From my brother's home in Santa Barbara, a rare sight could be seen as the USS Ronald Reagan stopped to pay a visit over the weekend.

[click for larger]

In an e-mail, my sister-in-law notes:

I wanted you to note that the ship is right in the ocean view of our house and it is FANTASTIC!

Real estate in Santa Barbara being what it is, that's probably a million-dollar view on any given day. Throw in a nuclear aircraft carrier, and pretty soon you're talking about real money.

The sailors are [superb] and it is great to see them in the downtown of SB. Many of the sailors took a special tour of the Reagan library in Simi Valley - a wonderful library, by the way! There is a lot of activity and excitement at the wharf as people are swarming for a view of the ship. We are glad it harbored here! It is a mile out and still looks huge!

(Apologies to Justin Hayward for using the title of his terrific solo album for the title of this post.)

Posted by Russ at 12:36 PM, August 22, 2005 in Nat'l Security