 There are five crucial questions a journalist must ask (and, ideally, answer) when researching and developing a story: Who, What, Where, When, and Why. These Five W's, along with a bonus "How" for further clarity, will preclude each blog post to provide proper insight into this weird, wild nomadic journey. The Five W's + H: Who: United States Traversing Page Trio: Christina (wife), Sophia (cat), DJ (self) What: Top 5 places to drink up Where: Moorpark, CA When: October 2022 - January 2023 Why: Eager to remain in southern California, we settled on a gig less than an hour west of Eagle Rock. Just 15 minutes north of the more populous Thousand Oaks, Moorpark's serene scene provided a stark contrast to the hustle and bustle of northern Los Angeles. + How: Breaking the previous record by nearly five minutes (Rowlett to Fort Worth is only about a 50 minute drive without traffic), our drive was a meager 47 miles and minute 45 minutes long. This consisted of cruising west on the 134 through Glendale, straying north onto the 5 across Burbank, and finally rolling onto the 118 past Simi Valley before arriving in semi-mountainous Moorpark. This delightful drive brought great joy to yours truly, the chauffeur of this operation, as trekking back and forth for days on end between Texas and California had worn thin. Five Places to Drink Up: Moorpark (and surrounding area), CA Boccaccios (32123 Lindero Canyon Rd. #110, Westlake Village, CA 91361) Quotable: "Lakeside fine dining, at its finest." Just 15 minutes south of Moorpark on Westlake Lake, Boccaccios boasts the best lakeside views in the Los Angeles area. Founded in 1968, this restaurant welcomes guests by land or by sea (there are multiple docks for those who really want to make an entrance) to enjoy fine dining favorites and superb sunsets.
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 There are five crucial questions a journalist must ask (and, ideally, answer) when researching and developing a story: Who, What, Where, When, and Why. These Five W's, along with a bonus "How" for further clarity, will preclude each blog post to provide proper insight into this weird, wild nomadic journey. The Five W's + H: Who: The triumphant trio: Christina (Extraordinary Oncology Nurse), Sophia (Not-so Nimbly Bimbly Brown Tabby) and Me-a (Internationally Streamed Spotify Artist. No, seriously) What: Top 5 places to drink up Where: Eagle Rock (10 minutes north of downtown Los Angeles), California When: July 2022 - October 2022 Why: This may be the most pertinent of the five. WHY do we keep going back and forth between Texas and California or Arizona? Why can't we just go from Arizona to California, just stay in California and drive to California, or even do back-to-back contracts in Texas? Why must we insist on making the drive harder for ourselves? Oh that's right: because yours truly is the driver. + How:  How I feel every time we make the same 20-25 hour drive back and forth two to three times a year. Once more into west Texas, my friends, once more. This extremely familiar route is—yet again—approximately 1500 miles and 22 hours of drive time. We spent our first night in Fort Stockton, Texas; second in toasty Tucson, Arizona; and sped through our last day in sunny CA before arriving in Eagle Rock. Five Places to Drink Up: Eagle Rock, CAQuotable: "Neighborhood cafe perfect for breakfast, brunch, or lunch." With three locations and counting across the Los Angeles area—much like your waistline after dining on delicious breakfast burritos, crumb donuts, and grilled cheese sandwiches--Hilltop Coffee + Kitchen is primed for expansion. The Eagle Rock iteration of Hilltop was located (dangerously) just a few hundred feet from the front door of our place. We made sure to make the most of our opportunities living next to this neighborhood gem.
In honor of San Diego, each section of this blog will feature a gif of Will Ferrell (mostly from Anchorman) as a tribute to the greatest movie ever made here (sorry, Top Gun).  There are five crucial questions a journalist must ask (and answer) when researching and developing a story: Who, What, Where, When, and Why. These Five W's, along with a bonus "How" for further clarity, will preclude each blog post to provide proper insight into this weird, wild nomadic journey. The Five W's + H: Who: The whole crew of Christina (life-saving traveling nurse extraordinaire), Sophie (butt-licking brown tabby) and yours truly (Writer Mc Writeyguy) What: Top 5 places to drink up Where: San Diego (and Surrounding Area), California When: February 2020 - May 2020 Why: We can't seem to find a reason to quit traveling, so this kicked off our fourth year of exploration. Our time in Fort Worth was complete and the beauty of California beckoned once again, this time at the south end of the state. San Diego is filled with charm and a rich history, even the origin of the city's name is simply majestic:  + How: Back on the grind, we sped through roughly 1400 miles and 20 hours of drive time. Passing through El Paso (for the umpteenth time) and Casa Grande (a suburb just south of Phoenix where we actually had the best Chili's meal—no really—ever) before we made it to our ultimate destination: Bonsall, CA (a suburb about 45 mins north of Whale's Vagina). (Note: As of this writing, Covid-19—aka the plague—has infected more than 25 million people and killed at least 425,000 more here in the United States alone. Here in San Diego, we were able to visit most of the restaurants on this list before much-needed Covid-19 restrictions shut down dining. The only exception was Mariscos, where we were only able to get takeout. Luckily, none of these restaurants have been forced to close for good but some have had to close temporarily in spurts. Per usual, all of the restaurants listed below feature outdoor eating areas and/or offer to-go ordering when open for business. Mask up, stay socially distanced and stay classy out there folks.) Five Places to Drink Up: San Diego Area, CAWorld Famous (711 Pacific Beach Dr. San Diego, CA 92109)Quotable: "Best brunch with a beach view in PB." |
