Tag archives: San Francisco

Ebb and Flow
By Chuck Graham   |   October 15, 2024

From the moment I slid my kayak into the water at the back end of Drakes Estero, I was in serious navigational mode within the Point Reyes National Seashore. It was 5 am, and pea soup fog persisted one hour north of San Francisco. Drakes Estero is massive wetland, and a great biome to explore, […]

Ten Amazing Flower Walks: Santa Barbara to San Francisco
By Dina Saalisi   |   July 9, 2024

One of the things I love most about living in California is the diversity and abundance of floral life throughout the year. Taking road trips is a hobby of mine, and I especially adore the drive from Santa Barbara to San Francisco Bay. I’ve compiled a list of 10 amazing flower walks that can be […]

Kenneth Rexroth: A Poet of Montecito
By Anthony Wall   |   May 16, 2023

If I had to pick a favorite park in the world, it would have to be the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris. Not just for its rolling green lawns, ornamental fountains, and sycamore-lined promenades, but for its marvelous statues and busts. Instead of honoring the typical senators and soldiers, the Jardin du Luxembourg also features memorials […]

Fall Back; Travel Forward
By Leslie Westbrook   |   October 25, 2022

I rarely travel in the summer: too many tourists and, as the summer of 2022 proved, oodles of delayed flights, piles of lost luggage, and cases of COVID contracted. Plenty of friends can vouch for these annoyances, including Rachel Kaganoff Stern and her sister Tessa Kaganoff, who were separated from their luggage in London for […]

San Francisco or Bust! Travel life in the fast lane…
By Leslie Westbrook   |   July 12, 2022

My weekend trip to San Francisco began with a bang. I was bopping along in the fast lane of the 101, when just north of Gilroy and south of Morgan Hill, I heard a loud “clank” at the front left of my car. A few light, rain-filled moments later, I realized I had blown a […]

Summertime and the Living is Freezing
By Ernie Witham   |   September 14, 2021

“Holy ice cubes, Batman,” I said, as a breeze wafted its way up my shorts. “Fifty-seven degrees?” my wife said. “It was in the 70s when we left Oakland Hills.” “Guess it’s like Mark Twain said: ‘The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.’” “Experts claim that Mark Twain never actually […]

Dear Montecito: Anna Martin
By Stella Haffner   |   July 9, 2020

Raise your hand if you’ve ever wondered why medical workers do what they do. Don’t be shy. No one can see you after all, you’re reading a newspaper. It’s a natural thing to watch news footage of hospitals, the beds packed, the staff tired and wonder how anyone could want to go into healthcare (even […]