travels with charlie - burlingame & san mateo

Charlie told me the other day that she was getting a severe case of cabin fever and needed a little adventure in her life. Ok, maybe it was me that needed a little adventure and a change of scenery but I'm pretty sure she felt the same way. We are best friends after all.

So we packed up the car and set off to explore a couple of Bay Area towns just south of San Francisco - Burlingame and San Mateo.

 Charlie was a little overwhelmed by the main street of Burlingame with all the shops and restaurants and people. Oh wait, maybe that was me again. Charlie was actually quite the trooper and had a blast leading us through the streets. She was a well behaved little lady with all the other dogs, such a change from Shifu who could turn into Cujo when encountering other dogs. 

 I had never been up to this cute town and really enjoyed walking along the main street with its newly widened sidewalks perfect for strolling shoppers. They've put in benches every few feet so it's easy to spend an entire day just visiting shops, stopping for snacks and sitting down to contemplate that next purchase.

 I ran into the Vans store to look at the new Pooh shoes but at $60 they are not going on my feet anytime soon. Sigh.

After a delicious lunch at a Middle Eastern place (I adore Middle Eastern food!) we drove over to the next town, San Mateo, to check out their revitalized downtown area. Our friend, who lives there, told us this place is hopping after dark but it was pretty deserted when we were there at 2 in the afternoon. 

A beautiful mural pays tribute to the building, now a restaurant, that used to house City Hall.

I can't resist a pretty street scene

And then I turned the corner and found Dragers, a local gourmet grocery store that is all kinds of awesome. To start with, you walk in the front door and run smack into the pastry section. Drool city, especially the macarons. I could have stayed there all day. 

They have a beautiful floral section

 But look at this - how many grocery stores have an escalator? It leads to the housewares department, aka heaven.

My favorite display was the Le Creuset, such great cookware. I like to mix my colors. Well, I only have one piece right now but I intend to get more and mix colors. I've even seen, on Pinterest, that they make pieces in an Antique Rose color but they appear to be hard to find.

Charlie and I (and Mr. T and our friend Ted) had a great time up in the "city" and there wasn't enough time to see everything so I see another roadtrip in our near future.

Until next time...