Vagabonds Veer Back on Track (SB Bucket List - Part II)

2020: Year of the Pandemic has taught us to live in the moment and accept we are exactly where we are supposed to be. As I recently wrote to a friend, I have observed the yin-yang flow of life so much this year, seeing the poles of each situation changing and shifting. For example, it was very down that our years of retirement planning travel went up in flames this year, while it is very up that we get to 'live' in California at the beach and spend lots of time with Emily.

That said, the Vagabonds are actually back on track to our initial retirement travel schedule (at least for the next couple of months), as we had intended to spend the ThanksMasEve holidays with Emily in California. 

We kicked off the holiday season this weekend with Emily hosting a delicious Thanksgiving dinner. Yesterday we returned to her place and put up her Christmas decorations, then headed back to ours for the annual celebration of George Harrison, watching Concert for George. Emily played along with almost the entire concert this year, including some songs she didn't know and just picked up on the fly. She also shared that she had learned how to play several of these songs by watching George's son Dhani play during this concert; I did not know that!

Turkey on the grill, mashed potatoes, garlic lemon green beans, cranberries, garlic cheese biscuits, accompanied by a tasty Sauvignon Blanc. Yum! Emily makes the best cranberry sauce (recipe at end).

Emily's tiny tree and the annual assembly of the Peanuts Christmas puzzle

Great to enjoy the concert on the big screen with a nice sound system!

We are in the midst of packing up and moving on to our next AirBnB, where we are scheduled to stay until the first week in February. In the meantime, we're continuing with our Santa Barbara bucket list. Here are a couple of new things we've tried ...

Have an Ice Cream Sandwich at McConnell's. McConnell's is a 70-year-old local company that makes delicious ice creams from a small number of ingredients. We have had it several times over various visits, but we have never had the sandwich. Mission accepted! At $8.50 for one sandwich, it's not something we would do often, but it was worth the splurge to try for our bucket listing!

Cookie of the day was salted caramel chocolate chip. The ice creams that seemed to me to match best were a bit on the soft side for a sandwich. The cashier asked what ice cream I liked and I said, "Chocolate covered strawberries sounds great, but I'm not sure it goes with the cookies." She said, "OMG, no, that would be delicious." John and I were glad I trusted her opinion - it was scrumptious!

Buy Produce from a 100-Year-Old Farm. Fairview Gardens is an organic farm established in 1895. It is preserved through an agricultural conservation easement and administered by the non-profit Center for Urban Agriculture. It's quite amazing to see a huge farm in the midst of a neighborhood!

  

We've enjoyed several delicious meals and snacks with bounty from the garden.

Visit Franceschi Park. Located in Santa Barbara's Riviera neighborhood, you only need to see the pictures to understand why one would want to visit here. The 800 feet above sea level view is fabulous, with views of the city, the marina, ocean, mountains and the Channel Islands. 

We've returned several times to see the view at different points of day, as well as to picnic. Franceschi was an Italian horticulturist and botanist who introduced over 900 species of plants to the area on his personal property, which now serves as a county park. If you're interested in Italian immigrants and / or botany, you can read more about Francesco Francheschi here.

Vagabond Hikers

Alice Keck Park Memorial Garden

We found this little city park driving around in our AirBnB neighborhood. (As it turns out, Emily's friend Liza lives just down the street.) Land for the park, development of the gardens, and maintenance was anonymously donated. After her death, it was revealed that the donor was Alice Keck Park, daughter of the founder of Superior Oil. We have returned here again and again. It's an especially good spot to do my species Seeking!

There are a lot of beautiful plants in this small park - really a mini botanical garden!

The butterfly garden was attracting the elusive Monarch, as well as many bees.

 

Comprising a city block, the gardens have meandering paths and features a koi pond with turtles.

San Antonio Creek Trail at Tucker's Grove Park

Tucker's Grove Park, near our AirBnB neighborhood, was established as a park in 1912, the property deeded by one of the descendants of Reason Penelope Tucker. We learned that Tucker had an interesting history. Born in Virginia, he made the journey West, attempting to settle in many places, and participating in the rescue of the Donner party. He eventually landed in Goleta Valley, and the beautiful grove is part of his original land. The grove lost a great deal of vegetation in the 1990 Paint Fire, and we learned from a plaque that citizens of Toba City, Japan donated money to help in restoration.

  

On our first visit, John and I talked with some young guys who were making pizza for their picnic with their Ooni pizza oven. We enjoyed a picnic at the park recently with Emily.

On our most recent visit, we decided to hike the 2.9 mile San Antonio Creek Trail that begins at the back of the park. It was hotter than anticipated, and the trail not quite as shady as the description, so we only made it 1.8 miles. I was happy with that, and we'll return and try again when it is cooler out. 

  

Didn't need Seek to tell me that was poison oak. However, I did learn the species is Pacific Poison Oak. The berries of Toyon, next photo, are poisonous when green. Interesting the tree grown around the rocks.

John getting his Shel Silverstein on at the park entrance

For our American friends, we hope you have had a lovely Thanksgiving! For everyone else, we hope it has been a wonderful weekend!

Cranberry Sauce

Ingredients:

2 cups fresh cranberries or frozen cranberries, partially thawed

2 clementines, coarsely chopped

¾ cup sugar

2 tablespoons water

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon clementine zest

Instructions:

Combine all ingredients except zest in a saucepan and cook on medium heat 6 - 8 minutes, or until cranberry skins start to pop, stirring regularly. Add clementine zest after removing from heat. Serve warm.