ZACA LAKE, Santa Barbara's romantic wilderness.

Romantic, nostalgic and beautiful, Zaca Lake Retreat and Mineral Springs is a sanctuary, that melts away daily tension and creates a romantic environment, hard to find in the city.

The ancient, Chumash called this Heart shaped lake, Zaca Lake, or "quiet place."  Zaca is one of the very few natural lakes in Southern California. The lake is replenished by underground springs.  Geologists speculate that Zaca Lake was formed about 10,000 years ago by a landslide.The Chumash state that there is a rainbow bridge of light and energy arising in Ojai, California that flows into the depths of Zaca Lake. There is even a story that an underground tunnel exists deep within the earth that connects Zaca with Lake Titicaca in Peru. 

Today Zaca Lake is run by a non-profit foundation, who's mission statement is to protect and preserve the Lake for the benefit of the public.  Zaca Lake is an absolutely incredible little place out in the wild of Santa Barbara County. Technically, the address is on Foxen Canyon Road just before Zaca Mesa Winery, but after you gain access (only if they have given you the gate code) it's another five mile drive down a one lane paved road that crosses through ranch land and steep hills that crosses five creek beds of varying degree of water and difficulty eventually leading you to a beautiful little lake surrounded almost completely by mountains. The setting couldn't be more spectacular.

However, there was a time when my father and
his partner, Howard Olson, owned, (if such a spiritual place could be owned,)  Zaca Lake.  Howard Olson, owned one of the largest landscaping companies in Southern California and because of his appreciation for the natural environment, bought Zaca Lake with my father, Bill Williams, in around 1973. 

Here is a picture of Bill Williams, Zaca Lake's new owner, in a moment of quiet contemplation.  Very rare, I can tell you.

  Here is a picture of my father with his four kids.  Me, Bill, Billee, Donna and Preston.  It was like the song, "How are you gonna keep them down on the farm, once they've seen, Broadway."

When Gene Dorney and I first announced our engagement, my father sent us to Zaca Lake for the weekend, to seal the deal.  When we arrived at the lodge, Howard Olson, delivered a bottle of wine, to our table as a congratulations from my father.  He really loved Gene.
 
Gene and I, fell so in love with Zaca, and it's peaceful, romantic environment, we wanted to live in one of the little cabin's and work there for a year.  Gene was even willing to give up his Law Practice, and buy a ranch, in Santa Barbara, where he could grow and sell avocados.  That never happened of course, though I wish it had!

My father and his third, wife Gloria Rosan, were able to relax and get away from the mad pace of their lives at Zaca Lake.  There was so much drama in our lives in those day's, that escaping to a spiritual retreat, was a soul-saving experience, for all of us, to say the least. 

My sister, Donna Williams, with her TR-6, at Zaca Lake, still looks like a Movie Star, even in the rustic, wilderness.
 .

My sister Billee, not the camping type in any way, checks herself out in the mirror, to make sure she had "the look," though surrounded by natural beauty.  I guess we were so addicted to glamour, high stress and drama, it wasn't easy, melting into such peace and quiet.

Gloria, Bill and Billee parked outside one of
the little cabins. 


Romance in the wilderness:  to be continued tomorrow.

Maybelline Mascaraed Eyes in 1917? Not for the "Faint Of Heart!"

One word summed up Preston Williams and that word was Evelyn!  What was it about that woman that kept him fascinated for so many years?

Evelyn and Bunny Boecher, 1912

My grandmother wasn't just another pretty face looking for a meal ticket according to her.  Oh no!  She was not only beautiful, she was talented, tenacious and disciplined as well as a little cunning, competitive and ruthless truth be known.  Fine qualities for a man, but in 1917 not quite what most men wanted in a wife.  Evelyn cut her teeth on excelling and winning.  She constantly sought the attention of her strict German parents and old-world musical and dance teachers who called her a prodigy.

  My grandmother studied the violin from age 4 to 16 and was accepted into  Chicago's Musical College at an early age --- however she hated the idea of spending the rest of her life with an instrument glued to her left shoulder.  She adored Ballet and also studied with the finest teachers.  When it came time to decide her future she begged her parents to allow her to focus on ballet and they agreed only if she and her sister Verona, a talented pianist, and her little sister Bunny a gifted trumpet player, continued to entertain with their little trio at parties in the family ballroom on the third story of their Chicago brownstone.  

Oct 27, 1917 Fred, Evelyn and her sister Verona and Charlie Stroh

Verona and Charlie, with Fred and the fabulous Evelyn, 1917

 All three girls of course agreed but when Evelyn was accepted into The Ballets Russes in 1917, at age 16 she was finally allowed to put down her violin and tour across the country with one of the most influential theatre companies of the 20th century.  Evelyn's natural talent, grace and beauty set her apart from most young women in her generation and she lived in a glamours world of ground-breaking artists, contemporary choreographers, composers and dancers.  She learned to interpret Classical, Neo-Classical, Romantic, Neo-Romantic, Avant-Garde, Expressionist, Abstract, and Orientalist styles of dance while also finishing her high school diploma with a tutor on the road with her.  

I'm sure that when Preston Williams saw Evelyn Boecher with her sister Bunny, walking down the street at the 1922 Memorial Day Parade, he must have said to himself,  Wow what a Woman! 

And don't forget since Evelyn was used to wearing stage makeup she was quite comfortable with her eyes heavily made up with Maybelline while most young girls were still a bit faint of heart being seen in public with heavily mascaraed lashes.   

Evelyn and Preston with my dad, William Preston Williams Jr., 1925

Read more about the fascinating love affair between Evelyn and Preston Williams, in The Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind it.

Caution, don't read before going to bed!  you won't be able to stop turning the pages and may loose sleep!