Was he a historical figure?

Everyone is on vacation:

Sue and Brian are on vacation somewhere with...

her family who is on vacation.

My parents just got home from a vacation in Italy.

Zach's family is on vacation in Los Angeles, and even took...

me and Zach with them out of town last weekend for a mini-vacation.

HAPPENINGS: My vacation was to see the Hearst Castle. This castle in the mountains is about four hours north of LA and overlooks the ocean. It was built by William Randolph Hearst who not only inherited his father's fortune in the early 20th century, but also built his own publishing empire. His castle was built on thousands of acres of Hearst property on which WRH would camp with his family as a boy. The castle took about 30 years to complete. That seems like a long time except when you compare it to the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, a cathedral that has been under construction since 1882...and still is. Anyway, this place was grand. I didn't know what to expect because castles are usually old. I had never really heard of a modern castle. It was beautiful, the kind of place no one deserves. It was full of artwork, structures, fountains, tiles, and tapestries from all over the world from different time periods. The view was the best view I have ever seen from a place that could be considered a residence. I won't go too in depth because I imagine you just have to see it, and any description of mine would never do it justice. It is just always really nice to take little trips in California because there are so many places to go within a reasonable distance, and this is definitely one of them.

INFURIATING: Zach beat all of us in a round of 20 questions with "Deep Throat". After concluding that this alive, famous, and American man was a historical figure but not a political leader, we starte running around in circles.... not even close. That is a good one.

TIPS: For one of the best steaks I have ever had, I would recommend The Lodge Steakhouse on La Cienega. This place was recommended to me by Jesse a while back when Zach and I were looking for a place to go for Valentine's Day. We went, and it was so good. We also saw Donald Faison with his girlfriend, Cacee Cobb, there (we had actually seen the two of them before the only other time we had gone to a nice steak place...weird). Anyway, I had the pleasure of going again when Zach's family took us last night for a sort of farewell-for-now dinner since they were leaving this morning. It was just as good, if not better, than I remember. While I would suggest saving it for special occa$ions like people in town or Valentine's Day, it is definitely worth a try.