THE STRETCH

Everybody in Santa Barbara knows it:  that stretch of 101 that begins as soon as you leave Ventura and hugs the coastline for twenty miles.

If you're coming up from LA, or anywhere, you know when you hit The Stretch.

It's a breath of fresh air, a stress-reliever, and a fleeting taste of freedom.

LEAVING SANTA PAULA

SANTA PAULA: ROOM WITH A VIEW

SANTA PAULA, MEXICAN CAFE

SANTA PAULA, MAIN STREET, SATURDAY EVENING

Another picture show bites the dust.

Miller gin, up, twist, leave the shaker.

10 oz petite ribeye, garlic mashed.

From native Mupu to cattle to citrus to local fashion.

SANTA PAULA SHORT & SWEET

BACK IN TIME FOR THE FULL STURGEON MOON

GOING OUT THE WAY WE CAME IN

Albeit with a new recruit.

And still on good terms.

GASLAMPED

NEW FRIENDS

A family vacation?

Indeed:  These are second cousins.  Or third.  (Not sure which.)

THE GREAT AMERICAN TEMPLE

Where spending is believing.

GHIRARDELLI

Maybe the best chocolate milkshake I've ever had.

GASLAMP

Vibrant and buzzy.

US GRANT HOTEL

Gaslamp Quarter, San Diego.

From serene resort to pulsating city.

SAN DIEGO ZOO

This means either up yours or come here so I can see what you taste like.

Either way, I don't blame him.

So what.

I see women like this every week at Lucky's.

Joyful wonderment of the very young.

No way for a polar bear to exist.

(This isn't living, but merely existing.)

SOME LIKE IT HOT

Billy Wilder shot Some Like it Hot, with Marilyn Monroe, on location at The Del.

RY GUY & THE DUDE

THE LADY IN THE HAT...

Her guy...

And her other guy:  The Ry Guy.

MY BUDDIES & ME

GHOST TRICK

By the time we reach Moo Time Creamery, it is closed.