The Home Page | Fiesta Flavors and Road Trip Romance

My friends and I road-tripped to and through S.L.O., Paso Robles, and Templeton last weekend, and I promised you that I would share. Highlights included a delicious brunch at the aptly named Brunch in Paso, dinner poolside at Ciao Papi at the kitschy-glam-cowboy River Lodge Motel, and a lovely al fresco lunch on our way home at Novo in San Luis Obispo. We passed the adorable house above as we were walking in downtown S.L.O. Not for sale, but with its bright veggie garden out front and puffy clouds above, it was too picturesque not to share.

It was my first time stopping for more than a quick meal in Paso Robles, and boy, is it cute. The shops and restaurants were bustling, and the town square was aglow with activity. Literally! As the sun went down, the park twinkled with string lights dangling from the branches of every tree. These pals are the best traveling companions. They even let me quiz them about their recent favorite reads, which I compiled into my guest appearance in our All Booked newsletter.

We stayed in an Airbnb in nearby Templeton. This was not our Airbnb, nor was it for sale, but I happened upon it on my Saturday morning walk around the neighborhood. So cute. Templeton felt like a blend of Victorian-era farm houses like the one above, mixed with new construction, like this house for sale, right down the street from where we stayed:

A three-bedroom, two-bath 1,196-square-foot home offered at $729,000 is not going to be found in Santa Barbara. And indeed, between last weekend when I took this photo and today, this one appears to have sold. Boasting a location within walking distance to the farmers’ market in “trendy and charming Templeton,” it looks like buyers need to act quickly in whichever part of the Central Coast they’re looking to settle.

With titles such as “Coming Home,” “San Roque,” and “Santa Cruz Hill,” many of the paintings in Michael Vilkin’s exhibit at Fox Wine Company are sure to evoke feelings of this place we call home. Fittingly, the show — titled Art for Humanity — is a fundraiser for our local Habitat for Humanity. Works can be purchased online or in person, and the amount of each piece that will be donated to Habitat is specified in its description. The opening event for the fundraiser is today from 3-6 p.m. at Fox Wine Company in the Funk Zone; the in-person and online gallery both run through August 8. Thank you to my colleague Leslie Dinaberg, whose On Culture newsletter alerted me to this cool art show, and also hipped me to the world’s number-one cat video festival (for reals!!) happening here in Santa Barbara (for reals!!) today (for reals!!) at 1:00 PM and 5:30 PM at the Riviera Theatre as a benefit for ASAP Cats. Meow, there’s a cool scoop.

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Speaking of cool scoops, our Independent real-estate-sponsored paleta booth at the Santa Barbara Association of Realtors annual Fiesta Kick-Off Party on Monday evening was a ton of fun. My colleague Bryce Eller and I stepped behind the table only for a photo op, thanks to our friends who oversaw the action while we roamed the event. And finally:

Here’s the sunset over the scene at DIGs, the annual Old Spanish Days “Celebración de los Dignitarios” held on the hilltop at the Santa Barbara Zoo this past Thursday.

All of your Fiesta fun, plus your open house plans and more, are here in this week’s Indy. Whether you viva, siesta, or somewhere in between, enjoy your Sunday!