Big Bear Lake

On Saturday, I was invited to visit Big Bear City for a day trip. We planned to visit the discovery center, the big bear lake, the village, and the skiing resort. However, the trip was more centered on eating than scenery. Our day started with Yi Mei, Taiwanese style breakfast - soy milk, glutinous rice with Chinese doughnut, and turnip cake. We then set off to Big Bear lake, which took about two hours. Luckily there was no traffic because it was around 10am and most skiers are already there. We did go to the discovery center and saw the beautiful lake.

(I love how the sun glistens on the surface and it looks like sparkling jewels)

Then we drove around the lake to the Big Bear Village for lunch. We ate at Old Country Inn. It's mainly American food - sandwiches, burgers, and salads. They also have German sausages as a specialty. I tried the German sausage sandwich with potato pancakes. The polish sausage was great, served on grilled rolls with Swiss cheese and sauerkraut. It was pretty tasty with a thick layer of hot mustard. However, I have to say that the roll was rather over buttered. I found the same problem with the potato pancakes. I only finished one pancake and I thought it was far too oily. The sandwich plate cost $10.99 and I thought it was so-so. So, next time I probably would try another place. 

 

After lunch we walked around the village and bought some souvenir. We stopped by the candy store and shared a candied apple. It was really good, the sweetness from caramel, chocolate, and almonds balanced well with the sourness of the green apple! But I don't think I'll ever be able to finish one apple by myself.

We definitely need to burn off more calories! So we went to the skiing area. Snowboarding was not on our agenda, so we could only take photos from the bottom of the snow area. Also, running shoes on snow is not a very good idea. There were many snowboarders and skiers all dressed up and really skillful. If only I could snowboard well...

Anyways, it was already 4.30pm, and we decided to head to Sugar Pine Bakery which I found on the bigbear.com website. It's the most adorable homemade bakery! I love the store and its decorations!

We bought hot chocolate (of course), muffins, cinnamon twists, and scones. Anne also bought a box of truffles ($15) and she let me try one. You will never guess what's inside... Red Velvet cake inside a white chocolate shell!! OMG !!!! my favorite cake inside chocolate?? What a perfect pairing! So I went inside to buy a box myself too! I'm guessing it was the owner who helped me. She told me that they do shipping! So whenever I'm craving for some chocolate, I can always order online! Also, she was very nice to all the customers!

This was pretty much the last stop of our trip. As you can see, we really did ate a lot !! Oh, I almost forgot, we also went back to Rowland Heights for dinner - hot pot ! Yup, I definitely feel that this was a eating trip more than a road trip. I ate non stop and was never hungry except before breakfast! However, I really enjoyed getting to breathe fresh icy air, looking at snowy scenery, and walking around a beautiful little town! I'm hoping the next time I visit Big Bear, I will be living in a cabin with hot chocolate, muffins, and a good book and of course snowboarding!