Tatum’s highlights: lunch at Pomona, an Italian restaurant in the village; sitting on the beach in La Jolla; walking around UC Santa Barbara with Mom.
It must be in the blood, this feeling of being drawn to the vast expanse of California coastal blue views. At first I was disappointed that Tatum’s spring break in mid March didn’t align with Clara’s, Finn’s and Bridget’s at the end of March—we had planned to reprise the prior California college trip these four—but now I’m so glad we had this trip with Tatum and the grandparents alone.
Truth be told, Tatum was understandably most excited about seeing her friends from Wingate Ella and Ainsley. Ella had a sleepover at Thornhill with us, then the girls collected guide friend Ainsley and they stayed a night in Santa Cruz. We got to see them for brunch in fairytale Carmel-by-the-Sea.
As excited as Tatum was to see her friends, I think Doug was equally so to make a new friend in David Black. They bonded over toys: drones and a commercial-sized tv. And the love of good food and wine. In fairness, it was a spectacular situation for technology because a pod (?) of whales was playing just offshore and David captured the gliding and playing using his drone. Close ups on the tv made us feel like we could touch the whales.
It was a huge pleasure for me to see Robin and David, to walk their magical morning walk with them along the cracking coast, to sleep in the Athens-Paris guest room, and learn about starting up start-ups. They are already endeared to neighbors and Robin’s starting to feel more like this is home.
Despite friend fun, college tours were also pretty fun or at least informative. Our first stop, naturally, was to see Justine at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Justine was glowing. She seems so happy there. I could tell by the fact that she tidied and vacuumed her room for us and by her wide smiles and warm hugs. She showed us coffee spots, a favorite building, and the koi pond. She has found or created the right school for herself, for sure. Justine and I had a moment in the SLO mission where we stepped into Mass in Spanish—beautiful.
Santa Barbara took the proverbial cake on the tour. The weather, the camps, people of all colors, head wrap styles, flip flop styles, the brownies at the buffet—all were pretty enticing. Best of all, we found the marine biology building and walked through it on our own, not seeing anyone, but seeing cool-looking labs with glass bottles, posters regarding specimen collection schedules, and nerdy science jokes. The building tour ended with the sea sparkling expansively in front of us. I think that pretty much closed the deal for UCSB to slide into the highest-wow slot. UCSD was a close second and for similar reasons. We are not sure whether out of staters have much chance at admissions though.
The visit to Pomona should have been amazing because Tatum had two generations of alum with her, in Goodnews and myself. But the Admissions office was closed, despite our scheduled information session; there was almost no one on campus; and, most strange, the sky was gray and cold. It was not only spring break, but also electrical work had unplugged the sockets, accounting for the lack of buzz. The dumpy weather was just unaccounted for.
But we made up it by showing Tatum a few favorite spots—she was intrigued by the story of the goat in the basement of Clark V—and an excellent Italian lunch in the village. Tatum found it interesting that Hollywood sometimes chooses Pomona to film supposedly east coast scenes; that Goodnews had a curfew even in college; and that my college boyfriend and I sent notes to each other by email, this invention that was new when I was in college. Ha ha. #feelingold.
On the personal side, we showed Tatum some of the family homes in Pasadena, which are not only still standing, but also are in beautiful condition in eye-popping neighborhoods. We saw Buppy’s first home; the sweet bungalow in which Nawny & Buppy lived and waltzed when first married; and Goodnews’s sometimes-home at her maternal grandparents’ house, the childhood home of Bama and Unc (Bernice and Robert Brush, children of Bama and Bampa). Mom/Goodnews lived there as a baby with her mother Nawny (Bernice Brush Wallace) when her father Buppy (Hugh Wallace) was away during WWII.
In addition to this claim to family fame, there is claim to public fame for the house on Bushnell Avenue. This is where Back to the Future was filmed. We meet the current owners, Jed and Jodi Reagan. (Jodi and I must have overlapped on the Hill, me working for Senator Kennedy and her for Senator Kerry.) They have 3 young boys and didn’t care a bit about an impromptu visit into their warm, messy house, which is still grand and gorgeous with original woodwork, stained glass and stair rails. The fish pond in back has been replaced by a small pool and Bampa’s workshop out back is now an au pair suite with high-end Keurig and Apple appliances.
What a gift, literally and figuratively, for Mom and Doug to be on this journey with us. Loved spending the glittering days and glowing sunsets with them, sharing Route 101 views and brunches, and trading off on car naps. Thank you, Mom and Doug!
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