My Santa Barbara blonde, the last Sambo's and Salty Seafaring Pirates at Sea!
Ahhhh. Beautiful, wonderful Santa Barbara. Home of Steve Martin, Bo Derek and Oprah. Here's a view looking south toward the city.
DS Sambo's is a restaurant, formerly an American restaurant chain, started in 1957 by Sam Battistone and Newell Bohnett. Though the name was taken from portions of the names of its founders, the chain soon found itself associated with "The Story of Little Black Sambo". The story, written by a Scot woman living in India in 1899, tells the tale of a boy named Sambo who outwits a group of hungry tigers who race around a tree and eventually turn into butter. Battistone and Bohnett capitalized on the coincidence by decorating the walls of the restaurants with scenes from the book, including a dark-skinned boy and tigers. By the early 1970s, the illustrations depicted a light-skinned boy wearing a jeweled Indian-style turban with the tigers.
By 1979, Sambo's had 1,200 outlets in 47 U.S. states. However in the late seventies controversy over the chain's name drew protests and lawsuits in communities that viewed the term "Sambo" as derogatory towards African-Americans, particularly in Northeast states. Several of the restaurants were opened as or renamed to "The Jolly Tiger" but by November of 1981, the company filed for bankruptcy and by 1982 all but the original Sambo's at 216 West Cabrillo Boulevard in Santa Barbara, California, closed their doors. Battistone's grandson, restaurateur Chad Stevens, owns the only remaining Sambo's. He expresses a desire to revive the chain.
Ya see, Rick got the bright idea of taking the Spirit of Dana Point outta the harbor for a spin. I informed him of the slew of state and federal laws he'd be in violation of - both on land and at sea. Let's just say Rick was on a mission, so I didn't bother trying to talk him out of it. He owns two businesses and works a regular 40-hour job on top of that and he's quite the outdoorsman, so - what the hell. I wasn't gonna be the one to piss on his vacation.

Now, if you wanna see more pictures and find out how our crazy adventure on the high seas ended, hit Read More!
Then Captain Rick said I had to wear a pirate patch - which he conveniently had in his pocket (there went any hope of "temporary insanity" as a plea at his future court hearing). I asked him why he didn't have to wear a patch. He told me his Cool Ray sunglasses looked enough like a patch and to just shut up and put the sonofabitch on. So I did.


3 comments:
Oh how I miss SB, it is gorgeous! I am glad you all had a great time, but what else would be expected right? I think Solstice is out of the question for me this year unless I leave the kids with someone...it's a slim chance.
your cousin,
bert
Jeff..great story about you and Rick...you can take any situation and make a great story of it...you are gifted and talented in that way. Looking forward to seeing you soon! Love Aunt Ev
There's a restaurant named Lil Sambo's Restaurant in Lincoln City, Oregon. I used to go there as a kid. I wonder if theres any connection?
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