My pilgrimage through California continues...

Labor Day weekend brought me up to Santa Barbara, a coastal city that I've been going to for as long as I can remember to escape the urban sprawl of Los Angeles. It is also a city that has helped me reflect on the joys of life, at every age. I can't describe it, other than it is like the taste of the freshest strawberries atop your french toast, because that was my time honored tradition for every stop & visit at this charming city.

State Street, once a center for locals and UCSB college students, alike, has seen a string of retail store shutterings. Every restaurant and every big box retailer that I know, from Roxy's Mexican Restaurant to Macy's has closed its presence on State Street in the wake of triple net leases. Ah, so it's not just a San Francisco issue ;). 

Yet, smaller businesses have survived.

Among my favorite is The French Press. Boy, do coffee and CPG categories persist, or what?

Nothing like an almond milk macchiato to tie my past and present.

I have been focused on health, as of late, so has my family. For me, it's been moving away from dairy (which is like all my favorite things: ice cream, cheese, half and half creamer!) and even going a bit more vegan at times. I cheat, but places like Lilac Pâtisserie make it so that I don't have to indulge in the wrong direction as they make yummy gluten-free and vegan desserts. Sure, you pay $8.00 for a slice of cake versus $3.00, but have you ever tried to bake with gluten-free flour, like Cup 4 Cup from Sur La Table? Not so easy, huh.

My time in Santa Barbara is always very brief. So on to the next.

Mom was insistent that I go with her to Pismo Beach this year. It was the first time I ever went to this California Central Coastal town. The importance of the ocean in my life has mostly been a big part of my own upbringing, from California to the island of Puerto Rico. I commented on the ocean's healing power at dinner. If there is ever a time where you feel like you're just starting to get to know your parents, it's when your Dad drops tidbits of information on you, things you never thought your parents could possibly know, things like, "Well, you know you feel that way about the beach because the ocean creates negative ions that make you feel good."

And, OMG, he's right. 

The high point of course, was our family return to Hearst Castle. I had not been there since I was eight years old with the family on a road trip. My relatives from Puerto Rico had come and we had embarked on a journey in a VW van, up the coast with a stop in San Simeon.

My memories of golden satin beds and the luxurious Neptune Pool have stayed with me since, but this time we saw the cottages of the ranch for the "Designing the Dream" tour. 

Wiliiam Randolph Hearst was the son of a miner, George Hearst, and a Harvard enrollee, who used to parade his pet alligator, Champagne Charlie around. William Hearst was responsible for commissioning the architectural behemoth, Hearst Castle, that would have been estimated to cost $220 billion dollars today to construct, according to my tour guide Mike Davis. The structure was overseen by architect extraordinaire, Julia Morgan over the span of 28 years.

Now even though Mr. Hearst is the reason for Hearst Communications today, which is the umbrella company for media companies such as A+E, Lifetime, as well as magazine publications Elle Decor, Food Network, Marie Claire and well, you name it, it all started for him with the take over of the San Francisco Examiner, after he had discovered his love of newspaper from working on the Harvard Lampoon. 

Inspiration really does come from everywhere.

Hearst Castle architect, Julia Morgan, graduated from U.C. Berkeley and was the first woman to be admitted to the architecture program at l'École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts. She designed more than 700 buildings in her career, in addition to Hearst Castle, she also worked on some Bay Area local gems such as the YWCA in Chinatown and Mills College in Oakland, some of which represent the Arts and Craft movement.

Although Mr. Hearst bankrolled the project and certainly had his own ideas, ambitions and desires for what he wanted it to be, Ms. Morgan was responsible for its execution and certainly had to cope with what was described by California State Park Guides as a "changeable-ness" of mind. Moreover, Ms. Morgan stood at 5 foot tall, much like yours truly, and sadly, not much is known about her own personal life, other than she lived on the cheap, accepting much less than what she was worth for jobs in her day, never marrying, with no known romances and no known children. 

Huh. Mr. Hearst had a wife, who he never divorced, a girlfriend 30 years his junior, and 5 children. While he inherited a fortune, due to how he spent his money, he was $156 million in debt by the time he died in his 80s. 

You can make your own social conclusions here. Although, I'm thinking a woman should still be able to do her work + have a personal life in this day and age we live in, don't you? I certainly didn't see any footnotes of Ms. Morgan accumulating any debt, she seemed to manage finances pretty well. No man seemed to blink an eye, while Mr. Davis, our guide, shared that Mr. Hearst had a GF 30 years his junior, with a wife. Bummer. Although, all the men there were Boomers. Hopefully, monogamy is still in fashion for some. Not all of Generation Y is non-committal, that's a misconception that I hope to someday prove with data.

What Mr. Hearst and Ms. Morgan did together, as partners in commerce, was create an in-door Roman Pool that you would have changed into a scratchy wool suit for, in order to dive into the topsy turvy design of stars in the deep water, to see sea life in the high ceiling. Within such a celestial haven, guests would walk on 22 carat gold mosaic tiles. 

Jumping back to present day, Mom & I took our selfies on the ranch. 

Coming back from the Central Coast was a reality check. Years before, we had been there with our loved ones from Puerto Rico. Today, I worry about their safety as they prepare for Hurricane Irma, after the havoc made with Hurricane Harvey in Houston. The Caribbean islands are considered third world, by the way, even when marked as U.S. territory. Recovery + repair is hard in any country, but is often made easier with federal funds. The economy in Puerto Rico has suffered for over 10 years, thus I worry deeply not simply over mortal harm, but further economic harm.

I'm thinking good thoughts for you family, Puerto Rico, and my little Caribbean islands of special paradise. Stay safe.