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Hey everyone. The time has come for me to grow-up (or maybe revert to childhood - depends on your viewpoint) and covert to Tumblr. Updated URL: sarcastictravel.tumblr.com

Drop in and tell me what you think!

Dog-Friendly Napa

Great site - I had no idea so many of these were dog friendly!

Napa Valley - Dog Friendly Wineries

Belmont Greek Festival - Labor Day Weekend in the Bay Area

Well, this post is a bit late, but you know - use it to plan for next year! :-)

Labor Day is just all fun-filled festival madness. We were able to make it to two of the three we wanted to attend before we just burned out.

The Belmont Greek Festival was something we've been hearing about all year so I was pretty excited to go. It turned out to be smaller than I expected but still nice. If you have kids, it is perfect - half the space was dedicated to kids' activities! There was a stage area where kids from the church / school were performing renditions of the Greek myths - surprisingly good performances. One kid playing Narcissus was hilarious - totally rocked that role (maybe too much??).

 In the back of the church was another stage area where some serious business was happening - we caught part of a table dancing show. Get your mind out of the gutter - not the first kind of table dancing you think of, but rather THIS:

Impressive.

There were some booths selling arts, crafts and jewelry, but very few. The real draw seems to be the food. There were vendors set up outside but the word on yelp reviews was to head inside the church for the real deal. We went through line and $45 later had spanakopita, souvlaki, tiropita, and so many other things I cannot remember. We topped all that off with the hunt for loukoumades - these deep fried donut things with honey and walnuts were just ...yum.

Worth every penny and the food coma afterwards

Unless you have kids or you are really into the stage performances, the festival goes by pretty fast. We were there two hours at most and left for a food coma induced nap.

-- Happy Festivals!

Hiking Sugarloaf Mountain: San Francisco Peninsula

The park has continued to be a bit of a mystery for me - I have yet to find an official site with a trail map. However, Google Maps comes through for me. You can see the starting point and the trails clearly on the map. This park is dog-friendly but full of critters, including a coyote that watched us from up the trail one day.

Starting at the intersection on the map, head west on Bartlett Way. There are a couple of houses on the undeveloped road (one of which has lost the bridge section of it's driveway - yikes!) then a large gate that enters the park itself. As you walk along the creek, you'll see evidence of an old home and horse corral that were on this road. There is a bit of urban myth / history about this area in this blog. Whatever the history might be, this stretch can be pretty lonely and just ... eerie. Can't explain the feeling, but it is odd.

Maybe part of the eeriness is from another random burnt-out car you'll find when you turn right up the Saltson Trail. The trail gets steeper and as you climb, watch the trees on the left. You'll see the car, part of the collective of burnt out cars in this area.

What the...? Not like there is a road nearby....

You'll reach a junction where you have a choice to make. The path the left takes you up to the houses. The path downhill takes you toward Laurelwood Park. To your right is a wonderful, steep trail to the top of the mountain! Go ahead, climb it! It rises at about a 45 degree angle in most places but it really isn't a long climb overall. From the top, you get 360 degree views of the area.

Fog in the distance, coming over the mountains

From the top, you can extend the hike down into Laurelwood Park where the trail narrows and can be heavy with poison oak. You emerge in the well-groomed park itself - a bit disconcerting after the wildness of Sugarloaf! Alternately, you can re-trace your steps - coming back down the path can be steep and there is loose gravel along the way. Watch yourself. 

And watch for coyotes, deer and bunnies watching you from the side of the trail. ;-)

-- Happy Climbing!

Carmel Mission - From the Archives

This photo is from 2005. This California location has not changed much in recent years. Anyone able to guess where this was taken? Twitter bragging rights to the first correct guess!

Update: No one figured this one out! This is the Mission in Carmel, CA. It's full name is Mission San Carlos Borromeo del Rio Carmelo and is the last home of Junipero Serra. It is still a functioning church and school, so pick your visit time appropriately. It is one of the most beautiful missions here in California!

Original photo - courtyard of the Mission

-- Happy Travels

Why am I Anonymous?

One of the important factors of social media is that it is ... well, SOCIAL. So how can you be social and anonymous? Yelp.com pretty much nails this belief in this statement from the Elite Squad site:

"Yelp Eliters are expected to use their real name! We know nicknames and secret identities are fun and all, but if you want to make it into the Elite, we need to know that you are legit, and will stand by your opinionated opinions."

That is all pretty awesome and makes sense. However, here is why I am anonymous:

• Safety. I am woman and often have to travel alone for work. It freaks me out that everyone in the world (who cared) could know exactly where I am every minute. And then find me. Or rob my house. Either one or both at the same time. 
• I work for a company who's customers include those airlines, hotels and products that I make scathing, nasty comments about. Our customers also include the ones I really, really like - but to protect myself from massive legal fees and / or losing my job, I try to separate the work person from the snarky person. 
• If you actually know me well enough and a thing or two about the Internet, I'm really not all that anonymous. I'll talking about you, those few people who have tracked me down. 

So, I stand by my decision to keep posting anonymously. If I ever strike it rich and make a bazillion dollars, I will hire my own security detail for safety, get sharks with laser beams to protect my house and quit my job. Then I will publicly own all my "opinionated opinions" right here. 

Until then, I'm just Sarcastic T.

-- Happy Stealthy Travels

Random Weird - Photo Fresh

What is fresh? The fish or the restrooms?

Who knows where this is? Bragging rights on Twitter to the person who can answer in the next 48 hours.

-- Happy Travels!