Metro Public Art Tour and Santa Barbara: April 17 - 18, 2010

So, yet another busy weekend in April for me. I started my Saturday in North Hollywood for LA INC's Metro Public Art Tour during the morning hours, which ended at downtown's Union Station. This was an optional leg of an all-day photo tour put on by the Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau. The site sponsored a photo tour previously for winners of their Photo of the Day feature. Due to a last minute date change, I was not able to attend that event. I was excited to learn they were hosting another go, but of course with my crazy schedule, it happened to fall on the same day I was heading up to Santa Barbara for Thom Yorke/Atoms for Peace.

I felt a little out-of-my-league with all the serious shooters. But, I thought it was a neat experience, and it was great to get some practice in. Always learning...





Upon the completion of the Metro Public Art Tour, I headed back on the Metro's Red Line to the North Hollywood Station to begin what I thought would be a reasonably quick drive up to the Santa Barbara Bowl. Yeah... not so much. There was an accident (which I never saw) up near Seacliff that brought traffic to a standstill. Literally. What should have been about a 90 minute journey turned into a painful 3 and a half hour crawl. Good grief.

I promptly checked into the Best Western Beachside Inn. The room could barely contain all the furniture contained within it. Luckily, not too much time would be spent in the room.

Despite all that, the show was incredible, as was the Santa Barbara Bowl venue; an outdoor amphitheatre tucked away in a hilly residential neighborhood. I will admit I never fully embraced Thom's solo material, but seeing and hearing it live was an amazing treat. Flea was especially amazing, even taking on the melodica with as much fury and intensity as his bass. Coupled with Thom's dance moves, it soon made me forget the struggles earlier that afternoon.

After the show, headed to The Palace Grill for late night dinner, based on a glowing recommendation from a friend. I can't fully critique the place, as I just wanted to eat and go, and not enjoy their drinks or dessert, which are supposed to be amazing. The meal was good, and I'll make sure to give it another go the next time I'm in the area.

The following morning I was simply burned out. I half-heartedly looked at things to do in this coastal town, but I was not at all interested. I decided to head on out, but not before taking a morning walk on the beach:



After packing it up, I drove out to a secluded little place for breakfast called The Cold Spring Tavern:



Not being terribly hungry, and also generally not a breakfast person, I ordered a side of potatoes and biscuits and gravy. While the potatoes were just average, the biscuits and gravy were pretty spectacular, and also provided in generously large portions at a steal of a price. So, a big "thumbs up" for the biscuits! As I was leaving, it was starting to get busy, with people patiently waiting for the lunches that make this place legendary. I'll need to remember this for next time as well.

And *just* before heading the car for home, I had to try McConnell's Ice Cream. A bit tricky to get to (and also to leave, as I ended up going the wrong way on a one-way street, ha!), but a very sweet treat, and a great way to end *yet* another weekend away from home.