April 16, 2016: Sea Otter Classic & Green Festival Expo NYC

4/16/2016

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Tanya's Daily Scoop
CURRENTLY TRAVELING IN: MONTEREY,CA

Time for a Gran Fondo

Hello Hello and a big and very early Greetings from the lovely seaside town of Monterey, CA

credit: miis.edu

Well as much as I’d like and would’ve wished that the ride up was a romantically beautiful one, I can’t do that.

Ready to head out (c)travelin cousins

The 6 hour drive up is really not very photographic whatsoever - in fact it’s rather UGLY!

(c)travelin cousins

We were mainly on the interstate 5, which means traffic (at just about any time) and it also means passing certain farms - where they house anything but Happy Cows (as the lies in the commercials would have you believe), so needless to say that as you drive by the miles and miles of factory farms it stinks really bad, and is really sad.

So enough about that, the sun had already set by the time we made it up to Monterey, and I of all people didn’t take any pictures yesterday!

Dave however did, and those are the ones that I’m sharing with you today.

After dinner (c)travelin cousins

It's still dark out and we are about to head out to the starting line for the Gran Fondo of the Sea Otter Classic (the festival and events actually started of Thursday & goes through Sunday).

If you recall - Dave and I went shopping at REI in search of the BEST cycling shorts. Dave walked out with a Pearl Izumi Bib, and I walked out rather disappointed (they didn't have what they suggested for me in stock) - and I had to order online.

Well my state of the art shorts showed up a couple of days ago…and I must say that I was really not too happy with them - the padding seems weak!

I guess I won’t know until riding in them - so I’ll let you know tomorrow.

But let me give you a hint about how the conversation went at REI when they were getting an assessment of my riding -
How often? How far? What discipline? Etc…

Since I don’t ride 100’s of miles a week and I don’t have calluses on my booty - then apparently the cyclist specialist/sales associates claimed that until I get calluses on the undercarriage then I will always get sore. Well guess what folks - let me make something clear -
I DON’T EVER WANT CALLUSES ON MY UNDERCARRIAGE!

I’m already expecting for us to be walking around like cowboys later on this afternoon.
I just hope that I can still take a seat and sit down (after the 51 mile ride).
If not then these darn shorts are going back - because today is just a mere sample of the mileage that I’ll be riding daily for the 174 mile ride on the Hebridean Trail in the Outer Hebrides (Scotland).

I'll tell ya one thing - Dave is sure excited about today’s ride, he’s tried to compare us riding on the Laguna Seca like running from home to first on the baseball diamond of the original Yankees field (since he knows that I’m a baseball fan), but I really know nothing about this Raceway…

credit: mazadaraceway.com

This was found on Wikipedia:
Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca (previously known as Laguna Seca Raceway) is a paved road racing track in central California used for both auto racing and motorcycle racing, built in 1957 near both Salinas and Monterey, California, United States.

The racetrack is 2,238 miles long, with a 180 feet elevation change. Its eleven turns are highlighted by the circuit's signature turn, the downhill-plunging "Corkscrew" at Turns 8 and 8A. A variety of racing, exhibition, and entertainment events are held at the raceway, ranging from superkarts to sports car racing to music festivals.

The name Laguna Seca is Spanish for "dry lake": the area where the track now lies was once a lake, and the course was built around the dry lake bed. After the course was reconfigured, two artificial ponds were added.

Can it really be 2,238 miles long?!
I mean if that were in a semi straight line - that would take me all the way from here in Monterey, CA pretty much to Washington DC. So how can that be?!

Anyhow, after the ride I’m sure that we will have worked up a massive appetite, and the first stop will be to have lunch.
We’re going to Alvardo’s Brewery especially for the Vegan Burger, they aren’t advertising that it is World Famous (like the one Elisa tried yesterday at the Green Festival in NYC) but I sure hope that it lives up to all the hype that I’ve been hearing about it. See yesterdays Daily for more details about our itinerary.

Elisa also got to try DF Mavens which I’ve heard about for years and guess what - I still haven’t had a good opportunity to try it!
But I’ll tell ya one thing - seeing her pictures and reading all about it definitely got me in the mood for that vegan Ice Cream sandwich that I’m going to indulge in later today!

Also being that it is shopping Saturday and that I will be strolling Fisherman’s Wharf and Cannery Row (see Elisa’s column for a great list of 16 Little Known Facts about Cannery Row) - I can bet that we’ll do a bit of shopping!
Regardless of what we end up with - we all know that I need to at least bring home a little souviner for Chaplin and Mika.

Alrighty folks, on with my day and I promise that I’ll take lots of pics today - just be sure to join me back here tomorrow so that you can see them all!

One more thing before I go, Dave was messing around with the camera and took a couple of cool pictures of the moon that I'd like to share with all of you:

(c)travelin cousins

More tomorrow, it's time to pedal,
-T

Elisa's Daily Scoop
NEXT EVENT: 2 DAYS

Green Festival Expo Re-Cap & Facts about Cannery Row

Hey There!!

How's your Saturday going? Mine is great!

Can I tell you just how much I'm loving this sunny, crisp, breezy Spring Weather - LOVIN' IT!!

Today, my Gianna is very angry with me. After being sick the entire week (and missing school, I might add) I refused to take her to the barn for her usual Saturday riding day.

Unable to get the logic that missing 5 days of school and feeling ill until yesterday, doesn't mean it's ok to go to a dusty, damp barn the first day you are feeling better. It was quite a full court press on dear old mom (ME); lots of theatrics, tantruming and anger.

But, I stood my ground. She was not happy, but, that's life. The joys of motherhood!

Aunt Ro & Me! (c)travelincousins.com

What a fun day I had yesterday at the Green Festival Expo in New York City!

I arrived into Penn Station around 11:30 and took a refreshing walk west on West 34th Street towards the Jacob Javits Center.

Yesterday was the first day of this event, which runs through Sunday (April 15-17) and the doors opened at 12noon.

Along the way, I did the tourist thing and snapped away at cool buildings, signs and even some blooming daffodils! Nothing nicer than being a "visitor" in your own home town!

The Iconic Empire State Building View from 34th Street, near 9th Avenue (c)travelincousins.com

Love how the building reflects off the mirrored windows of the other! (c) travelincousins.com

View of Javits Center on left from 34th Street, east of 11th Avenue (c)travelincousins.com

I decided to rendezvous with my dear Aunt across from Javits, on the corner of 34th and 11th Avenue, as she arrived into Manhattan via subway.

We couldn't have asked for a more glorious day!

The Expo itself was not terribly large, but there was an interesting array of exhibitors and vendors, several of which, I had the chance to meet, chat with and even make some merchandise purchases.

Upon arrival, I was STARVING and decided to grab a bite to eat before walking the aisles. Although small and intimate, there were some appetizing lunch options.

I decided to try "Marty's V Burger" whose tag line is "FAST FOOD. NO BULL. Yes, you guessed it - everything they offer is completely vegan! I had, what I was informed was their most popular "burger," The Original World Famous.

All of their burgers are made with seitan, black beans and brown rice. The Original World Famous had some great fixings which included cheddar cheeze, special sauce, shredded lettuce and pickles.

Marty's Vegan Fast Food Vegan Original World Famous Burger (c)travelincousins.com

Marty's Vegan Fast Food Vegan Mac & Cheeze (c)travelincousins.com

Marty’s Vegan Fast Food started serving in March of 2014 at the NYC Vegetarian Food Festival with their vegan Drum Stix with Buffalo Sauce and Vegan Blue Cheese dressing. Their new World Famous Burgers were introduced in August at The Seed Experience with rave reviews.

I'd have to agree! I also got a side of homemade Mac and Cheeze, which had a cajun spice.

Alittle full and ready to walk it off, me and Aunt Ro headed for the exhibits. The array of products offered ran the gamut from food to personal care, environmentally friendly cleaning and household items to clothing and healthcare items.

There were a number of environmentally and vegan-conscious organizations such as Greenpeace, and Animal Sanctuaries.

Green Festival Expo NYC 2016 (c)travelincousins.com

We had a very nice conversation with a lovely group of girls at Greenpeace and learned a bit about their volunteer programs, with Volunteer meetings every Wednesday evening.

As if my filling burger and mac and cheeze wasn't enough, I tried a free sample of DF Mavens Dairy Free Ice Cream.

Using only the highest quality ingredients, their ice creams are dairy-free and gluten-free, vegan and certified kosher by the Orthodox Union. Their frozen desserts are made locally in New York with coconut, almond and soy based flavors.

Aunt Ro and I both indulged in the peanut butter fudge mash. It was creamy and very PEANUTTY!

Green Festival Expo NYC 2016 (c)travelincousins.com

Enjoying my vegan peanut butter fudge mash ice cream Green Festival Expo NYC 2016 (c)travelincousins.com

Both Aunt Ro and I indulged in the Peanut Butter
I was very intrigued by the personal Infrared Sauna by Whole Body Wellness Concepts, which is a space-saving unit which they promote as a tool for natural healing and/or prevention of illness.

What I learned is that research shows the longer you remain surrounded in infrared the ester and more lasting the affects are for good health. Very interesting!

Food-wise, there were lots of healthy snack, drink dessert and supplement vendors.

I had a chance to chat with John Lewis of Vegan Smart and tasted his most yummy Nutritional Shake. I had a flavor choice of Creamy Vanilla, Delicious Chocolate, Wild Berries, Tasty Chai and their newest flavor, Cookies & Cream!!

I'm sure its no mystery that I tried the chocolate. The all in one shakes contain no cholesterol, zero trans fat, dairy & soy free, gluten free, no acesulfame K, no artificial sweeteners, no artificial flavors, colors or preservatives, no MSG, no egg, and no yeast.

Bottom line, it was TASTY! We had a nice conversation about the "smoothie" potential by adding fruit, almond milk, peanut butter and ice!!!

This product is currently available in CVS with many more retailers to be coming on board. Love to see the mainstreaming of vegan and healthy alternative foods.

Anyone knows me, knows I'm a sucker for healthy skincare products. I met up with the folks at Hawaiian Moon Aloe.

As a strong proponent for Aloe and its healing benefits (I drink Aloe Juice as part of my daily health regimen), I managed to walk off with their 50%-off show special Hawaiian Moon Aloe Vera Skin & Hand Cream.

I'll keep you posted if this natural product makes me glow with beauty and radiance!

All in all, it was a really great afternoon and I managed to do some shopping and eating - two of my favorite pastimes!!

Well, today is Tanya's second day in Monterey and she certainly has a great deal on her itinerary!

Cannery Row is on that list and I thought I'd share a bit about this waterfront street. Originally the site of many sardine canning factories, it is now one of Monterey's most premiere destinations for great hotels, shopping, dining, family fun and nightlife.

The mystique of this famed waterfront street began in January 1958 when the City of Monterey officially re-named Ocean View Avenue "Cannery Row" in honor of John Steinbeck and his 1945 novel.

Today, with its own website, events calendar and with visitors coming from all over the world, here are some facts that you might not be aware of:

16 Little Known Facts about Cannery Row

1. Cannery Row the most popular vacation destination on California’s Central Coast.

2. In 1851, Chinese fishing families crossed the Pacific in junks and settled at Point Ohlones ("China Point") and established Monterey's fishing industry.

3. The arrival of the Southern Pacific Rail Road and the construction of the Hotel Del Monte, the most lavish seaside resort in the world, opened the entire Monterey Peninsula to tourism in 1880.

4. The Tevis Estate was constructed in 1901 on the shoreline outside Monterey, which was intended for wealthy, residential development, on a coastal road (part of the original 17 Mile Drive) which would become Cannery Row.

5. 1902 launched the Monterey canning industry with three major players including Booth Cannery in the Monterey harbor and the Japanese canning venture, Monterey Fishing & Canning Co., on the coastline near McAbee Beach.

6. In 1927, the American Tin Cannery was constructed and survives today as a retail and entertainment center.

7. The fishing industry at Monterey was mastered by immigrating Sicilian fishermen who used the "lampara" net from their Mediterranean experience and their famous "Monterey Clipper" open-boat design to increase sardine catching to tons.

8. Cannery Row's icon, the famous one pound oval sardine can, was originally designed for salmon, and made by hand on rudimentary industrial equipment in canning sheds of Monterey's early canning industry.

(credit: seemonterey.com)

9. The early hand-made oval salmon cans were filled with "French fried" sardines and then lids were hand-soldered closed.

10. From 1941 - 1945, Monterey became the "Sardine Capital of the World." Within five years the industry would die on its waterfront for lack of sardines.

11. John Steinbeck wrote Cannery Row in 1945, the story of the exploits of a band of bums on Cannery Row, surrounded by bordellos, flophouses, a Chinese grocery store and the laboratory of "Doc" Ed Ricketts.

12. The last cannery closed in 1973.

13. The Monterey Plaza Hotel & Spa was designed to reflect the original grandeur of the Tevis-Murray Estate, which had been built in 1901.

14. The Monterey Aquarium opened in 1984.

15. Today, there are over 25 restaurants on Cannery Row.

16. Coastal Living magazine recently named Monterey as the “Happiest Seaside Town in California.”

Please read all about Tanya's second day in Monterey - I don't mind saying that I'm terribly jealous of my dear cousin today!!!

See ya back here tomorrow!!

-E
xoxo

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