We had a great time in Newport Beach week before last.

Daughter Holly, her husband, Bruce, and granddaughters Brooke and Addy drove up from their home in Carlsbad and daughter Toni, her husband, Jason, and grandson Camden drove from Las Vegas to meet us at the timeshare Villa in Newport.

The first order of business was to celebrate Brooke’s and Addy’s birthdays. Brooke turned six on Sept. 15th, while Addy was four on Oct, 11th.

Once we opened presents, it was off to the pool and lunch. The girls were anxious to go swimming.

On Tuesday, Toni met a girlfriend she used to work with in Las Vegas. Her friend now works at the Nieman-Marcus store in the Fashion Island shopping center in Newport. Diane and I walked around the center while Toni and Camden were with her friend.

On Wednesday, Holly came and picked me up and we went back to Carlsbad for the day. Brooke had a dance program at her school that morning. She was surprised to see grandpa sitting among the parents in the audience.

After we left Brooke’s school, Holly gave me a tour of the Carlsbad area that was blackened by the fires early last summer. It is amazing how close to large condo and apartment complexes the fire came. The fire personnel did an outstanding job in that only four houses were lost.

Diane, Toni and the baby came down to Carlsbad in the afternoon. Jason works for Upper Deck, the sports trading card company. We got our pictures taken with the Stanley Cup, which is on tour in California since the L.A. Kings won the National Hockey League title this year.

Thursday evening, we met Holly in Laguna Beach for a beach photo shoot of Toni, Jason and Camden at sunset. After Holly was finished shooting pictures, we had talked about having dinner at some restaurant that offered beach-front dining.

We talked for a little bit about our options. The Hotel Laguna was right behind us. It had the open seating, but we didn’t know anything about the food. We thought we should give it a try.

We weren’t disappointed. While waiting to give the waiter our order, Holly said to me, “That guy at the next table looks familiar. I think I knew him 20 years ago in New York.”

His name suddenly came to her, Tony Walton, and she Googled it to see if there was a picture.

The gentleman certainly looked like the image that came up.

“I remember he had an English accent,” Holly said. Toni listened to him and, sure enough, the man spoke with an English accent.

Holly went up to him and asked, “Are you Tony Walton? I think I knew you many years ago in New York City.

He confirmed he was Tony and, yes, he still lives in New York City. Holly told him she was one of the chorus girls in “The Will Rogers Follies.” It was her first Broadway show and began a dance career that would last 15 years.

Walton was the art director and designed the sets for the Follies. He also was affiliated w

ith the third show she did, “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.”

He was also the artistic director of the show and designed the grape costume she wore. That costume attracted the attention of President Bill Clinton. A photo of Holly and the president was one of the Top 10 photos of the year for the Associated Press.

In the photo, the president is backstage and is looking where he shouldn’t, admiring Holly‘s grapes.