After a lovely afternoon slumber; we woke and decided to take a stroll and then head to dinner. This was a Thursday evening at the end of October, so things were really quiet and relaxed.
We strolled up the main street, Pine Knot Avenue. There were a lot of cool wooden sculptures along the way.
We saw the sign for this candle making bar, which stated they were dog friendly, so of course we headed in with JJ.
The young lady working was a joy…so very friendly. And she cracked up when we told her we were from San Diego. She used to live in North Park!
The Missus found a few items She ended up purchasing….some tea and other stuffs. Really nice little shop. We didn’t know they closed at 5; but the young lady kept the place open. When we found out we apologized, but she just said “don’t worry, I’ve got nothing else to do right now!”
Mystic Moto | Ritual Provisions Candle Bar
625 Pine Knot Ave.
Big Bear Lake, CA 92315
We really don’t get much fall colors here in San Diego; so it was nice to see that.
We walked up to Village Drive and after stopping in a couple of shops, headed to a place recommended by one of JJ’s Aunties, Janeli. Named Oakside. We had a seat on the nice outdoor patio….the heater was already started!
The place was actually bustling, though not many people on the patio, there was a line at the door for dinner.
The menu was had things like pizza/pasta/seafood/steaks…you know, right? Anyway, our wonderful Server after asking for my taste preferences recommended the Monkey on a Mule, basically a Mule with Monkey Shoulder Scotch. A nice version of a Highland Mule, smokey, but still smooth, and not overly sweet.
We weren’t very hungry, so we settled for two appetizers, which was a good move since one of them, the Fried Green Beans was a rather large portion, of fried stuff.
Decent crisp – crunchy batter, lightly “snappy” green beans. We both enjoyed the wasabi ranch dressing….the pungency of wasabi did a nice job of cutting the richness of the dressing.
We also got the Oakside Wagyu Sliders.
The brioche like slider rolls were nice and fluffy. The almost thousand island like sauce wasn’t too thick and it wasn’t over sauced.
The beef was juicy and decently tender. Mild beefiness.
The cheese had been nicely melted as well.
Most of all; the Missus, who is not a “burger person” actually enjoyed this. It qualified for Her “once a year burger”.
Service a bit slow, but heck this is Big Bear and we’re on vacation, right?
Oakside
40701 Village Dr.
Big Bear Lake, CA 92315
We headed back to the Marina Riviera and decided to get a nightcap. There a restaurant and bar with outdoor seating. It has a great view of the lake, but of course it was dark by this time. The place was doing some good business. We peeked into the bar and the bartender, named Kinzey waved us in telling us, “come on in, you can see, we love dogs”!
And so we had a seat at one of the tables. I had an Old Fashioned which was a nice way to end the evening.
They made us feel so welcomed that we’d either have drinks or dinner here during the rest of our stay in Big Bear.
De la Nonna Big Bear (In the Hotel Marna Riviera)
40770 Big Bear Blvd.
Big Bear Lake, CA 92315
This was a nice way to spend our first evening in Big Bear!