Last night was one of the more enjoyable nights I've had living in Stockton! Does that ever happen to anyone else -- you seem to go out, do more and make more friends right before leaving?!
It happened when I worked for the AVP and left. It happened literally the final two weeks I lived in France. And now it's happening in Stockton! I'm someone who struggles at meeting new people and going out and enjoying new cities/places at first. But once I'm out of my shell, it comes much easier for me. My goal in Phoenix is to start loving life and meeting people right away!!
Anyways, back to last night. A couple of friends from work were planning on meeting up at Windmill Cove, an island-ish bar and grill located right of the Delta draining into the San Francisco Bay. The easiest way to get there from where we live is by boat down the river. It would have been a five minute drive. Except, none of us has a boat.
So instead we drove 20ish minutes to get there. And immediately started having the time of our lives! There were two live bands, a DJ, beach volleyball courts and all-you-can-eat tacos for $7.50! Greatest and cheapest dinner I've had in a LONG time. I went nuts and had about five mini tacos :) You had your choice of crunchy or soft shells filled with either shredded chicken or ground beef. After getting the tacos then a line formed by the condiments area, where you could add hot sauce, pico de gallo salsa, gaucamole, sour cream, cheese, lettuce and olives. I sampled a little bit of everything and was in heaven.
Then upstairs where the band was playing I tried one of their famous house mai tais. Strongest drink I've ever had. It was composed of four different rums, more alcohol, more alcohol on top of that, a little bit of orange juice and then the bartender floated white rum on top. My first sip was pretty hard to get through. Eventually I got there and enjoyed it. One was enough for me, the lightweight :)
We saw a really interesting mix of people there too. People watching in Stockton is one of my favorite activities. For example, we saw tons of women dressed super cute and fairly young, who when they turned around to our horror were in their 50s-60s and dressed like their teens! Think of that one leathery scene from There's Something About Mary... Then we saw a chick wearing a denim onesie with a bright pink... um... body thong underneath it? I saw a girl wearing a full on rainbow outfit, a woman wearing socks under her sandals, dude with beer guts flapping in the wind, and then some. Free music and flowing alcohol really brings out the city's finest :)
This is the entrance to the place, grassy area for dining downstairs, grill inside and bar on the upstairs patio.
And oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I CHOPPED MY HAIR yesterday morning. I knew I wanted a change; something easy I could manage in the 100ยบ + heat I'll be living in down in Arizona. I walked in with these two pictures:
(Source)
(Source)
And came out with this:
The mai tai in hand helped me cope a little bit. It's nothing like what I asked, and a good two inches shorter than she said she was going to cut it. Worst of all is that I can't even put it in a ponytail!!! Nor a half pony or anything. I don't know what to do with this :( It's shorter than anything I've ever had and I don't think it looks good for my face structure. Another downside is that my hair grows at a sloth's pace. It takes forever to grow out. So I'm stuck with this mess for a little bit. Oh well.
We still enjoyed our evening though! As did the rest of our crew.
I love the summer!!! It's my favorite season of the year :)
