Doughnuts In The Surf

Ti Kaye has an interesting beach item I’ve never seen before. Those doughnut-like objects are plastic-rimmed floats that are anchored to the ocean floor and therefore stay in place, riding atop the waves as the surf passes underneath. They are filled with water and are a lot of fun to sit in on a hot sunny day, and cool besides.

There’s only one problem with the doughnuts: it’s impossible to climb into one gracefully. You basically try to leap up from the ocean floor, get your keister over the yellow plastic rim, and then tumble, ass over teakettle, into the rubbery bottom. Even Grace Kelly would look like a klutz trying to get into one of these things, but the moment of embarrassment is worth it.

Sands On Sand

  
Some things go together.  Peanut butter and jelly.  Oreos and cold milk.  Ted Cruz and Brylcreem.

Beachfront and beer, too.  And when the local beer is a tasty potable called Sands, so much the better.

Santa Barbara Scene

  
I’ve spent a fair amount of time in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Sacramento, Long Beach, and San Diego, but much of California north of LA — such as Santa Barbara — is unknown to me.

It’s nice to get a chance to visit a new place and experience the geography firsthand.  I’d heard that Santa Barbara was pretty, but I had no idea the coastline was so rugged. It reminds me a bit of Maine, but it offers its own rocky charms — and a few offshore platforms to boot.  After a flight seated next to a screaming kid and a two-hour taste of LA-area traffic, the charms of Santa Barbara beachfront were much appreciated.

It’s All Good On Peaks Island (II)

In case you weren’t already clued in by the path down to sea level and the sounds of water against rock up ahead, this piece of painted driftwood will help to guide you on your way to the beach.