98 Caramels: Santa Barbara

Welcome to Santa Barbara! Why were we in Santa Barbara, you ask? Well, while I was pregnant with Lucie, I thought going to a continuing education conference would be a really productive use of my maternity leave. Also my mental map of California is a bit dodgy - in my head, Santa Barbara was just south of Paso Robles. Which it is, if you define "just south of" as "almost two hours on the highway". By the time I realized that it was further away than I thought, and we'd have to take a baby with us, it was too late, I'd already paid the tuition.

All the fun and all the learning went down at the Fess Parker Doubletree Resort. I used to think staying at the conference-designated hotel was for suckers, until I had kids. Now I get it. Also, they hand out warm chocolate-chip cookies in the afternoon. Anyway, Fess's place is on the waterfront, with lots of fountains and plazas and lawns to serve your nuptial and kidney walk needs. It's also adjacent to Chase Palm Park, which has a turtle pond and a playground. That came in handy for Daddy while Mommy was at school.

We had a really memorable dinner at The Palace Grill. You don't get much Creole cuisine west of the Rockies - and it was actually good. I had redfish for the first time in forever. Also they do this sort of sweet thing where they play Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World" as all the staff goes around and toasts with the customers. It might have been charming, except Brennan and Lucie found the experience terrifying. I guess it was the volume. I dimly remember feeling the same way about the birthday song at Farrell's.

Although there didn't appear to be any lasting damage -

Saturday started sunny, but quickly progressed to classic coastal CA fog and chill. We spent the better part of the day waiting to get into "must visit" restaurants: Julia Child's favorite taqueria, La Super Rica, and Brophy Brothers, at the harbor-

for the record: La Super Rica, very good, although still perplexed by the wait; Brophy Bros, meh.

No family adventure is complete without a visit to the local grapes. Plus we were in Sideways country, and couldn't possibly miss seeing where Miles drank from the spit bucket.

It was a gorgeous day, and so beautiful out there - also there were lots of cattle for Brennan to moo at. We're not sure what Lucie thought of it all-

Brennan also really liked the windmills.

Here we are at the Fess Parker winery, AKA "Frass Canyon", where Miles drank from the spit bucket. This is where we learned kids aren't technically allowed at the bar in tasting rooms, since they are under 21, a rule we've unconsciously been breaking on a regular basis since Bren was 2 months old. They were nice about it, though - the minors stayed with Daddy 10 feet from the bar, and Mommy ferried the wine glass back & forth. Which we kept, by the way - we've been too cool (and space-restricted) for the "complimentary with tasting fee logo glass" for years, but this one features a single, small, etched coonskin cap. I couldn't resist.