Page 97 - WINE DINE AND TRAVEL WINTER SPRING 2022

Aside from horsing and hot-tubbing, we However, those strong winds which made
explored the place – we rode up to the lake on the firefighting a nightmare, helped Alisal. They
back of a truck, while perched atop hay bales -- pushed the fire from above the lake, over the
and cozied up to the complementary breakfasts ridgeline of the Santa Ynez mountains, away from
and dinners. Menus were a combination of “old the ranch, and down the other side, toward the
school” and nouvelle. Breakfast included coast.
pancakes and “avocado nine-grain toast.” Dinner Still, the fire was inescapable and not just
ranged from waygu steak, lobster, and fried because of the helicopters. Smoke plumes would
chicken to a vegan “sweet potato poblano peek up over the mountains each day and after the
enchilada.” heaviest winds died down, we could see tanker
All well and good, but I have to admit I’ve planes dumping great swaths of bright pink
buried the lead to this story. retardant on the ridgeline above us. And, of course,
Horseback rides, golf, fishing, yoga, dinner everybody was glued to the news feeds on their
menus – none of that was the main concern at phones (remember, no TVs in the guest quarters).
Alisal. What was No. 1? The fire. Our Alisal stay was part of a six-day mini-
The Alisal Fire, as it became known, started a exploration of California’s central coast. We
day before we got there and was mostly stopped for lattes in Santa Barbara, Los Olivos,
contained a couple days after we left. The Los Pismo Beach, San Luis Obispo and Paso Robles.
Angeles Times called it, “The first major Southern Along the way we visited the Rancho Guadalupe
California wildfire of the season.” By the end it Dunes Preserve, walked around Morro Rock and
had scorched 17,000 acres, burned down a dozen immersed ourselves in SLO’s weekly downtown
homes and temporarily closed Highway 101 – the festival/farmer’s market.
main coastal highway through Santa Barbara But we always kept up on the fire news. On our
County – and stopped the parallel Amtrak rail last day we drove back south to Los Angeles,
line. Guests who arrived at Alisal around the time mostly on highway 101, which had been reopened.
we did, weren’t sure the place would be open or if As we approached Santa Barbara, we could see
we’d all have to evacuate. that the fire had jumped the highway and scorched
Driving to Alisal on Highway 154 out of Santa palm trees and buildings on the narrow coastal
Barbara, the northwest sky was covered with strip. On the opposite side, the charred, grey
what looked like a huge dirty fog bank. “You sure mountain slopes were punctuated by massive
that’s not a cloud?” Jody asked me. blotches of pink retardant.
I was sure. It was October in California; it “It’s a shame they had to name the fire after us,”
hadn‘t rained in nine months; the Santa Ana winds Cochran had said during our stay. “It started on
were blowing; the chapparal was bone dry. That BLM land. They could have named it the ‘Ridge
was no cloud, that was smoke. Fire’ or the ‘Los Padres Fire.’ “ And, in truth, the fire
Fortunately, Alisal’s guests were unaffected by never charred any of Alisal’s property.
the fire -- unless you were a fisherman or a But did it cast a cloud over our Alisal experience?
horseman. Firefighting helicopters kept scooping Not at all. In fact, it made our stay uniquely
water out of Alisal’s lake to dump on the fire, memorable and if those helicopters hadn’t been
which put a hold on boating and fishing. It also swooping around, that two-hour trail ride might
closed some of the riding trails heading up toward have even been longer.
the lake. Nobody wants to be on horseback while
helicopters whirl overhead.

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