Social D!

After we finished the last few details of our taxes and mailed off the immigration paperwork on Monday we set off on our Valentine adventure to Chico!

We checked in to our hotel and went to the Sierra Nevada Taproom and Restaurant.  It was really busy for a Monday night but that may have been because it was a big night in Chico.  When we were leaving the hotel a bro yelled at V, "You going to Social D?!!!" and did some sort of fist pump while his girlfriend looked down at the ground.

At the Restaurant we sat at the bar and waited for our table.  I've upgraded from Bud Light. V ordered me a light beer that I actually enjoyed.  They offer 4 beer tastings for 3$ so we did that and waited for our appetizer and then we ordered another 4 while we waited for our dinner.

Guess which beers are mine?

There are a lot of beers that you can only get at the actual Brewery and some others that you can only get in Chico.   The food at the restaurant was really tasty too.  We want to go back!  After dinner we wandered around town and had a drink at two bars.  Duffy's was not so good with 6 people in it and professional poker on the TV but the Banshee was fun.  There, one guy sang purple rain really, really loudly trying to impress a lady who wasn't interested and later two girls were getting into an argument near the bathroom about who they wanted to go home with that night.  Monday night in Chico.  Exciting!

V always goes nuts for holidays.  As if the surprise getaway, the tasty meals and cozy hotel weren't enough, he gave me gifts.  Plural!  Some fancy lotion that I recently ran out of and this set of glitterific polish.  I think I might try the gold first.

I love diners, and serious breakfasts once in a while.  On Valentine's Day morning we ate at this place that was decorated with red and silver tinsel hearts. All the employees were wearing red and there were two red cars parked out front, and one old pink Cadillac too.

It was cheaper to get two giant plates of food than to order the bacon, sausage, and hash browns which is all I wanted.  It's all about being economical, even if that means pigging out on something you don't want to eat.

Chico has so many great signs in town.  Most businesses have those old timey painted windows with the deals and specials painted right on the window. I'd like to go back just to take photos of all the different window art and fancy fonts on the old signs.

After our brunch we drove South to the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge in Willows.  The Refuge has a  Wetland walking trail that takes about an hour.  We saw coots, a jackrabbit, buffleheads, hawks, herons and other birds that I can't remember but V knows all the names of by heart.

How not to look at birds

How to look at birds

There's also an auto trail for cars only where you slowly drive around a giant loop to check out the wildlife.  We saw so many different birds!  If you get out of your car at an undesignated spot you can be fined up to 275$.  We saw some nerd doing just that trying to get a photo of an egret.

A stop at one of the sections where you can get out of your car. So sunny and pretty out!

See the Sutter Buttes in the distance?  This is the viewing station where I impressed V by spotting the hooting owl without binoculars.

Looking for the elusive owl

zoom zoom

Cute egret with its feathers blowing in the wind

We left the Wildlife Refuge a little after 5 and went home to make dinner together.  We had shrimp, tofu and veggie kabobs that we roasted in the oven.  Definitely healthier than brunch.