisco Bay.   The Cliff House also means romance and many good memories for Tom and I....

It's one of my  favorite places to sit, watch the rain wine and ocean winter storms.

Which is exactly what we did last Saturday afternoon. With hot toddies.... hot chocolate with whipped cream and Bailey Irish Cream and Frangelico for me and coffee with Bourbon for Tom.  Yum!    

Had to pinch myself - how lucky am I, to sit with a wonderful boyfriend and just enjoy an afternoon of Pacific Ocean storm from the warm and cozy Sutro Bistro Bar at the Cliff House.   Love the entire wall of windows!

Enjoy our view!

Have a great weekend everyone!  Don't forget to enter our give a way for Tresor Le Mer's gorgeous art - winner drawn on Monday, April 2.

Ocean Beach - San Francisco

As many of you know, San Francisco is not known for its' crystal clear summer days..... Most of the time in July and August we have fog, lots of fog and lots of "marine layers".  Truly, I am not complaining, (remember, I am from the Pacific Northwest) after the fog burns off we have beautiful clear skies and NO rain.  For me, the fog has its own unique beauty. It rolls in like cotton candy waves from the Pacific Ocean, over our coastal mountain ranges blanketing everything in quiet surreal white strands...

Last week, all of a sudden San Francisco  popped out of the fog and back into summer.   We decided to head down to Ocean Beach and see what we might find - totally expecting to find gray.  Instead, we were greeted by bright sunshine and the incredible blue, green, aqua waves of the Pacific!

Ocean Beach runs the length of the Great Highway in San Francisco, wide open sandy beaches and sand dunes stretching for miles up to the Cliff House and then into the entrance to San Francisco Bay.  

I have gathered sea glass, tiny whole sand dollars, large dark blue mussel shells at Ocean Beach, but this is the first abalone shell that I have ever found.  Was so excited to see the myriad of blues, silvers and greens shining up at me out of the sand, just asking to go home in my pocket.

Have never seen this either - whole live dungeness crabs were washing up in the surf!  No wonder why there were so many shore birds and some VERY large black ravens stalking the edge of the waves.

We love to watch the  kite surfers skim the waves, quickly gathering speed along the water. Some day, when I get brave enough,  I would really really like to learn how to kite surf.  It looks likes such fun and  a total blast!

 Ocean Beach is a beach to simply enjoy the sun glinting off of  the green-aqua color of the water as you walk along, picking up stray sea shells and an occasional sea glass prize while sinking your toes into the soft, gray sand.

 Even better if you are holding hands with  someone you love...

Better yet, if he takes you out for a delish sea food appetizer to share and lemon drops at the Cliff House after you promise to get all the sand off of your shorts, and maybe comb your hair!  (Don't you love this view??)

Ah, Saturdays just the way I like them....

Woke up to another incredibly gorgeous, orange, pink aqua blue sky over my little strip of the San Francisco Bay! Slept in late, sort of. Finally decided to roll out of my comfy sun-dappled bedroom and stroll out to the kitchen.  Starving!!  Opened up the fridge,  took inventory of what we had and made a veritable feast. Grilled sweet potatoes with Yukon golds, nutty toast, fresh local strawberries, scrambled eggs with tons of  fresh chopped veggies..we DO like to eat well.  All the while, that cute boyfriend of mine made us latte's in his fancy espresso machine.  Don't ask me, I don't have a clue how it works.


Then out to the deck to dine "al fresco" in our p.j.'s (we are on the top floor - no one really notices us!) Hot sunny, lazy morning. Love these Saturday mornings when I get to indulge myself by catching up on Elle Decor, Coastal Living, House Beautiful, Victoria, Country Living (yeah, I am magazine junkie) and this morning enjoying my latest favorite design book - Elle Decor's "So Chic". getting lost in the inspiring rooms, colors, and  design ideas is one of my favorite ways to relax and dream of my next adventure!











Tom finally convinced me to get in the shower, promising me a walk on the beach down by the Cliff House, in San Francisco, just off of the Great Highway. Doesn't take a whole to convince me to go for a walk on the beach - who knows, we might even find something interesting rolling around in the surf...

Of course we had to have a little lunch before walking out on the dunes, it had been  over 4 hours or so since our breakfast feast!  Found a cute cute neighborhood cafe, the Java Beach Cafe - the place was packed! We ordered turkey pesto sandwiches and found a place on the lanai to eat.

Then over the dunes we went. We've never walked on the beach here, have only driven by along side on our way home many times, after enjoying the view at the Cliff House. Oh.. the Cliff House... that's a story for another day.

The beach that runs this stretch of highway is a great place to walk, beach comb for shells, hunt for sea glass, build sand castles,  and of course, to people watch.

We did find a few shells, lots of broken sand dollars, or as Tom was referring to them "half-dollars". Jellyfish were all over the place too (yuck).

I always admire the kite surfers!  Looks like so much fun, but looks way too cold, and way too hard for this beach girl!

Check out one of my pretty glass pieces (and sand!) that made it home in my pockets.. Actually, Tom may have found this round smooth aqua piece. Beautiful color reflected in the sun..

Can't wait to go back again when we have more time!