1st Stop: Luke's New House
Los Angeles Laker (and Harm's 1st cousin) Luke just had his new Rancho Santa Fe estate professionally landscaped. His brother Tuffy has set a 2008 date for his wedding, so we popped over to see if the house could accommodate the 300+ anticipated attendees. Now, there is plenty of land and it is spectacular in it's layout, but there are a lot of boulders that would disrupt any dining dreams (table-wise) and uneven grounds (bad for ballroom dance.)


One of the coolest features is this Hefner-esque jacuzzi-grotto a-la-the Playboy mansion.

Here's the view from inside the grotto. There is a waterfall feature that makes for more privacy when needed.

The landscaping is still in progress, but one can imagine how lush the grounds will be once they grow in. Spectacular.






Here is a view from one far corner of the grounds. Note the "small" boulders in the center.

Alright, they're not really small boulders. It is really a natural tower, with subtle stone steps that lead up to a private deck. Here are the kids up on the top level. This photo reminds me of the Lion King movie for some reason.









Hakuna Matata.












From there, we headed off to family favorite, the Potato Shack Cafe in Encinitas, where the famous man-hole-sized chocolate chip pancakes take the grand prize for ridiculously good. Mmmm.