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. 

John Splithoff in concert

So the main reason for the trip to Santa Barbara this past weekend was a concert, a concert by an artist whom Van wanted to see but whom I knew very little:  John Splithoff.

Yes, that's three concerts on three consecutive Fridays.  And it's a lot, and with more to come in December.  But it's also cool to do.  I so seldom went to concerts in Chicago.  Maybe one a year if we average it all out, or barely more than that.  And even after the move to LA, we didn't go to a lot, though we did attend a handful a year at the Disney Hall and a few at the Hollywood Bowl.  But with Van (he and I, or all three of us, and even me alone), we've ramped up the going to concerts part of our lives.  I love that we've done so - this is what living in a big metro area really should be.

Anyway, the concert this past Friday....

The venue was an interesting one.  On the second floor of a plaza, SOhO (why the spelling, people?) consisted of two wings.  As you enter, to the right is the concert space - a stage up front, open floor, some chairs on the perimeter reserved for the elderly and those needing seats otherwise.  To the left is the restaurant and bar with screens showing games until showtime when they had the performance on instead.  There was also a large patio outside of the performance space where people sat in the cool night air and watched the performance on screens.

Van and I had dinner reservations, so we were shown to a table on checking in.  The meal was, well, a meal.  You don't go there for the food.  The service struggled with the onslaught when the doors opened.  But it was fine.  We each had the same cocktail, the Empire State of Mind,

and ate and watched most of the set by the opening act, Evann McIntosh.

The opening act was a curious choice.  I don't know enough about them to comment on their body of work, but as a performer, they were very very low key.  Accompanied by a guy on an electric guitar (bass?),

they delivered their songs in a sort of folky/mumbly thing that reminded me of the 90s or something I might hear in the background of a Buffy episode.  We left the restaurant and joined people on the floor by the end of McIntosh's set, but it didn't set the mood for the main act, I have to say.  An odd pairing.

By contrast, John Splithoff - who is, let's be honest, older and more seasoned as a musician and performer - has chops.  He sang very well.  He played guitar very well.  He had charisma on stage.  He's hot - you bet there was a reaction from the women (and me and Van) when he removed his blazer after a few songs and the biceps came out.  He was excellent.  It made me want to seek out his music afterward, and I have streamed it a few times in the days since.

All that said, however, we left early.  It had gone 11, and we had been standing a goodly while, and at our ages, it's just not as comfortable to do that at concerts any longer.  Also, other people are jerks.  Two drunk women to my left kept yammering away throughout the performance, and I wasn't the only one bothered by it, from what I could see.  After putting up with it too long, I grabbed Van and headed to the back of the small crowd.  And then we left not long after that.  A nice walk along State Street before turning off to head to our hotel. 

We went to bed and fell asleep promptly and hard!

Splithoff was great.  I have him on as I write this.  I may not go back to that venue, but I'd be happy to see him in concert again.