Santa Barbara '17 - Packing a Lot in at the End

Third Weekend

Yes, we did!  On the third weekend of the festival, we managed to catch three more films, for free.  Have we seen enough movies to last us a while?  Well,  no.  There are a lot of Academy Award winners and nominees that we haven't seen yet.  And the Twin Cities International Film Festival is just around the corner!

 Deluge

No sooner had I published my last sunny entry than the rains returned, big time.  On Friday, the 16th, the Central Coast had a deluge.  The Santa Barbara airport was closed because the runway was under six inches of water.  Cachuma Lake, Santa Barbara's reservoir, received seven and a half inches.  In my last post, I noted that it was at only 20% capacity; this latest storm raised the level to 40%!  Some city streets were flowing streams, closed to traffic.  I brewed some tea and settled in with my crime novel and Carol went to the downtown library for a free showing of the movie, Arrival.  (With that, she tied me with eleven movies seen in Santa Barbara.)  We met downtown later for a chai latté at Starbucks.

On Thursday, before the rains returned, we took Rowdie on a trail hike toward Rattlesnake Canyon.  Our old friend is shaky on her legs when she gets off pavement, but she did a good job.  She crossed a stream on slippery rocks (with a little help from her friends).  At the end, she scaled some boulders to avoid the stream (again with one of us pulling her front end and one one pushing her tail end).

(To fully appreciate the photos, click on them to enlarge them to screen size.)

One tough dog with one tough woman (photo taken by one tough photographer).

 

Rattlesnake Canyon

A Few Words About Santa Barbara Bus Drivers

Santa Barbara bus drivers are almost unfailingly friendly.  If they don't greet you first, they perk up when we greet them.  Almost always there is a brief conversation.  The other evening, our driver on the #11 asked if we were going downtown to listen to jazz.  We said we were heading the the Art Museum, free on Thursday evenings.  Then we chatted about where to hear good music.

The drivers are also somewhat laid back about their actual job.  I asked the driver if Anapamu St. was the bus stop closest to the museum.  She seemed puzzled and said something like "On State Street?"  I said that I thought the #11 turned at Micheltorema and went downtown on Anacapa.  She paused a moment and then said, "Oh, yeah.  Sometimes I forget which route I'm driving.  I thought this was the #2."  We were approaching Micheltorema, and I wondered if she would have continued on State Street had I not asked the question.

After our Starbucks rendezvous, we boarded a #3 at the downtown transit hub.  Two drivers were at the front talking about things that bus drivers talk about when they have five minutes to kill.  The #3 is one we don't usually take, and we asked if it stopped at both Islay St. and Mission St.  They then had a spirited discussion about where this bus stopped.  They finally came to agreement when Carol and I said we were pretty sure that it stopped at both and we were just checking.

Then they got off the bus and wandered away when the actual #3 driver showed up.  He was a talker!  All the way to Islay St. we talked about driving conditions.  It was the day of the deluge and traffic was a mess.  He said, "This is nothing.  I've driven a bus over the Sierras in a snowstorm with chains on the bus."  We traded stories about driving over Donner Pass in the snow.  He gave a thorough description of the challenge of getting chains on bus tires and we commiserated with our own snow chain story.  (Anybody want an unused set of tire chains at a good price?)  Our driver, who was becoming our new pal, finished  by noting that driving in the mountains in the snow was not as bad as driving the bus route to LAX airport.  Our pal had been around.  "So Santa Barbara is like Bus Drivers' Heaven, I asked.  He agreed.

The #11 and #6 were a reliable link to downtown.

Can we talk...?  About tempeh?  And soy ice cream?   

I'm not a vegetarian, but I'm not anti-vegetarian either.  I think that serious vegetarian cooks must be creative to make vegetables interesting and tasteful.  So when Carol suggested lunch at Mesa Verde, a casual vegetarian café, I was eager to go.  Oh my!  We had one of the best meals we've had in California this year, and it was just lunch.  When the waiter asked if we had any questions, I had to ask him what half the ingredients in my flatbread were.  Then I cleaned my plate and washed it down with a good organic pinot gris.  Tempeh bacon?  No, carnivores, it's not real bacon.  But such a delicious accent!

The owner sauntered over to our table after we had asked for the check and asked if we had any food allergies.  When we said no, he said we must try the "best baklava in the world," on the house.  It came with soy ice cream.  I admit that I may have in my past looked down on soy ice cream, but this was delicious!  And the baklava?  It's hard to prove his boast, but I think it would be harder to challenge it.  I would hurry back for more.

"Best Baklava in the World"

 A Touch of Crazy

The Hermitage Museum, shaped like a pile of books

That's the title of Theodore Roosevelt Gardiner's autobiography.  Gardiner is a recluse who lives on ten acres of land he calls The Hermitage, nestled in the hills overlooking Santa Barbara.  The ten acres include the above museum, a botanical garden and a sculpture garden.  "Whimsy abounds," proclaims the brochure.  "Nothing is to be taken too seriously."  Tours are rare and generally unadvertised, and the waiting list is long.

Dave Stockdale and Jan Search arrived from the Twin Cities for a visit.  Dave had been determined to take this tour since he learned about it on their visit two years ago.  Through a dazzling display of determination, Dave got the four of us on a tour while they were in town this year.  The Hermitage is truly a place where a photo is worth ten thousand words.  Jan and I had a field day with our cameras.  Here are a few of the results.  Check out the Hermitage website link for more photos.

Bookworm

Damsel in Distress?

I want this fence for our back yard.

Dave, Jan and friend on the grounds of the Hermitage

Where's Marco?

Jan and I agreed, when our tour was over, that we'd like to spend a week at the Hermitage, the first three days or so to just wander the grounds and the museum and absorb it all, and the rest of the time at work with our cameras.

We got in as much hiking as we could with Jan and Dave, and had a pretty good time of it.  We also had a fine dinner at Toma's in downtown Santa Barbara, a restaurant not to be missed.

Winter Respite Drawing to a Close

We delivered Jan and Dave to the airport Saturday morning and spent a quiet day resting from all the excitement of visitors.  Our last couple days have been low key.  The Santa Barbara Music Club offered a free afternoon concert at the downtown library in the afternoon featuring piano and cello pieces.  Our last two days are divided between packing and getting out on the trails one or two more times.  I'll wrap up with a few more photos from around town and around the trails.

Looking up - Forest Canopy, Tequepis Trail

Looking down - On the Tequepis Trail

The Pigs of Montecito

Spontaneous Shadow Art at the Santa Barbara Art Museum

Does anybody really know what time it is?

Watch your step!

At odds

That's it for our Winter Adventure 2017.  We hit the road on Wednesday, the 1st.  We hope you are all well.  May your journeys be safe and full of wonder and your lives full.

P.S.  Now, scroll back up three photos, to the photo of the building with the clock.  Did you notice an unusual detail?  I was so intent on lighting and composition, I missed it until I was editing photos.  Be honest.  Did you miss it the first time?

Santa Barbara '17: Rainy Days in Movie Houses

We hit the ground running in Santa Barbara.  We arrived around lunchtime on the 1st, unloaded the car, walked the dog and headed off for a tour of the historic Santa Barbara Court House, conducted by Cherif, a friend of our hostess at Secret Garden B and B.  Cherif, also a baker, gave us a grocery bag of fresh rolls and ciabatta bread!

(A reminder that you can click on any photo to enlarge it to full screen.)

Santa Barbara County Courthouse

Courthouse Interior

In our first twenty-four hours, we took the tour of the courthouse, attended the opening night film of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, "Charged;" and attended an award ceremony for Denzel Washington.  The ceremony included a ninety-minute interview with Denzel which was quite a treat.  In addition to his acting skills, he seems to be an all-around good guy who is more proud of his four kids' college diplomas than he is of his own accomplishments.

Then, it was off to the movies.  For the next ten days we indulged ourselves by seeing all the films we could manage.  We saw movies from Denmark, France/Belgium, Australia, Serbia/Montenegro, Spain, Croatia, Iceland and even the USA.  We saw some excellent movies, some average ones and one that left us wondering if there were any minimum standards for acceptance.

The timing of the festival was perfect for us.  It began the day we arrived and went on for ten days, and so did the rain for most of the time.  Almost every day brought overcast skies and lots of rain.  With all the rain, Santa Barbara is still mired in deep drought.

Smilin' in the rain at the downtown farmers' market on a break from the movies

Jazz man with a silken saxophone and a velvet voice at the farmers' market.

Strangers in the Night

One evening, I took a late night walk.  A moody rain was falling.  The hood of my raincoat covered my head.   A half block ahead of me a taxi stopped. A woman got out with a suitcase and walked up to her house.  As I approached, a second woman got out of the cab.  As I passed, I heard a high pitched, "Oh!"  I turned and said, "Are you okay?"  The young blonde woman said, "You startled me."  I replied, "I'm sorry.  I didn't mean to."  Without another word, she spread her arms wide and wiggled her fingers in a come here motion.  I approached, and she wrapped me in a big hug and spoke to me in Spanish.  I don't know what she said, but a friendly voice speaks a universal language.  Before I could respond, she turned and headed toward the house.  "Good night," I called after her.

A Visit from Minnesota Friends

Toward the end of the festival, our friends from back home, Dave and Georgie, passed through Santa Barbara.  Like us, they've left winter behind.  While Carol and I stay put, Dave and Georgie lead a vagabond existence all over the southwest.  In honor of their visit, the rain let up for one day.  We had them over for a big breakfast and then took them on a walking tour of the mission neighborhood.  A good time!

Dave and Georgie lunched with us at El Encanto, our favorite place for a splurge.

One of the sights on our walk.  This is a small fraction of the frogs inhabiting the wall.

Dave and Georgie left and we went back to the movies.  And then one day, the skies cleared in earnest!

After ten gray days, blue skies!

With good weather, we hit the hiking trails again.  When the tides cooperated as well, we took Rowdie to the Hendry's Beach, where she delights in walking in the surf, barking at shore birds and taking in all the strange smells.  We also took a guided tour of Mission Santa Barbara, led by Cherif.

When Cherif led us into the church, the choir was practicing and we were greeted with a lovely solo of Ave Maria.  Cherif lowered his voice so that we had to lean in to hear him, which I did half-heartedly as I listened to the peaceful melodies of Gelineau Psalms.  The words of Psalm 23 flowed like clear water washing over rocks in a stream.

Wall at Hendry's Beach

Hiking the foothills of the Santa Ynez Mountains

Fog creates an eerie scene.  Santa Cruz Island seems to float in the sky.

Cachuma Lake, principal reservoir for Santa Barbara, is at 20% capacity.

Hendry's Beach is a favorite walk for Rowdie.

Monastery Window, Mission Santa Barbara

Cherif, looking a bit monkish himself, watched over by Junipero Serra

St. Barbara, martyred by her own father, looks over the altar of the mission.

Mission Santa Barbara

Neighborhood vegetation

Downtown Art Gallery

I hope they have separate entrances.

This coming weekend, a traditional treat is in the offing for local residents.  The "third weekend" of the film festival will offer free screenings of some of the best of the fest.  Will we be able to take in even more films?  There will be crowds, but you can bet we'll be there.

San Luis Obispo 2017

It's California Marc here, checking in with my latest update to Travel Journals.  I've been pretty laid back, a major goal of being here right after not having to wear a heavy coat or walk gingerly to avoid ice patches.

Our stay in SLO was an abbreviated one this year.  Our pace was slow, but we managed to get in some hikes, listen to some good live music, catch a few movies and dine at all of our favorite restaurants.

The very first thing we noticed on our arrival was the effect of the rain that has visited the Central Coast.  The area is still in a drought, but recent rains have lessened the severity considerably.  The brown lawns and landscapes of 2015 are gone, replaced with lush greens.

The South Open Space behind our house was brown in 2015.

On our first day in SLO, after unpacking the car, I hopped on my bike and went downtown to sit outdoors and have a coffee at Peet's.  It was a bit cool in the shade, but I had my dark roast and a good book.  The people-watching was good.  A few feet from me a man stood at the curb playing his saxophone, his dog lying contentedly at his feet.  He set his sax down after a while and sang for those of us who cared to listen in a voice that never needed a microphone and filled the air with his rich baritone sounds.  I sighed.  We were back.

The Neighborhood

Calla Lily in our front yard

Our neighborhood played a role in our visit this year like it never has before.  Our memory from past visits was of a quiet neighborhood where we hardly ever saw people out and about.  What a change this year!  The streets were alive with school-age children on bicycles and skateboards.  Some child with a sense of humor (or perhaps a gang of young artists) was using chalk to create sidewalk art that stretched over two blocks and carried whimsical messages.  Jump...  Don't land.  Smile a lot!  Speak your own language.  Keep going.  

Their parents were out and about as well.  We met Dave, our next door neighbor, when he showed up with a ladder after a very windy night to fix the vent cover blown over in the night.  Later we had him and his wife, Kate, over to share a couple beers in the back yard.  We met Aimee, who invited us to her home for a gathering of neighbors to sign a petition for a much-need traffic light.  We met Cathy when I knocked on her door and asked her for permission to take photos of her front yard, which is filled with all manner of day-brightening "art."

One day I was struggling along the sidewalk, trying to walk off some pain in my hip, when a very nice woman stopped her car and asked if she could give me a ride to where I was going.  This was my introduction to Paula (and eventually her husband, Steven, and daughter, Laura).  We ran into each other a few times after that and had some nice chats.

Cathy's Yard

Cathy's Yard, Up Close

Cathy's Whimsy

At Aimee and Carl's, we got an invitation to a "Hob Nob," a bi-weekly gathering of neighbors and friends for the purpose of eating, drinking and conversation.  Everyone is welcome, especially new people.  The week's theme was "Foods Beginning with C."  So we new folks from Minnesota showed up our cranberry chevre cookie and chardonnay.  We thought our three C's dish would earn plaudits, but that's part of the game; and there was on the table a five-C dish with chocolate being one of the C's.

In the neighborhood

The Kite

Kite  n.  "any of various soaring birds of prey, with long wings and a forked tail."    One sunny morning, Carol and I walked Rowdie through Meadow Park, the long, narrow city park not far from our house.  Ahead of us and just off the path was a man with an elaborate viewing device mounted on a large tripod.  He was taking a break from whatever observation he was engaged in, so I asked what he was looking at.  He said, "Kite.  Up on that branch near the top of the tall tree."  We moved our heads to the right and to the left, scanning until we picked it out of the background.  It seemed fairly large, but unremarkable as it perched motionless on its branch.
 

We moved on, out of the park, through the neighborhood to the edge of the South Hills Open Space.  We entered through the gate and ascended the narrow path, rising above the neighborhood.  Rowdie sniffed every other rock and several interesting clumps of wild grass.  I scanned our surroundings - the hillside, the clear blue sky, the neighborhood we were leaving behind.  I looked up at one point and saw an amazing sight.  A large bird cruised over the field and came to a halt, like a helicopter.  To accomplish this, it raised itself up into a vertical position, standing in the air, flapping its wings wildly in place.  It was as if it were treading air, like a swimmer stops and treads water.  It was the kite, searching the hillside for prey, a rabbit perhaps, or a vole. 

 After a while, it dropped to horizontal flight position and moved on.  It circled over us for five minutes or so, stopping to search the terrain below in its strange manner from time to time.  After a while it flew off over the neighborhood to its tree, which towered over all the others.  On this sortie, it had flown away without a meal.

 The Local Music Scene

We've learned that in SLO there is always music to be found.  In our short stay, we attended a "cabaret" at Cuesta Community College put on by a community education class (with some surprisingly talented performers), a jazz concert featuring Oscar Hernandez and the Alma Libre Quintet and a slack key guitar concert at the SLO Museum of Art featuring Led Kaapana.  (If you go to the link, there is some great slack key guitar music after the 90-second intro.)

Led Kaapana

In and Around San Luis Obispo

On Saturday, the 21st, Carol and I joined thousands from the area to participate in the Women's March,  the people's response to the inauguration of Donald Trump.  It is not a time to remain silent.

The Women's March, San Luis Obispo

Nourishment for All

Children's Museum, SLO

A really tall palm tree, dwarfing Bishop's Peak

A local arts competition has brought about a proliferation of California cows everywhere.

Outside Mission San Luis Obispo,  Moonipero Serra

We got in some hiking, of course.  When the welcoming rains finally let up, we needed to wait a couple days for the very soggy trails to dry.  Each year we visit, we traditionally cap our hiking treks with a climb up rugged Bishop's Peak to see if we still "have what it takes."  On our last day in SLO, we showed ourselves that we do indeed still have the right stuff!

From the Islay Hill Trail

Cows Everywhere!  Atop Islay Hill

On the Stenner Creek Trail

Bishop's Peak - at the summit!  (A 2015 photo, but I'll never take a better one than this.)

We made time for tennis, of course.  Are there handicaps in tennis?

What's your handicap?

And last but not least, there's the fine dining to be experienced in San Luis Obispo.  We were determined to visit our five favorite spots, even though our time was short.

Cioppinot, one down and four to go.

Thomas Hill Organics - #2

Novo, Al Fresco Dining by the Creek - Getting close!

Buona Tavola - Almost!

Luna Red, tired and hungry after conquering Bishop's Peak

Next, off to Santa Barbara and its International Film Festival.