We just noticed something: It’s hot outside! So hot, in fact, that we at Various Things & Stuff are heading to beautiful Southern California for a summer respite. Don’t worry, we won’t be abandoning you for long. New blogs will be back Monday, Tuesday at the latest.

In the meantime, our agenda includes, in no particular order, the delicious hand-crafted India Pale Ale made exclusively by the Steelhead Brewing Co. outlet in Irvine, Calif.; the even-more-delicious hand-crafted cigars in our travel humidor (whose origin, we’re afraid, must remain classified); the sumptuous delights of the Crab Cooker in Newport Beach, Calif., more beer, a side trip to the  soon-to-close Acres of Books in Long Beach, Calif., and of course the best little beach in all of North or South America, the one called “Huntington.”

See you all when we return!