Santa Barbara

We travelled to Santa Barbara, not for a destination wedding, but the nuptials of the son of a good friend of ours to a lady who hails from...Santa Barbara. I'd been there briefly twice before but this was the time we had a chance to see something of this incredibly charming town. The locals have a word for it: perfection, which may be a mild exaggeration but only a mild one. It's a delightful spot.

The wedding itself was outside, which is not a major risk in the summer here. The bride's older sister was duly qualified as an officiant and earned the fond regard of all by conducting a meaningful, short ceremony, with an emphasis on the short part. The speeches were enjoyable, especially when the bride's father started his by observing that we all must be wondering why in laid-back California, this occasion was black tie. I'm not sure he provided an answer to that but he also was responsible for his bagpipe group piping in the wedding party and then performing after dinner. We also enjoyed both the welcoming pro secco and the platters of salmon, steak, broccolini, and green salad that were passed along the long tables.

There were many of of us who travelled from many different spots. Everyone was friendly and many took off after the dancing was concluded to a karaoke bar in the midst of Santa Barbara's Festival week--the 100th annual celebration of its Spanish roots.  We had a nice lunch on East Beach less than 100 feet from the ocean at Reunion with a college friend of Eileen's who lives on the major hill on one side of the town with a view over the whole place right over the ocean, too.

Now we're in Long Beach visiting the Museum of the Academy Awards of the Motion Picture Academy next to the L.A. County Museum of Art on Wilshire. There's lots of fun stuff to see there, with videos of past Oscar presentations, a special section devoted to Casablanca, with both of the pianos Dooley Wilson pretended to play and other clips and memorabilia. There was a controversy about not mentioning the founders of the industry when the museum opened, but now there's an exhibit on the Jewish studio chiefs and the creation of what we know as Hollywood and how it defied Edison's trust that controlled the business until it located in Hollywood at a time when being 3000 miles away made enforcement of his patents less practicable. The Supreme Court ended the reign of the trust in 1925.

Weather in Southern California is predictably consistent at this time of the year and definitely less humid and more temperate than it will be when we return to DC later this week. The Pacific is warm enough for swimming and even walking now is refreshing. Alaska upgraded us on the trip out, so we're already ahead of the game.