This is the week of Fiesta in Santa Barbara. Long time residents manage to escape but there are things we can enjoy — the music for one. There is a Mariachi group on almost every corner and you can wander from group to group and compare.

Fiesta has a long tradition in Santa Barbara going back to the 1920s. The evening concerts have been a showplace for local talent.

The streets are a different story. If you love crowds of sweaty people looking for a place to sit down, or a bathroom, this is the place to be.

Cerveza amd tequila are the lubricants of choice in keeping with the Early Spanish Days. But all is not lost, if Nascar spectator consumption of wine can soar from 1% to 2%, there may be a place for wine at the table. 

It can be great fun.