After enough coffee and lounging Chuck and I motivated and went to play a round of disc golf at Evergreen Open Space, the course where we'd both learned the game. The course looked mostly the same, but there were definitely some differences we noticed--some trees had gotten taller, some had been removed, some tees had moved, etc.
Chuck started off the round super hot, with birdies on 3 of the first 4 holes. Evergreen is easier than most courses we're used to in the PNW, but still, 3 out of 4 is no small feat on these holes, particularly. The rest of the round wasn't quite as hot, but we still had a good time--there's just something nice about the challenge of Evergreen. There are lots of relatively easy holes, but they still have enough challenge and multiple strategies that the course remains fun.
We finished the round and were in agreement that food should be our next destination. We decided to cruise through downtown and see what there was to be had. I had fond memories of a deli on lower State St. that would be a great place to revisit. We started on upper State, so we could soak in all the changes and developments in the last 8 years. Surprisingly, it was hardly changed at all. A few places were repurposed--there was a BevMo now, and the Borders is now a Marshall's. Sadly, as we got to lower State, I saw that the beloved Greek deli was now a Verizon store. Amazingly, The Trailhead, the laughably mismanaged and profitless outdoor store I'd worked at during college, was still in business.
Oh yes, and one other thing that had not changed was the abundance of attractive people. It doesn't seem possible that there can be such a high ratio of good looking people, but there they were. Granted, most of them looked like people I didn't have any desire to hang out with, but they did look good.
We didn't see any food that looked compelling enough to stop for, so we made our way over to Milpas, the second most major thoroughfare in SB. Whereas State St. is where the glamorous tourists congregate, Milpas is where the working folk of SB live. There was a taqueria that Oceana and her family had recommended to us, La Super Rica. It was one of those hole in the wall family run places that had been around for years and had a reputation for serving great authentic Mexican food. We found it easily enough, and it was indeed unassuming. Not much more than a screened in porch painted teal and white, there was a small line outside. This is apparently the norm, and we got to listen to people reading and recommending menu items for a good 15 minutes before we got to set foot inside.
We finally got a chance to order, and I don't recall what all we got--some different varieties of tacos, and I got a bowl of some bean dish I'd overheard a guy saying was a popular favorite. It wasn't long before our food came out, and when it did it was...good. Certainly not bad, but not what I'd call remarkable. Go to any Mexican food truck, and it's a good bet that you'll have something at least as good in about a quarter of the time. Oh yeah, and the beans tasted like beans. There really was nothing wrong with the food at all, but it was definitely overhyped. I get the impression that everyone who has visited SB and has been recommended La Super Rica recommends it to other visitors so they sound like they have insider local knowledge.
We headed back towards Chris's place after lunch, taking a detour through UCSB to see how the old campus was looking. Unlike the city, the school had gone through significant changes. A lot of the dorms were remodeled or in the process of getting there, and there were lots of new monolithic buildings where there had formerly only been parking lots. We also took a tour through Isla Vista, the strange grid of college slums adjacent to campus where 3 or 4 people sharing a 1 br apartment was common. Most of the apartment buildings looked the same as ever. The town was mostly empty since it was still summer. We did see some new buildings in the commercial area of IV though, strangely modern and clean, one could say antiseptically so. It was kind of like seeing a dirty, yet charming dive bar being replaced by an Applebee's. Such is the way of opportunity and "progress" though, I suppose.
We went back to Chris's and hung out for a while until he got off of work. We kicked the hacky sack around for a bit, and then went back to Evergreen for another round when Chris got home. It was another fun round, no noteworthy scores that I recall. The course was a lot more crowded though, and it was slow moving. On the last few holes, the marine layer rolled in, dropping the temperature and dimming the light. We finished up and went to the store for dinner ingredients.
We got pork and veggies, and it took a good couple of hours before we could eat. Chris was less than impressed with the timing, since he was starving, and also had to go to bed early for work the next morning. We helped pass the time with some cards and beverages though, and eventually the food was done. It was a little overcooked, but by that time, just about anything would have been delicious. It was after 11 by then, so we let Chris go to bed, and we were soon to follow.
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