After softball practice I met up with Mark (co-worker) and Monica as well as some folks I met the night before to walk over to the Sonoma County Fair.

En route I entertained with harrowing tales of past meat on a stick encounters, which turned into a rather thoughtful discussion on the overall utility of foods-on-a-stick. We determined that the real genius behind foods on a stick is their portability, an important quality when you’re walking around searching for…more foods on a stick to eat.

I wasn’t exactly breaking new ground here, but a turkey leg is a classic example of the “bone as stick” subcategory of foods-on-a-stick. Tearing into a turkey leg always reminds me of that scene in the 1938/Errol Flynn version of Robin Hood where Friar Tuck is all chomping on his mutton joint.

Willie Bird Turkeys is a local vendor (as were many of the concession stands), and it just so happens that I can get a smoked turkey leg during any of Santa Rosa’s Wednesday Night Markets. Now I do love me some smoked turkey leg, but the romantic appeal wears off after about 10 bites. I’d say I’m good for year at least.

I got this for one reason and one reason only: it’s hella phallic. Actually I’ve never had a frozen banana dipped in chocolate, and though not meat, this definitely qualifies as food on a stick. Mostly it was fun for posing with the camera. I also had a bite of cheesecake dipped in chocolate on a stick, which was kind of like eating a brick of cold, cheesecakey goodness.

After all that and a frozen dacquiri containing only trace amounts of alcohol, we bought some tickets to ride the rides 20 minutes before the fair closed. There were no lines in sight. We ran straight for the Magnum! That would be Magnum, P.I. to you. Note the handpainted centerpiece depicting Tom Selleck with a ginormous cranium.

And for my first foray into video blogging (aka vlogging), I took a video while we were on the ride. Grab your vomit bags!

Riding the Magnum at the Sonoma County Fair

so the important news is, on thursday morning i signed a lease for the apartment in santa rosa.

it’s on the second floor, in the middle, 1 bedroom, kitchen with all the appliances, dining area, living room, closet with washer/dryer. i’m pleased. it’s walking distance to downtown santa rosa, the mall, and the historic railroad square, which jane and i explored this afternoon.

we went looking for lunch, strolled passed and in a few shops before stopping at syrah bistro. we began with a flight of syrah’s and sweet potato “chips” sliced paper thin. then we shared a mixed green salad presented in a “bowl” of cucumbers sliced the long way. our main course was the seafood special (aka “Something From The Sea, Lake, or Stream”), shrimp, dungeness crab, and scallops on top of spaghetti in a light cream sauce with bits of asparagus and peas. dessert for me was three scoops of handchurned ice cream (coffee, banana rum, and vanilla) and a chocolate-mascarpone cheesecake for jane. suffice it to say it was superb—and a terrific find. two hours later we emerged and drove around santa rosa feeling pleasantly full.

update: 360° video in front of apartment complex