the rest of this past weekend

Before I head off to BC early in the morning, let's put last weekend to bed.  And then get to bed myself!  Here we go....

On Friday afternoon, Van and Olive and I headed up to Santa Barbara.  I've blogged already about the concert we went to that night, but let me comment on the hotel itself, the Palihouse Santa Barbara. 

Nice hotel! 

Not far off the State Street shopping district, part of the Presidio complex.  It was a cool hotel, decent rooms, hip but not too hip for us.  We had a decent sort-of suite

adjacent to (but private enough from) the pool. 

We settled in then went to the hotel bar for what was a fairly good happy hour. 

Kudos to the hotel on their bar - not large but a well-curated range of spirits, and a nice selection of free drinks for happy hour.  Bonus points for the bartender, Quinton, being super cute.

As is typical, I was up early on the Saturday morning, out for a walk which took me through a very tempting farmers market. 

If only I lived there (I would need a lottery) and had a kitchen!  Ah well.  I got back to the hotel and spent some quality time with Olive.

After Van got himself up and going, we headed out on foot,

leaving the little girl in her crate in the hotel.  An immediate stop at Panino

nearby for a truly huge sandwich,

and then on to shopping.  That jaunt allowed us to see some of the art

and architecture of Santa Barbara. 

We wandered in and out of stores, buying things for Christmas and for ourselves (nice bracelet, right?),

and among them was Lokum.  Oh Van, not knowing what Turkish delight is? 

Let's introduce you, and let's buy some baklava

and halvah as well.  It was a fine time, supporting the local Santa Barbara economy, I tell you.

After getting bags back to the hotel, we took Olive out on a drive, stopping at a park on a hillside above town, snapping some photos in the late afternoon sun. 

We then stopped in for happy hour with Quinton before heading down into the Funk Zone (I did not make up that name) to go to The Lark for dinner.

Van and I had been to The Lark on our previous trip to Santa Barbara, and we had enjoyed it a lot.  It wasn't our first choice, though - Van had booked us into a different place to try, but that restaurant then contacted him to cancel because of a private event.  So, The Lark it was.  Good!

I had a local gin for a martini to start with,

and we munched on their Thanksgiving dinner flavoured popcorn.  We followed that with pimento cheese,

then what was a very simple and oh so good squash dish that had a red currant sauce. 

Our main was fried chicken and grits - mmmmmm. 

And then there a date cake for dessert. 

The cocktails and other drinks flowed,

and Van had a glass of dessert wine. 

We headed back to the hotel to an early bedtime.  And then I had a terrible night of sleep, overstuffed and over-indulged.  Ah well.  An early birthday dinner for Van - worth it!

I didn't take photos the next morning and afternoon.  Van and Olive and I poked in stores in the Funk Zone and then in Montecito, making it back to Pasadena late afternoon.  That gave us enough time to unwind and unpack and get ready to go to Agnes for Van's birthday dinner.

Agnes is very well regarded, and we have enjoyed it in the past, and they have a nice attached shop for buying cheeses and such, but we so seldom think to go there.  It's an easy walk, for gosh sake, and yet we go to other places.  A shame.  They have a nice bar - I liked the Garden Fiesta cocktail. 

That oak leaf lettuce salad was gorgeous with its smoked almonds and dates.  And the grilled bread was so good. 

I liked the fried chicken,

though I'd give the edge to The Lark.  The khao soi carrots were genius,

and I think that the sauce from the carrots was a better match for the chicken than the hot honey we asked for on the side.  No dessert for us, though - that was quite enough food.

We browsed the shop, buying nothing this time, and made our way home.  It was a very very terrific weekend, and it had come to an end. 

a drive to Marquette on Christmas Eve

Ah, it was good to escape for a while.  To leave Escanaba behind, drive out the fog that has the whole town, the whole county, socked in. 

Get away from the boredom of sitting in the hotel while Conrad was going through his mother's personal effects.  It's been a sad, dull, awful week, truthfully, and any change in that was welcome.

We had no family obligations today, nothing to do with his Conrad's mother's things once we had dropped some boxes off at his sister's (and managed to do so before her household was awake).  Conrad and I went to a local diner for breakfast, then to get some groceries to function as our Christmas Eve meal (and likely bites for tomorrow night given that Christmas will be a mid-afternoon family get-together with frozen pizzas), then to Starbucks, then out of town.

I haven't been to Marquette in ages.  I was commenting to Conrad last night how funny it was that after all these visits where we kind of sit around in Escanaba at his family's beck and call, none of them wanting to venture out of town, resulting in me telling him that we should just say to them that we are going on an adventure and that we will see them at dinner, that after all that (run-on sentence, sorry), we do an adventure the week we're here for his mother's funeral.  But thank goodness we did.  Marquette is a cute little college town.  20,000 people on the shore of Lake Superior. 

Where Escanaba has a hollowed out downtown, a ghost of what it was decades ago, Marquette has some life to its downtown.  Yes, it's larger.  Yes, there is a university there.  And yes, they've managed to keep things feeling vital.  It's attractive, too, built on hills

on the lake shore, some handsome old homes and fine churches and excellent older commercial buildings. 

I'd be happy to go back.

We arrived late morning.  The fog lifted about two-thirds of the way to Marquette, though there wasn't sunshine there.  It's not going to be a white Christmas in this part of the Upper Peninsula, alas.  45 degrees, cloudy, damp-feeling today.  We parked at the lakefront and strolled briefly, taking a few photos, then parked downtown and began browsing stores.  Our big target was the good bookstore in town, Snowbound Books,

but we managed to find mementos and some treats in a few others, including a really nice little wine and cheese shop, Everyday Wines, that has provided us with the centerpiece for tonight's evening in at the hotel.  Lunch, meanwhile, was at Donckers, a sandwich that was already the freshest thing I've had in days thanks to the avocado and roasted peppers on it.  So welcome.

Back to the hotel after our poking in stores was done.  About fifty miles from Escanaba, the fog kicked back in, and now we're here in our room, looking out on thick whiteness obscures the lake just below.  I've made a cocktail, I'm writing this and some postcards, and we'll settle in to make the most of this unexpected, unwelcome Christmas.