Who says California doesn’t have seasons?

For the month of April, we had our fair share of Spring storms. Mother Nature has also made wet weather somewhat convenient for folks who had outdoor plans for the weekend. After listening to thunder crashing outside of the newsroom, I found my car dusted with hail.

By the end of the work week, the stormy weather moves out of our area and leaves behind a sunny weekend.

Earlier this month, we took advantage of the warm weekend weather with dinner on the patio at Pearl on the River. We had a shaky start to our dining experience, but the delicious food and our thoughtful server transformed it into enjoyable evening.

I loved the restaurant’s location next to the Sacramento River. Unlike Crawdad’s, Pearl’s patio has a net-free view of the docked boats and waddling ducks. After noshing on fried treats at the Stockton Asparagus Festival, I wanted a cocktail that would cleanse my palate. My ginger mojito hit the spot: sweet and refreshing.

It also took about 30 minutes to order our drinks. It looks like our original server forgot all about us. Another lady server noticed and picked up the slack. She apologized and took care of our eating needs for the rest of the night. Bravo.

Our dinner of small shellfish plates was quite filling.

This made my mouth quite happy: the fresh flavor of a raw oyster slurped up with a squirt of lemon juice, a touch of red wine vinegar mignonette and the briny juices in the shell.

My hubby was happy with the Oyster Rockefeller topped with bacon, spinach and Gruyere cheese.

We needed an extra order of bread for our steamed mussels. When we finished slurping up the mussels, I couldn’t stop dipping bread into the buttery broth.

At Pearl on the River, we watched the sun set over the marina. Our quick bite after our Stockton adventure turned into this languid, luscious date night by the Sacramento River.