Food and Water at Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens

Before we get started, here are the links to check out the rest of the series from my January 30, 2018, road trip to the Mendocino Coast to experience the Super Blood Blue Moon.  

Blue Moon!  You caught me dancing alone...  

We've got beaches in mind...

Mama liked the roses...

Gathering flowers for the Master's bouquet...

Yes, those are all actually lines from songs that match the subject of the post.  Haha

Anywho, I was very excited to see that the Mendocino Coast Botanical Garden has a section dedicated to growing food!  There is a garden at Oakland's Lake Merritt that also has this and it's really fun to go and see how beautiful food is when it's growing.  

So I've devoted this last post to the food garden where I got some amazing macro shots that might make you view the food in the produce aisle in a slightly different way.  So much beauty and plenty in this world that we sometimes take for granted.  

In addition to the food, I decided to include shots with water in them.  I left a couple in the other posts because the focus was more on the flowers, but I definitely wanted the majority to be with the food as these both sustain God's creatures.  So let's get started. 

The first photo is water on blue and purple leaves. 

Next is a dewy spider web above some bushes. 

I've got to say, I'm really happy with these extension tubes!  I was really concerned because they are only manual focus and my eyesight is TERRIBLE.  So I worried that I might not be able to tell when things were in focus.  But I did pretty well, if I do say so myself.  

One of the most beautiful veggies in the grocery store or in the field/garden is Rainbow Chard.  

I love this next shot.  The water is so pretty and shimmery and there's good depth of field so some of the water creates natural bokeh.  Lovely. 

Love these too because the Lacinto Kale has perfect little cubbies for the dew drops to settle in. 

So cute!

Ruby Chard

Red Leaf Lettuce

I'm not sure what this next one is, but it sure is pretty!

As is this stunning purple cabbage with it's green and purple outer leaves that you don't normally see in the market. 

Okay!  Last photo from this trip and I confess it really doesn't fit this post!  haha  

I'm pretty sure it's a succulent and not food and there is no water visible.  

But!  

It reminded me of the old "two peas in a pod" saying so I thought I'd just go ahead and drop it here.  

💚💧

xoxo

Nikon D3300

Closing Out My Birthday With Food & Tulips - San Francisco 3/16

I've spent my last two posts are two amazing places in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco.  The exciting and educating California Academy of Sciences  and the historic and beautiful Japanese Tea Gardens.

The day was drawing to a close and my lovely daughter had to drive back to Los Angeles the next day.  So we decided to have dinner in the park and then she and I would head back inland.

But first, we had to walk back to Rose's car from the gardens.  On the way, I couldn't resist taking this awesome picture of Beethoven.

Okay, okay.  So it's not Beethoven himself.  He is dead after all!  This is a copy of a statue in New York City and was gifted to the city of San Francisco in 1915.

I also couldn't resist taking a picture of the succulent garden in from of CalAcademy.  I don't think the photo does justice to how vibrant and beautiful these are though.

My sis suggested the Beach Chalet, which I've actually always wanted to eat at.  But alas, it was super crowded (as I guess it usually is) and we would have had to wait at least 45 minutes.  Then we were told that the kitchen was extremely backed up and that getting food would probably take another 45 minutes or longer.

So, no thanks.  We decided to head down Highway 1 to the Cliff House, another restaurant I've wanted to try.

It's right on the ocean (Next to the absolutely gorgeous Sutro Baths) and the views are breathtaking.  There was a storm out to sea that made it look like a dream.  And right on cue, a large ocean-going ship sailed out from the Bay and headed to the shipping lanes.

This is the view of the Sutro Baths from the observation walkway on the Cliff House.

And, the sky and ocean was so incredible, that I have to post more photos!  #SorryNotSorry

Looking North, the sky and ocean became a soft pastel watercolor.

And another ship exited the Golden Gate and sailed into the storm.

I must say, my food was amazing. I had the best of the bunch, which is a good thing since it was my birthday!

I started with an endive and spinach salad with mushrooms and bacon vinaigrette.

And finished with a delicious pork chop crepinette with roasted Brussels sprouts and crisp discs of potatoes on top of a bed of mashed potatoes with a yummy sauce.  There was also an amazing pistachio mixture stuffed inside the caul.  It was just tender and full of flavors!  And there was bacon. 

After one last look at the gorgeous sunset,

We headed over to the Queen Wilhelmina Tulip Garden.  

I love tulips.  And they had the most gorgeous deep purple ones!  

And the windmill, which is so photogenic.

I did not enhance the color in the next photo.  There was one sole lavender tulip in with it's deep purple brothers. 

And of course there were other flowers as well. 

Unfortunately, it was the end of the season for the white and yellow tulips.  So I don't have any good shots of those.  I did include the bed of white tulips with the windmill in this next shot.

But since purple is my absolute favorite color, I was extremely happy that they were still in full bloom. 

One last shot of the dramatic windmill, but this time in black and white. 

And a view of the garden with blue (?) trees in the background.  I'm not sure why they are blue!  But you can see the structure of the garden with the border of hedges and purple flowers.  In the center are the deep purple tulips around a center bed of, I think, multicolored poppies.  And the white tulips are in the foreground.  The windmill is to the left, out of frame. 

And in the back are GREEN trees.  I swear.  Something I did in post production made part of the sky and tops of the trees have a blue haze.  lol  

A beautiful place to be sure.  And we only covered about a 10th of Golden Gate Park!  It has many, many wonders left to explore.  Just a word of caution, be aware of your surroundings at all time.  There are many homeless and transients in the park and you just want to be alert. 

Until next time!

xoxo

Nikon D3000