Yesterday was another laid back day. Jo had some business to do so we wandered around the square in Arcata. Lunch at Cafe Brio was very good. Their food is all locally sourced and the bread is baked fresh. Linda had a kicked up grilled cheese sandwich on sourdough with jalapeño corn chowder. I had a tuna salad platter that was way above the usual with lemon cucmbers, heirloom tomatos and pickled onions as well as fresh microgreens and a really tasty tuna salad with huge chunks of tuna. The pastries in the case looked fabulous, but we had no room left by then.
Dinner was an adventure of a different sort. We had dinner with Jo, her friend John, and John's 96 year old mother. We ended up at The Alibi, described by Jo as a "dive bar with good kitchen". The atmosphere lived up to the description and so did the food. Dogs playing cards (and other games) on the walls, loud juke box, but surprisingly good pork and lamb chops with fresh vegetable sides. Jo said all their meat is all from local farms as are the vegetables. John's mother, Claribel, a graduate of Swarthmore '40 was quite a character and told stories of her youth at Swarthmore and growing up in a Chicago suburb. Four of the five of us had lived around Chicago, as had our waiter so that was one shared theme for the evening.
