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I went to the gym yesterday

To SHOWER. I went to the gym to SHOWER. I did not work out. I felt gross after a stressful day at work and I didn't want to take that feeling to dinner with the family.

We drove up to Muir Beach to have dinner at the Pelican Inn, a Tudor house that is home to a lovely restaurant and B&B. We didn't realize it as we drove winding Highway 1 through smoke-machine fog, but the power was out in all of southern Marin County. The restaurant had electricity -- it's a pretty dark, cozy place in normal conditions -- and we only realized the reason for the utter darkness of our drive when our waitress pointed out the generator buzzing behind the house.

The Pelican Inn is a popular place among the Bay Area's Anglo- and Scotophiles. The Clan Donald crest (that's it on the left) hangs in the entryway and my grandparents, longtime Scottish networkers, instantly recognized friends in the photos lining the walls of the pub. There were also several photos of Charles and Camilla, who visited the area last year. "Oh yeah, he's an old friend," Grandpa chuckled.

The major downside to the power being out was that poor Dave couldn't get apple crisp for dessert since they couldn't use the microwave, and heating it in the oven would have taken too long. But the upside was that as we walked to our cars, we got to experience near-total darkness, something we city dwellers don't get very often.

February 11, 2006 10:30 AM