Category Archives: Santa Barbara

Dapple Dandy, Tastes Like Candy

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One of the joys of Santa Barbara and Carpinteria are the farmers markets. This is our favorite fruit stand. The pluots in the bin above the plums are called Dapple Dandy. Outside the tent filled with delicious fruit, a woman stands with slices of fruit samples calling out “Dapple Dandy, tastes like candy!” It really does. It’s my all time favorite and I’ve been eating them every day on vacation.

You can see how popular and large this fruit stand is. It has a line that goes outside the tent and once inside, lines on both sides of the fruit. The same farm is at the Santa Barbara Farmers Market on Saturdays and in Carpinteria on Thursdays.

Our favorite spot for fish tacos and chowder is called On the Alley. It’s in the Santa Barbara Harbor next to the Marina. It’s a casual place where you order inside, grab a table outside and a server brings your food.

Clam chowder with crusty warm sourdough!

The best fish taco I’ve ever had! On the Alley is owned by Brophy Bros which is a longtime favorite seafood restaurant at the Marina. Brophy’s is upstairs of On the Alley.

Sitting at a table devouring my fish taco, I had to take a photo of the shop next door.

The other day, we visited friends in Ventura. They took us in their Duffy electric boat for a harbor cruise (where we saw the sea lions). We ended up at the second location of Brophy’s.

Here’s a view from their boat.

This is called the Ventura Keys, where people dock their boats in their backyards. The boat we cruised in was like the blue topped boats across the key.

This is Ventura’s Brophy Bros with On the Alley below.

On one of our last nights we met our longtime friends, along with their friends we met a few summers ago for dinner at this local beach cafe. The seating is outside next to the beach. I love the location and having dinner outside. It’s casual with salads, burger and fish and chips.

Here are a few photos:

What are your favorite tastes of summer?

Beach Birds and Other Creatures

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A seagull found the perfect perch on a rooftop at the beach.

I have taken many photos and videos I want to share from sea lions to beach birds, beach and harbor views, the farmer’s market and fish tacos. I think I’ll be posting photos and videos from this vacation after we return home. In the meantime, here are a few photos and videos of wildlife.

We went to dinner by boat the other night and saw sea lions lounging on docks. There’s a little glare from the boat’s window in this pic.

I’ve never seen Mallards in the ocean before. Below is a flock of terns taking off.

Lone pelican floating in the waves.
Ducks waddling on the shore.
Sea Lions upset because we woke them up.
Pelicans in flight.

My favorite of the photos and videos on this post is the last one of pelicans flying low over the ocean.

What’s your favorite?

This reminds me of Ogden Nash and his famous Pelican limerick my dad used to read to us when we were young:

A wonderful bird is the pelican. 
His bill can hold more than his belican. 
He can hold in his beak 
Enough food for a week, 
But I’m damned if I see how the helican.

Here’s your homework

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Before I get to the homework assignment, I’m sharing a photo of the beach from Saturday’s morning walk. We got to the beach extra early because it was the start of Labor Day Weekend at the beach. The freeway was stopped on Friday afternoon beginning at 2 p.m. through the night. We were expecting to have no parking at the beach and believed it would be really crowded. You can see going early paid off!

My DIL is teaching AP English to high school seniors this year. She and my son worked together on her curriculum for the year. They were both Lit Majors at the College of Creative Studies at UC Santa Barbara. They selected poetry, short stories and novels to read beginning in modern times and then going back 50 years, 100, 150, etc.

They asked if I wanted to read along with them, as they are planning on conquering the list as well as my DIL’s students. I said yes!

I’m posting the first two pages of the syllabus which covers September. Early October I’ll post those assignments, because I think posting all 13 pages at once would be overwhelming. The short stories were excellent. I also am enjoying re-reading “My Brilliant Friend,” which shockingly was published almost 15 years ago! I can’t believe that much time has passed since I read it.

I remember loving this book which is the first of four in the Neapolitan Series. I wrote a blog post about it and was surprised at the comments. Many people found it too gritty with too much violence and wondered about my taste! I found it to be filled with details and complex, memorable characters. I think it’s an accurate reflection of life in1950s Naples, where women led a subservient role to their husbands. The characters lived in a violent, poor neighborhood. It was interesting to get so many different opinions on the book.

Here’s September’s reading list:

FYI, I’m trying to do all the reading, but have not agreed to do the writing assignments! So far I’m on schedule. If you’re not interested in this reading challenge, at least you have an abundance of literature to add to your TBR list!

There’s a lot of poetry to read which reflects my DIL as a published poet. Here’s a poem of hers that I love, I know I’ve shared it before, so if you’ve read it, enjoy it a second time! Maybe it will be a first for you.

Coal Oil Point
Tonight the sky with its plummy texture
Is especially dear to me, and the small purple
Flowers shuddering in the sand.
Tonight the wind curls soft and salty against
My bare arms with that strange lively mourning.
You let me look at you and understand that
Nobody has ever had eyes like yours, fringed with
Red-gold lashes, and nobody will again.
I look up at the stars and pity them:
The more they burn the faster they die.
How I burn makes me live beyond myself.

Catherine Simpson is a cellist who lives in Berkeley. She has been previously published in Big River Poetry Review, Right Hand Pointing, Spectrum, Step Away Magazine, Into the Teeth of the Wind, Poydras Review, and Splash of Red.

This work is Copyright © 2013, and owned by Catherine Simpson and may not be distributed or reprinted in any form whatsoever without written permission from the author.

Have you read anything by Yiyun Li? If so, what?

Are you familiar with the Neapolitan Series by Elena Ferrante? If you’ve read any of her books, what did you think?

Did you know that Elena Ferrante is a pseudonym?

Elena Ferrante maintains her anonymity for a combination of artistic, practical, and personal reasons, prioritizing the work itself over the author’s public persona. She believes that once a book is written, it should speak for itself, and the author’s identity is irrelevant. — Google’s AI Overview

Knocking down the cobwebs

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Santa Barbara Harbor is where our friends keep their sailboat and I get the best fish tacos in the world. At least I haven’t found any that are better.

“Let the clean air blow the cobwebs from your body. Air is medicine.”

Lillian Russell

Sunday was my first morning waking up in my own bed. After a long drive home, it felt good to get home and see Olive. My cat sitter texted me Tuesday, Thursday and called on Friday. Olive was done with our vacation. She had quit eating and was constipated. I told the cat sitter where Olive’s RX laxative was stored. I was anxious to get home to Olive.

We got home Saturday afternoon and Olive gave me a long plaintive cry. She was obviously uncomfortable and unhappy. We gave her another dose of laxative and by Saturday night, Olive was feeling better. I have to hold Olive while my better half forces the laxative into her mouth and down her throat. I have no idea how the cat sitter managed it alone.

So what about cobwebs, you ask?

Waking up in my own bed with a dramatic sunrise, I noticed lots of cobwebs outside. After I finished my morning routine, I went outside and knocked them down. Then I thought about what else I wanted to do outside before it got hot. I kicked in the pool and enjoyed drying off in the sun and breeze on the zero gravity recliner. I felt so much better being outside and getting fresh air after packing, driving, and unpacking.

I’ve decided to add a few things to my daily routine to get rid of the cobwebs in my body. I can poke around the yard after our morning walk and see what little things I need to attend to like cobwebs and weeds. Then I can jump in the pool. No, it’s not the Pacific Ocean, but I should take advantage of it every day before the cold weather hits.

While it’s still hot, I’m going to take my second walk of the day on the YMCA’s elliptical machine. At the beach, we were walking in the morning and evening. Eventually, I’ll add lap swimming at the Y.

The best fish tacos are at the Santa Barbara Harbor at On the Alley, which is part of Brophy Brothers.

On The Alley (OTA) is a more casual, sister-venue to Brophy Bros., Santa Barbara’s wildly popular seafood restaurant. Serving fresh fish tacos, burgers and salads, On The Alley dishes up quick, quality lunch fare within the beautiful harbor. Included on the menu are a handful of Brophy Bros. classics like New England Clam Chowder and Fish & Chips. Breakfast is also offered, including Smoothies and customizable Breakfast Bowls. Enjoy the generous portions and wallet-friendly prices. Order online for fast and easy pick-up. Savor it outside at our tables or take your food with you wherever you go!  https://www.onthealley.com/

This sign is advertising Stand Up and Paddle under moonlight. I saw the joke when I took this photo. I wish I had read the full sign — I might have signed up for moonlight paddling.

What do you do to get rid of cobwebs?

Not again!

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A sea lion in distress at the beach.

The other day, we were on our evening beach walk when we first saw the sea lion above. I noticed a woman standing near the sea lion. The sea lion would alternate sitting up and lying down. (I first wrote laying down — but I fixed it. Lie and lay have stumped me for years.)

We sat and watched the sea lion struggle to get back into the ocean. She would bob her head up and down while sitting up. Two summers ago, we saw a number of sea lions on the beach in distress. They did the same thing as this one. I called the hotline for marine animals and told them the location of the sea lion.

Then there were three women standing by the sea lion. I walked to the water’s edge to tell them to keep their distance and not to get any closer to the sea lion. I had learned that people and dogs can stress sick sea lions to death!

When I approached the women, I noticed one was wearing a uniform from the Channel Islands Marine and Wildlife Institute. That’s who I had called. So, they were already aware. I asked the volunteer if the sea lion was suffering from the same issue that we saw a few years ago. She said yes, and that she was stationed to keep people and dogs away and to observe until sunset. She said they weren’t doing any rescues that night.

I wrote about sea lions HERE and HERE two summers ago. The second link has a video of a sea lion which shows you how they move when affected with Domoic Acid poisoning.

Here’s an excerpt:

The volunteer from the Channel Islands Marine Wildlife Institute explained that the sea lion was suffering from Domoic Acid poisoning, which is caused by algae bloom.

My husband said that algae bloom happens every year. Isn’t that a normal thing? Wouldn’t sea lions be used to it?

She said they were inundated with calls about sick sea lions along the coast and that the Domoic Acid poisoning could be fatal. The volunteers were out observing the sea lions from sunrise to sunset along the beaches. Apparently stress could make the illness worse. She was standing on the beach all day to keep people and dogs away from the sick sea lion.

The volunteer yesterday explained that Domoic Acid poisoning occurs when fish eat the plankton, which isn’t toxic to them. Then the sea lions eat the fish and they get sick.

It was sad to see the sea lion suffering. It was still on beach when we left with the volunteer standing near. On the bright side, she said they’ve had very few Domoic calls this year, unlike two years ago.

Do you confuse Lie and Lay? How about effect and affect? Any others?

What do you think about people approaching a sea lion on the beach? I watched it happen two summers ago, people ignoring the yellow crime tape and signs to stay away.

Weekend Getaway

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Boat in Santa Barbara
I saw this boat in the parking lot of the Marina in Santa Barbara. It has my name on it!

Friday was my mom’s actual birthday. I posted my memory of spreading her ashes last year — a few days early. Mom was on my mind the past weeks. I was feeling the milestone.

Good thing I thought about how I might be feeling in advance. I had a plan. We scheduled a weekend getaway in one of my favorite places. Santa Barbara. We celebrated Mom’s birthday there. I was with friends, incredible views, a fun hotel, food, food and more food. It was a wonderful way to spend the weekend.

Here are photos from Santa Barbara:

We arrived at the Santa Barbara Airport on a sunny afternoon.

A view from our friends’ backyard.

Views from our hotel’s rooftop pool. It was breathtaking! What a surprise when we walked out on the rooftop. I had no idea it would be spectacular.

Hotel lobby. I loved how the hotel was decorated in a Spanish Colonial Revival mix with Moroccan flair.

Here we are in the mirror, with a courtyard behind us in one of the hotel’s three buildings.

Morning walk on Stearns Wharf.

Looking back at Santa Barbara from the wharf.

Where is your favorite place to go to treat yourself to a special getaway?

I’m reminded of a song by Lenny Kravitz, “Fly Away.”

How I’m celebrating

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Lemon Lush
I’m making Lemon Lush for our party.

This weekend, it’s my birthday. I am throwing a party for my husband.

That’s because his birthday was in January and he was sick with an upper respiratory virus. I was sick before Christmas through New Year’s, then it was his turn. I had invited three couples from our neighborhood, plus our Palm Springs friends who now live one mile away. Our Santa Barbara friends were going to surprise hubby. But they came two weeks ago and we had a fun, but exhausting time!

I couldn’t have the party while they were here, because two of the previously invited couples were out of town.

I haven’t felt like entertaining, but time is passing by and I did invite them. I said we were postponing while hubby was sick. I didn’t want to flake out on them so, his birthday party happens to coincide with my actual one.

For my birthday I also made swimming reservations for us at our local YMCA. We had such a cold winter, I never once made it to swim laps. I’m warm weather swimmer, also known as a wimp. I thought what better day than my birthday to restart lap swimming.

I did go to lunch with my two graphic designer friends who moved from Palm Springs to nearby more than 10 years ago. We have made it a monthly get together and we rotate who gets to choose the restaurant. It was my turn and I picked a sushi restaurant that none of us had been to. I had sushi and my friends ordered the Bento Box — which was only $12! That’s a deal in this town.

Hamachi Nigiri and the Garlic Roll that had tempura shrimp, tuna and roasted garlic on top.

My friends $12 Bento Box Lunch Special.

What do you like to do to celebrate your birthday?

Are you a sushi fan? Or, do you like food like in the Bento Box better?