Brunch at Cody's-La Jolla

Because when you're on a trip, you can have breakfast and brunch, we stopped into Cody's, in La Jolla California.

Cody's is a very popular place for brunch in La Jolla. Being a party of two offered an advantage. Our name was called, and we were settled into our small two person table well ahead of the larger parties.

Cody's has a charming, hipster, beach cottage vibe.

We ordered a couple of fruity drinks, served in mason jars of course (I think it's some sort of hipster protocol),

and began perusing the menu.

Prior to our trip, I was listening to a discussion about chilaquiles on the Dis Unplugged Disneyland podcast.  I was hoping to try them at some point during our visit to California, so I was delighted to find them on the menu at Cody's.

Chilaquiles are tortilla chips that are cooked (simmered or sauteed) in a sauce. In this instance it was a spicy tomato sauce.  My chilaquiles were then covered with black beans, queso fresco, and creme fraiche. The whole thing was then topped with two eggs to make them brunchy.  It was quite yummy.  Two thumbs up for chilaquiles. 

Shannon got a beet and goat cheese salad with chicken. After empanadas and a doughnut for breakfast, he wanted something lighter for brunch. He said the salad was refreshing and exactly what he was hoping for. 

It was a nice, relaxing brunch, with a little view of the ocean and palm trees from the window. 

It was the kind of place that I wish I could fold up in my pocket and bring home with me, especially so that I could have chilaquiles whenever I wanted. 


Extra Note: That evening on the way home, we stopped for dinner at Brigantine Seafood. It was by far the worst meal of the trip with maybe one of the oddest servers we've ever had. I didn't think it warranted a whole post, but if you are in California I'd suggest avoiding Brigantine Seafood. 

Sunny Jim's Cave-La Jolla

I read up on Sunny Jim’s Cave before we left for our trip.  Many of the comments stated that it was an overrated tourist trap that was not worth the $5.00 per person entrance fee. Since it still seemed like a must- do in La Jolla, we took a walk to the cave store to judge for ourselves.

We handed over our ten bucks, and began the 145 stair decent. 

The climb down and back up again is not as bad as it sounds.  It is completely doable as long as you are free from any medical conditions that would make the stairs treacherous.

I disagree with all of the negative comments.  We loved the cave. It was a very cool, unique experience, at least for us New Jersey beach goers who aren’t accustomed to sea caves. I’m sure that the stairs, the lighting, and the deck at the bottom, require quite a bit of upkeep, upkeep that surely costs money, thus the entrance fee.

Our strategy was to get our $10.00 worth.  We lingered, admiring the amazing view, and taking a ton of pictures.

We enjoyed watching groups of kayakers paddle by.

  We remained while cycles of others came down, Clark Griswolded the view, snapped a picture or two (or for a few we snapped their pictures for them), and then climbed right back up the stairs. This was not a place to Clark Griswold, it required time to appreciate.  I’m not sure how long we lingered, but I still had a hard time ripping myself away when it finally seemed like it was time to move on.

I’m usually all about feeding my belly, but I also love to feed my eyes, and the cave was a delightful ocular snack. 

If I was in La Jolla, I would visit Sunny Jim’s Cave again.  I recommend it, but for goodness sake if you go, be sure to take some time to savor the view.

La Jolla-How Sundays Should Be

Sunday is a popular day in La Jolla.  

Since we were lucky enough to score a prime parking spot near the Open Aire Market, we left the car where it was, and took the shop and restaurant dotted few blocks walk to the beach.  As we descended the palm tree lined road, a vast expanse of blue rising before us, a man who was walking by exclaimed to his companion,

"This is how Sundays should be." 

There are many things that make La Jolla worthy of a day trip

Seals

La Jolla is home to a large seal population.  They lounge on the beaches,

and on a rock aptly named, Seal Rock.

Anyone who knows me well will know that this was a trip highlight.  We spent a lot of time seal watching.

They were super cute, as long as you kept a respectful distance. 

Me keeping a respectful distance

There were signs on all of the beaches reminding people that seals are wild animals and will bite you if you attempt to touch them. We watched one twenty-something looking girl try and try again to give a napping beach seal a hug.  As soon as she got too close, the seal would snap/lunge at her. She would scream and run away, only to try again.  A group of teens from a swim club were prepping for a practice.  One of the boys yelled down to the girl,

"Hey, you better stop, it's going to bite you!"  Another boy patted the first boy on the shoulder and said,

"Let her learn on her own."  

I have to admit there was a point where I started rooting for the seal, but eventually she did give up.  Totally dejected, the girl stomped away. She appeared personally offended. She just couldn't fathom why the seal did not want a hug.  

Gelato

Okay, so maybe people don't go to La Jolla specifically for the gelato, but they should.  

Bobboi Gelato uses organic, natural ingredients, many of them locally sourced.  The people working the counter were very cool and friendly, and were happy to chat about all of their flavors.  

Choosing a flavor proved difficult. They all sounded good.  Since we are suckers for a good salted caramel, we both got a scoop of the salted caramel. Shannon got a second scoop of pistachio, while I got banana rum as my second scoop.

It was great, creamy gelato. It was fresh and didn't taste like it was sitting around in a cooler all week. Sometimes a specific flavor can get a bit lost, or watered down by the milky part of the ice cream/gelato, but here, the flavors really stood out. I could pick out the rum from the banana, and the salt from the caramel.  We sat at an outdoor table, trying to slow down and savor. The view wasn't too shabby either.

Nature

If I ever came back to this section of California, I wouldn't mind staying/spending the week in La Jolla.  It is absolutely beautiful.  We loved seeing all of the palm tree dotted beach areas with their clear, blue water.

Artist painting the view

There's a nice trail that meanders along the cliffs. It offers plenty of opportunities to ooh and aah, and to take way too many pictures. 

There are benches dotted here and there along the trail so you can take a moment to soak in the spectacular scenery. 

Did I mention that it was beautiful? It was the kind of nature that almost feels unreal.  

Views

While we were taking in the view at one of the beaches, we overheard a woman chatting about another place to get fantastic views, Mount Soledad.  

It was a short ride from the beach area of La Jolla, and well worth a stop.  The mountain is home to a Veterans Memorial.

The top of the mountain presented gorgeous, sweeping views. We were fortunate that it was a blue sky, puffy cloud kind of day.

I loved La Jolla so much, if I was filthy-rich-tons-of-money, you might find me house hunting there.  

If you like the outdoors, beaches, nature trails, seals, and/or yummy gelato, La Jolla, California is a must do, especially on a Sunday. I wholeheartedly agree with the passing gentleman, La Jolla is how Sundays should be. 

Tasty,Tasty Carbs-La Jolla Open Aire Market

We got up bright and early on our second full day in California, and made our way to the La Jolla Open Aire Market.

I am extremely loyal to my at home Collingswood Farmer's Market, but California's La Jolla Market made me long for the invention of teleportation.  I would love to have the ability to teleport off to La Jolla on Sunday mornings.  

There are all manner of stalls selling everything from soap, to clothing, to produce, to flowers.

The sad part is that since we were leaving the next morning for Disneyland, we couldn't buy anything that would wilt or spoil during our time away from the resort.

The one thing that the La Jolla market had, aside from an abundance of local avocados, that my local market does not have, is a nifty market food court. 

The selection of food stalls made making a decision difficult.  Again, another reason why it would be great to visit this market more than once.

Since we are empanada lovers, we felt it important to give Tango's a try.

The Doughnut Bar's doughnuts called to us.  They were just too tempting with their large size and pretty colors to pass up.

It was almost impossible to choose one.

For drinks, Shannon favored a fresh squeezed juice, while I got a mojito iced coffee. I know it sounds weird, but don't knock it till you try it. This is something I hope eventually catches on at one of my local coffee hangouts.  Muddled brown sugar and mint are combined with cold brewed coffee and cream. It was amazing. It was the most refreshing cup of coffee I have ever had.  I loved it so much. Please coffee shops in the Philadelphia area, someone make these.

With our breakfast assembled, we sat down at one of the conveniently located picnic tables.

We each ate half of each empanada. Out of the three flavors of empanadas (chicken-bean, cheese, and jalapeno- spinach and cheese) the chicken was my favorite.  It was nice and spicy, in a good way.  Honestly though, they were all good. The empanada dough is really what makes an excellent empanada. Tango's dough was thin, light, with the perfect amount of crispy. 

We decided on the blood orange doughnut.They were so big, we got one to share.  The doughnut was moist and airy.  The blood orange icing was a tiny bit tart and not overly sweet.  It's probably a good thing that The Doughnut Bar is on the other side of the country because I'd probably be a frequent customer.

A couple sat down at the other end of our table.  From what I could gather from their conversation, they were on a first date.  They got food from the organic, vegan food stall.  Their conversation went something like

"So do you run?"
"Oh yeah, I run everyday, when I'm not biking, of course. Though sometimes I bike and run on the same day."
"Oh you bike? Have you ever gone biking at such-and- such?"
"Of course that's a great spot, and it's not too far from this-and-that. That's a great place to go hiking."
"This food is great. I'm currently on a diet that's specially designed to work with my specific body temperature."

I'm cool with vegan food and exercise. I'm all for being healthy, but I have to admit that their super healthy food and exercise chat made me feel like a bit of an east coast schlub as I shoved tasty, tasty carbs into my mouth.

The La Jolla Open Aire Market is great.  It's not very big, but there is enough neat stuff and delicious food to make it a worth Sunday morning stop.