A quick family visit on the West Coast, where the sun was shining (mostly), the temperatures were mild (dress in layers) and the food was excellent (try the blackened mahi mahi with mango salsa and you’ll enjoy that with a little pinot grigio). Lunched on seafood with the folks and afterwards retired to wooden chairs under umbrellas for a quiet bit of digestion. Drowsy, pleasant low-key beach conversation with Dad: priceless.

An Easter afternoon hiking in the rocky hills rising above the burgeoning metropolis. A high scenic perch from which to sit and gab with my sister about life, the universe, and everything: awesome.

A day of art and antiquities at the Getty Museums. The Getty Villa is a reconstruction of an ancient Roman villa and houses a magnificent collection of Greek, Roman and Etruscan art. Admission is free. Lunch is excellent and the formal gardens lovely. Highly recommended.

The Getty Museum is down the coast a bit from the Villa, is far larger and of a modern design, quite magnificent. There’s a walking garden that zigzags you down the hill, back and forth across an artfully artificial watercourse planted with blocky boulders and strange succulents, ending in a watery amphitheater with a floating azalea maze at the center. Great and glorious art collection within travertine-clad walls. Admission is free. Being edified with family and friends: matchless.