Dog Days Of Summer

It's just one of those days. The kind that makes you look for the silver lining. The kind that forces you to count your many blessings. The kind that makes you start to hum the song, "My Favorite Things." And that not necessarily a bad thing.

The Scooby-Doo Mystery Van Heads North

Last night the Handsomest Man Alive looked at me and asked, 'what are you doing for Labor Day?" I didn't know what to say. "What are YOU doing?" I responded. The whole thing dissolved into a flurry of Internet searches and tentative plans to go somewhere for the three-day holiday weekend. Only we usually only go one of the days. Maybe -- if we can decide on a plan and a place to go.

One of the places that I'd like to stop is called "Bellosguardo." It's an ocean-front multi-million dollar mansion in Santa Barbara that's been abandoned since the 1960s. The HMA discovered the mysterious story on MSNBC a couple of weeks ago. The first part is HERE and the second part is HERE. And now there's an update (with lots of wonderful photos and videos -- watch them all) about criminal charges...could this story be more delicious? Not possible. That's what the HMA thought when he first stumbled across it -- it involves a mysterious heiress and empty mansions around the world that are worth millions that haven't been lived in for years.

Once I saw a photo of the Montecito mansion that is called "Bellosguardo" I had to know where it was. And that wasn't too difficult. This lovely Santa Barbara blog even included a Google map to guide me right to the beach in front of the empty mansion. Are we having fun, yet? Oh boy!