I used to work at a surf camp in the summertime back in my late Jersey years and one thing we always taught all the kids was that a friend of mine is a friend of yours. In surf culture it works like this: I have a good friend Rick and he knows someone who lives on Maui. As it turns out I am traveling to Maui and being a broke ass surfer trying to turn a dollar into fifteen cents I reach out to Rick and ask him if maybe he could hook me up with his boy out on Maui.
Rick calls his buddy Keoni and says “hey bud I got a really solid friend here who I can totally vouch for. He needs a place to stay on the island. Can you help him out”? Now Keoni and Rick go way back and he knows and trusts Rick’s judgment. If Rick claims I’m cool that is all Keoni needs to know and more times then not a person in his shoes will put up a total stranger based on the word of a friend. That is how friends of friends become friends in the surf world.
I have spent the majority of my travels couch surfing on friends of friend’s couches and have always put up friends of friends in my own abode as well. It’s a reciprocal process. You can’t take advantage of the system unless you plan to give back to it or the whole thing will come crashing down. Hypocrisy in the surfing underground railroad just does not work. If you take a couch then you must be willing at some point later in life to offer a couch. That is just how it goes.
So when I got call from former roommate and brother from another mother Cory Kisiel wondering if I could put up two of his friends I was more then happy to oblige even though I already had and currently still have my boss sleeping on the couch. In this case they were suppose to be two nice ladies from Jersey just looking for a place to crash on their summer graduation cross country adventure. As it turned out there were three of them, Melissa, Devin and Danielle, but like I always say the more the merrier.
Turns out these were some of the most chill women I have ever had the pleasure to spend time with (get your minds out of the gutter folks they were very respectable females and actually helped restore my faith in their kind a bit). They were cruising up from L.A. and being it was their first time in California I had them take the PCH up through Malibu for the best scenic results. While they were driving up I prepared an amazing pork roast dinner, which I slow cooked for nearly 12 hours.
It came out remarkable, the best pork roast I ever cooked. The bones came out clean being pulled with my bare hands. I coupled it with a Lemon risotto with cranberries, corn on the cob and mash potatoes (don’t worry I promise to have some new recipes up soon). It was quite the feast. My Roommate Bryan and his two friends also joined us as well rounding out the dinner party to eight, the biggest one I have ever hosted here. It made me realize to my own embarrassment that I need to buy new plate and glassware, not having anything matching and not nearly enough wine glasses to go around.
Next day the girls were cruising up to Lompoc to go skydiving, which went off amazing for them, despite the fact that they were a bit apprehensive. I gave them some classic Lisanti words of wisdom “Girls you miss 100 percent of the pitches you don’t swing at”. If you’re a regular reader then you have definitely heard that one pounded into your skull a few thousand times. I coupled it with “Well I reckon if you jump and survive it will have been a good time and if it doesn’t work out then SPLAT! No Worries”. They did not die and were glowing from the experience.
Meanwhile I was off slinging drink all over town. I tried to send the girls on a fun valley adventure to Ostrich Land, Solvang and few other choice locales there, but they decided to cruise back to the Barb and enjoy the beach. Later they called me and asked how they could get to Montecito to see how the other half lives. That night I cooked the best version yet of a new dish I have been working on I like to call Pasta alla Rosado. It’s a pasta casserole dish similar to baked ziti but utilizing a tomato/roasted red pepper puree. I think the dish came out rather incredible, as did everyone else who partook.
After dinner I just could not let the ladies leave without a night experience of the Santa Barbara Downtown party scene. Devin and Danielle were exhausted from the day’s excitement. Melissa on the other hand took it like a champion, got dolled up (she looked exquisite by the way) and rolled with my boss Steve and I. It was a Wednesday leaving us no other option but Sharky’s. By the time we got there the line was crazy long and the cover was $10. At one time I had some swing there but these days after taking an almost two year hiatus from the scene Im back to square one.
When all else fails I go to my standard drinking joint the good old Wild Cat. Wednesday is hit or miss there, but luckily for us the place had a healthy mix of folks. I looked rather proper walking in with a woman of Melissa’s standing. Truth be told what Lisanti Adventure would be complete with out at least one night at the shitty kitty?
The next morning the girls packed up and headed up San Francisco. Having no place to stay there either I took the liberty to call my minion turned partner in crime John Mauriello and asked if he could put the ladies up for a night to which he obliged. Once again I sent them up PCH to get the best vistas and adventure for their buck and even set them up with this little burrito joint in Santa Cruz that in my opinion makes the best burritos I have ever eaten in my entire life.
There you have the surfing couch share system working in full effect again. Cory set the girls up with me. I in turn set the girls up with John. At the end of the day everyone was more then stoked. Melissa, Devin and Danielle have been on the road for almost two weeks and I believe have another week or so to go before making it back to New Jersey.
They keep their own blog of the tales from the road less traveled upon. I highly recommend giving it a view: http://traveltheus.myblogsite.com/. If you want to read their take on the time spend in Lisanti Land this link will plug you into it directly: http://traveltheus.myblogsite.com/entry18.html#body. I always think it is interested to read the same instance described from two different points of views. Their blog will also be featured on my link bar if you care to visit it in the future as well.
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