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...continued from p.11 I’m rambling. Where was I? Oh yes, the brutal end to our summer. After the surprise party and related fall out (let’s just say that I took Sunday off), I did around five days of work in two and a half, and then we headed out to Santa Catalina Island with friends Tyler and Jennifer Rameson and their kids. Cue more carefree summer fun. Cue more work-related procrastination. It seems almost inconceivable now, but Wendi and the girls and I hadn’t been to Catalina before. (It’s inconceivable because the whole thing fits us so well.) Tyler and Jennifer had, though, a lot, so they were able to show us a very good time. They’d gone and leased a great
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San Roque resident Bill Koonce and his daughter Lola already knew about the benefits of the Bacara staycation and do it four or five times a year. “Why spend the time traveling when you can just do this?” Bill asked, smiling. (I didn’t have an answer.)
place on Eucalyptus Street (no cars, so the kids could bike like crazy) that was walking distance to everything, including Antonio’s Pizza & Cabaret and Big Olaf ’s (which I am still digesting, happily). Luau Larry’s, as the name implies, was a fun place for me to grab a quick beer. Fish sandwiches at Rosie’s Fish & Chips at the end of Pleasure Pier were delightful and so were a smorgasbord of snacks and treats all over Avalon. Oh, that reminds me, the Avalon Grille put out a lovely meal for the adults one evening as well. We fished off Pleasure Pier too – Kate caught a whopping ten fish (!) thanks to highly specialized bait that cannot possibly be disclosed for fear of destroying Tyler’s
Saturday, September 28 Plaza Vera Cruz Park Across from Saturday Farmers Market
FESTIVAL
10:00am - 6:00pm
Celebrate Local Farmers • Workshops & Lectures SOL Food Chef Competition • Salad Eating Contest Local Food, Wine & Beer • Hands on Kitchen • Live Music Kids Activities • Farm Animals
Festival Partners
w w w. s o l f o o d f e s t i v a l . c o m
Catalina fishing monopoly – and Tyler and I spear fished with Hawaiian Slings one morning off of the quarry. Wendi and I had massages from the lovely Marcia Serra, an ex-Santa Barbara friend who’d made the trip over from LA with her table and surprisingly powerful Brazilian hands. The kids swam and played and had good wholesome fun. Etcetera. Catalina was a blast, for sure, for the whole family. Thanks for getting us out there, Tyler and Jennifer, we really enjoyed it and are already making plans for next year. But I’m tired just having written about it.
There’s No Rest for the Weary We had to leave the island a bit too soon on Saturday. Fortunately, however, our early exit was for a Taylor Swift concert at the Staples Center that had my kids whipped into a fanatical frenzy. T-Swift (as she is affectionately known to my daughters) is a big deal around my house, you see, and we’d planned this little end-of-summer excursion months ago with friends Paul and Briana Westmacott and their daughters Elli and Lila. (For everybody paying attention, yes, that Briana Westmacott, Sentinel contributor extraordinaire.) I won’t say too much here – Briana will undoubtedly write about it soon (am I right, Briana?) – but I will say that everything from the hotel stay to the show was super fun, way more than probably any of us anticipated. The bottom line is that Taylor Swift delivered. (So did her opening acts.) Straight up. For adults and kids alike. Hers is a massive production, probably one of the larger pop shows on the planet right now, and it was more fun than you’re probably thinking. But, damnit, that’s a lot in the last week or so of summer. And by the time we got up on Sunday morning and drove home, I was cooked. Beat. Roasted. Worked. So much so, that I needed a vacation.
Ryan Muzzy Saved My Life It was in this posture that a seemingly innocent glass of wine with friends Ryan and Sarah Muzzy turned into something… more. “I hear you, man,” Ryan sympathized as I told him the foregoing story, “we had quite a summer too.” He paused, then non-chalantly queried, “You know what you need?” I didn’t. I told him as much. “You need a night or two up at Bacara to mellow out. Get a room, bring the kids, relax in the pool, go for a run, get a decent meal in you and refresh. Then get the girls back in school and get to it.” As you may have already guessed, old Muzzy is a compelling guy. So we quickly arranged a room and made the fifteen-minute drive to heavenly bliss. ...continued p.30