One of my favorite places to visit is Santa Barbara. This weekend is Bastille Day Weekend in SB from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. in Santa Barbara's Oak Park. Admission is free. Location: Grant Park. I really want to go but lodging is a problem in SB since it is the Riviera of California.

As some of you may know I am a francophile. This festival sounds like the perfect combination for me but the big question is will I be able to get there? Of course all of the cheap hotels are booked so I looked on Craigslist in SB to see if anybody had any cheap room for rent. I actually found some cool places, but I am still waiting to hear back. Then there is the transportation issue, but AMTRAK offers some good rates from Riverside to LA and then from LA to SB. So if only I could find some cheap lodging!

On Sunday they will have a parade of poodles, which sounds pretty ridiculous and fun. At any rate, I could just bookmark this as a possible future outing and do my hotel homework earlier next year. I am thinking I might have to settle with some 2 buck Chuck from Trader Joe's for my wine, some TJ Brie, and hang out at my own personal riviera. Zut alors!