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Weddingstravaganza, Part the Second

We spent Friday through Monday in Santa Barbara doing the wedding thing all over again. My parents threw us a couple of great parties. They hosted a rehearsal dinner at the house, which my brother Shaun cooked a stupendous Ethiopian Feast for, and a luncheon at the Harbor Restaurant which is right down on the water. David’s parents came out with us and got to enjoy a trip to the Botanic Gardens, The St. Barbara Mission (very historical), a whale watching trip, and a winery. David and I also went to the SB Zoo and took some cool pictures.

I went to the Botanic Gardens, and my friend Roxanna took me for a Bachelorette Breakfast and spa treatment. David and I ate some awesome food while we were there as well, we had a great Mexican dinner on Friday, I grabbed my favorite peanut butter banana smoothie from Blenders on Saturday, when we also enjoyed Shaun’s feast, and we had some amazing sushi on Monday. So enjoy the photo tour below, lots more pictures on my Flickr page if you want to see more.

Santa Barbara Botanical Gardens:
The view
California State Flower
Ethiopian Feast:
Festivities in progress:

Iron Chef Shaun

Amber inspects the fish centerpieces for the reception:

Reception Day
Serenaded by Kaleo, longtime friend of Shaun and a native of Hawaii:
The amazing cake baked by my mom:

Last day, trip to the Zoo:
A final sushi lunch before the airport


Hawaii, continued.

The newlyweds split up this morning to pursue their own activities. David went diving. He saw some cool fish, some wacky looking lobster, and a huge freaking humpback whale. He’s doing a night dive tonight with manta rays.

I, on the other hand, pursued my love of coffee into the mountains south of our hotel.
There are hundreds of coffee plantations in that area, each one being fairly small because of the labor-intensity of harvesting coffee. I learned a whole lot about coffee, and I got very, very, very wired.

I visited Kona Joe’s coffee plantation where they grow coffee in a vinyard-style like wine. This is supposed to make the beans ripen more evenly, and produces higher yields. The coffee was really good, I had a cup of the medium roast, cafe au lait style.

Then I went to Greenwell Farms a bit further down the road. They have lots of fruit trees, and amazing coffee. I took a bunch of pictures there as well. I saw some cool wildlife – birds and colorful lizards. The scenery is beautiful just about everywhere you go.

We’re going to drive further down the coast tomorrow, and then visit the volcanoes on Weds. via some hiking and a helicopter tour. More pictures to come, watch my flickr page.