“An escape room? Nah, doesn’t sound like my thing,” my brother Paul said. His kids and my son, Max, however, knew what an escape room was and were excited to go. Well, being teenagers, excited might be an exaggeration. Let’s just say there was minimal eye-rolling involved. We convinced Paul to join us, and we drove down to one of Hot Springs, Arkansas’, best escape rooms, A Narrow Escape.
After an afternoon spent snorkeling at La Jolla Shores, I returned with Tiffany and Martin to the house Martin’s family was renting on their visit from England. As the kids enjoyed the final remnants of the day in the pool, the adults quieted, sipping their wine and enjoying a spectacular sunset. I wondered if the people who owned the house truly appreciated the view every single day, or if it was something they took for granted.
The year I graduated and left Hot Springs, Arkansas, a magic show opened up downtown. I paid no mind to it when I came back to visit friends and family. Now I’m wishing I had. Twenty-two years later (man, I’m old), The Magic of Maxwell Blade is still serving up magic, but now it’s in a bigger and better venue: the historic Malco Theater. I’m pleased as punch that Maxwell Blade purchased and renovated this theater (to the tune of $1 million) because it’s a gorgeous gem of days gone by when movie theaters were a place you dressed up…
When you live in a place, and you see an attraction so often, you start to become immune to what’s really there. I’ve visited Balboa Park dozens of times in my eight years in San Diego, and I try to keep my eyes open, because there’s so much to see, especially when you’re not looking. This is a mural that used to be on the way to the restroom between Panama 66 and the San Diego Museum of Art. I loved that, even in a hallway, a transition point, the museum had filled it with beautiful things to look at.