There are two types of people in this world. Those who are Irish and those who wish they were.
by Rich Manning

My father uttered these words at my wedding reception, right before reading The Traditional Irish Blessing to me, my newly minted wife, and our 175 guests. And you know what? He’s absolutely right. If he was not, I seriously doubt that an unofficial holiday like St. Patrick’s Day would exist. After all, the crux of that arrogant sounding statement does lead thousands of Orange County residents to annually clamor around local watering holes with names seemingly ripped from a Dublin phone book, eager to celebrate Irish culture by downing copious amounts of green beer and pinching non-conformists. You just don’t get the same kind of vibe with, say, Norway and the Norwegians. And no offense, but that’s probably a good thing, simply because the proposition of celebrating St. Olaf’s Day with a heaping helping of lutefisk does not exactly roll my socks up and down... Read More

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Ten Things You Didn't Know About Guinness Beer.

This March 17th, millions of pints of Guinness will be lifted to millions of lips in tribute to St. Patrick. How much do you really know about the most popular beer from the Emerald Isle? You know that it's dark, it's delicious, and most importantly: it's Irish. But what else? This St. Patrick's Day, enchant the bar with some fascinating facts that are so entertaining, they can only come from the land with the gift of the Blarney.

#1) There really was a Guinness. .
Unlike so many American beers (sorry, there is no Meister Budweiser, Mr. Pabst, or Sir Red Dog), Guinness is named for an actual man. Arthur Guinness was born in Celdridge County in Kildare, Ireland in 1725....Read More

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Dining By Sunset
By Rich Manning

It’s no secret that the sunset is one of the best ways to capture the essence of why Orange County is such an entrancing place to live and play. All one needs to do is take a look at the postcard kiosk in any local convenience or souvenir shop, and you will see a pictorial overflow of the county skyline bursting with red, orange, yellow and purple hues, just waiting to make non-residents jealous. And since the sun conveniently goes down in OC right around the block of time reserved for dinner, sundown can be an even more decadent pleasure than what these ready-to-mail photos convey. This is especially true in these summer months, when the early evening weather usually conspires with the end of the elongated days to add up to utter perfection. With that in mind, we have compiled a list of the best places in Orange County for you to take advantage of the season by getting your food and/or drink on as day begrudgingly gives way to night....Read More

By Rich Manning

Whenever I find myself in a local bookstore, I invariably gravitate toward the few shelves devoted to local history, sites, and other random miscellany. Most of the time, I will merely rifle through a healthy chunk of them, in search of cool factoids or data about Orange County, although I have been known to purchase the occasional tome when I suffer from a momentary lapse of frugality. And more often than not, it turns out being an exercise in futility, as the vast majority of these books will reference Disneyland and the San Juan Capistrano mission in passing before concentrating on more important, LA-centric stuff, like the place on Melrose where Tom Hanks once ordered a hot dog. Now, I realize the genesis of that way of thinking is due to Los Angeles County containing more glitzy intrigue than anywhere else in the nation, but it does leave me with the suspicion that lots of people just assume that the OC has a rather milquetoast chronology, especially since seemingly half of the county’s cities incorporated in the 1950s. However, the act of simply turning a blind eye toward Orange County history is a most unfortunate one, because the people that unwittingly plead ignorance are missing out on a lot of really cool stuff. Forgive me if I sound like the 9th grade history teacher that you fell asleep on, but Orange County truly does provide a rich mosaic of goodness from days of yore which serve as crucial reference points as to how and why this region operates the way it does, which ultimately makes them worth checking out.... Read More >>