I don’t think there are many people who will disagree with this statement: Food is an important part of every culture. It follows then that one of the great pleasures of travel is the opportunity to taste the local cuisine. There's something about sharing a favorite dish with a friend or stranger that makes it taste even better. We truly do bond over a meal.

A frolicsome sea otter, noisy (and stinky) sea lions, and hundreds of migrating pelicans were among the first inhabitants to greet us as the Elkhorn Slough Safari (a 27 ft. pontoon boat) motored slowly away from the harbor. 

Wallace Stegner wrote a vivid novel with an equally compelling title: Angle of Repose. That title came to mind when I visited historic Holman Ranch, the 400-acre property in Carmel Valley, California. The ranch grounds themselves are in a lovely little valley of their own, sitting in an agreeable angle of repose among the oak-studded hills.