Months prior to our anniversary I searched for events near or on our wedding date, and scored by purchasing tickets to Jack Johnson's To The Sea Tour on October 5th, a day after our anniversary, at the Greek Theater! We quickly made reservations at The Claremont Hotel - we planned on some drinking - HA!
Early that afternoon of the concert we headed over to The Claremont w/the girls to check-in and for lunch, located a gem of a restaurant SR24 on Telegraph in Oakland.
The girls snacked on french fries while Brian and I indulged on 3 appetizers, 2 sides, and 1 entrée (I did mention we planned on drinking that night at the concert, right!?).
Every meal was delicious, we started with a Slow Roasted Kobe Brisket & Horseradish Sandwich on a toasted Acme sourdough bread, next Mussels in Spicy Broth which we thought to be some sort of honey mixture, then Spicy B.B.Q. Tofu and Melon and 2 orders of their signature Pumpkin Jo Jo's, which were amazing deep fried pumpkin chunks! We regrettable munched on a second order of the pumpkin jo jo's and wished we had ordered the Fig and Ricotta cheesecake - oh well, next time.
Afterwards, Brian and I dropped Marissa and Sierra off at my mom's work in Emeryville, and headed back to the hotel for a little siesta if you know what I mean - oh and some chilled Champagne! Apparently, we had missed Jack Johnson, by a few seconds, who was also staying at the Claremont Hotel, his bus and entourage drove past us as we walked up to the lobby! DAMN!
Worried about getting lawn seats, since the concert was general admission, I made sure Brian and I arrived at the Greek a little after 5pm - we scored section 3 row 4 left of the stage - below us the floor/mosh pit.
We had lot's of time to munch on hummus and pita bread, drink beer and people watch -we even saw comedian Daniel Tosh make his way to the VIP section and get denied, but I'm sure ended-up with sweet seats! Brian & I made friends with a couple originally from Boston,(a favorite 'to travel' spot on our list), whom after almost 20 years in California still was rockin' the east coast accent! We offered rounds of beer, they supplied the cashews - great!! The concert was AWESOME and headliner G-LOVE was almost better than Jack Johnson!
I couldn't ask for a more perfect evening with the man of my dreams! Who was a gentleman, allowing me to tag-a-long in the (NO LINE) men's bathroom - something to remember at all future events! I as well as many other women actually became regulars at the men's bathroom - breaking the seal from all those MGD's almost had me wishing I wore flip flops!
Can't say I'd recommend The Claremont Hotel - once we arrived back at the hotel (11:15pm) all the bars/restaurants were closed, and the room service ended at 11:30 - however with the exception of 3 kitchen leftovers sereved until midnight. Funny thing is that I called for a slice of chocolate cake which they had but unable to bring to the room, but instead they offered a sandwich or left over (that is what he said) cheese and crackers for only $20.00. I can't forget to mention that our toilet kept breaking, wouldn't flush, maybe we were better off not having a midnight snack! Brian of course the man of all trades, fixed the toilet just long enough for me to pee in the morning, but breaking again before we left.
The hotel did offer us a $50.00 credit for the toilet inconvenience, but I still completed a 'how was our stay' survey, especially after reading that the last remodel was in 1980 - but a night's stay is almost $200.00. I don't get it!
Breakfast time!! After watching an episode of Check Please! Bay Area on PBS about an awesome breakfast spot, Brown Sugar Kitchen in Oakland, serving the 'best' cornmeal waffles. Let me just say, Brian's bisquick vanilla, cinnamon and mystery ingredients could dance circles with style and flavor on their so called fabulous cornbread waffle - which by the way left me hungry thus having to steal bites of Brian's delicious breakfast potato and sausage! I also did not care for their homemade apple cider syrup - and if you wanted maple syrup it cost you $2.00 more! The other food sounds worth trying, and although the chef's were amazingly cooking up the meals, the wait staff fell short on service. Who knows if we'll be back.
Our day ended, of course, with 1 hour massages at Massage Envy - KIM is the best!
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