Hi all,We just returned from a fun Memorial Day weekend down in Santa Barbara. We had never been there before, and it was a great location to meet a good friend of mine from college and his family, who live in San Diego, the Christensons.
We rented a house about a block from the beach, and all the kids shared a bunk room. Mark has three girls, age 1.5, 3, and 5. Carson, as usual, odd man out and looking for someone to play ball with (me again!).
We ate some good food - Mark cooked a killer breakfast on Saturday, and then another killer meal on Sunday night - rack of lamb and saffron risotto! Plus he brought some of his wine collection to match! We ended the evening with a contentious card game of spades, during which we debated the Biblical principles of child discipline.
Santa Barbara is great, with a nice beach front, shopping district, and lots of parks, including a vintage carousel which the kids enjoyed (not quite as cool as the Santa Cruz one with the rings you get to toss into the clown's mouth, though!).
Another nice surprise was that we actually had other friends, from way back in my Navy days, who are now living in Santa Barbara - Mike and Marcia Moore and their son Nicholas. Mike works for a defense contractor there and was instrumental in introducing Annett and me back in Washington DC!So we called them, and lo and behold they were in town so we met up in a local park on Saturday, which was very windy and not very beach-friendly.
After some playing on the playground and lunch under the huge fig trees, we headed up hill to the Santa Barbara Mission, built in the early 1800's, which was having the 25th annual Maddonari Italian street painting festival. 
There were some terrific pastel paintings, and we also spent a few minutes on the self-guided tour of the mission grounds - tranquil courtyards accented by palm trees and fountains, large cemetery square shaded by a massive fig tree, and an old adobe-oven kitchen were some of the highlights.
Plus the view from the front steps over the paintings and lawn to the ocean and channel islands beyond!
Overall we had a great time, and will definitely come back - we could easily spend a week lazing on the beach, exploring the town and restaurants, and doing some hiking in the rugged but swimming-hole-riddled Santa Ynez mountains above the town. Every few hours an Amtrak train would whistle through town, and Carson would say "it's the Surfliner!" - maybe we'll take the train next trip....OK hope all's well with you all! Bye for now!
