SUP Crepe Place!

I  was up at 7am this morning (in the restaurant biz that is exceptionally early),drove my friend to the airport and then hurried back to meet Tara for our 9:30am SUP lesson. SUP is cool kid lingo for stand up paddling. In seek of some adventure, Tara and I signed up for a beginners class at the Harbor. With my voice being a little hoarse from Mark and my karaoke duet and my stomach a little queasy from the drinks that provoked the karaoke duet, stand up paddling was certainly an adventure.

 I credit standing tree pose, a balance pose in yoga, for the fact that I was able to make it from my knees to standing on the wobbly, Shaquille O'neal of surfboards. After a brief tutorial, including tips on what to do in the event that one should fall off of Shaq due to a wake from a boat or unexpected swell, Tara and I set off towards the open ocean. The wind in our hair and the sun kissing our dewy faces as we paddled effortlessly past the harbor seals... I'm totally kidding. It wasn't near that glamorous. It took a half hour to get the hang of paddling and the sun was absent from this class. Our feet went numb from gripping the board, and I couldn't determine whether to blame my nausea on motion sickness from the swell or the Fernet from last night. Though Tara and I both agreed that competitive SUPing is not in our future, it's always fun to try something new.

After our epic SUP session, we needed to re-up our energy. We were in the Harbor so the obvious Crow's Nest was first on our list of places to have a nibble. We were a little under-dressed and our hair resembled a crow's nest, so we decided on somewhere off the radar. I go to the Crepe Place regularly for a glass of wine after work but have not ordered any food for quite a while. I was concerned that my options in the way of local and sustainable menu items may be limited, but my still queasy stomach was winning the ethical food debate with my brain. We chose to sit out side, it was almost noon and the fog that saved my life because I forgot my sunglasses in SUP class, was beginning to burn off.

I have learned that when a restaurant cares about where their food comes from, they want you to know that they care so they usually brag about what is local, organic, free range, etc., somewhere you can't miss it. The Crepe Place does just that, second to only their name, they list the local bakery from which they get their bread (Kelly's), Shoppers Corner for their meat, and Glaum egg ranch in Watsonville for their eggs. This made me immensely happy.

Tara and I caught up on girl talk over our kind and delicious brunch. We laughed about our day on the water and joked about me SUPing down the canals in Venice...