Jalama Burgers For The Win

The Helicopter Squadron from Vandenberg Airforce Base has 'flown out' for Jalama Burgers. Oh, they just hop in the ol' helicopter and fly down the hill to the Jalama Beach Store, drop down the rope ladder so a couple of airmen can climb down, run across the stream, and pick up the burger order. No problem!

I'm not making this up, I've seen it happen! It shouldn't have been such a surprise though, our family has driven 3 hours for the same burger! It's THAT good!

Eating a Jalama Burger has always been so much more than a meal for our family, it's mostly about the entire experience of planning the trip. If we're planning a full on camping trip, we can spend months preparing - mentally and practically. Day trips are typically more spontaneous but we still spend 2 to 3 days preparing. It's a dog friendly place, so of course we plan on bringing along Scout and his basic needs (water bowl & what we call 'little scouties' - trash bags). We like to leave early in the morning, make one regular stop along the way, and after arriving we like to walk along the beach to really work up our appetites. Then it's time to place our orders!

This last Monday was no different than any other day trip we'd taken to Jalama Beach, other than the tide was the highest I'd ever seen it, and as we entered the Store and approached the counter, the proprietor smiled and said "You're Patti", and looking at Shannon said "and you must be Shannon". He had been expecting us!

About two years ago Shannon was sitting at the computer and decided to create a Facebook Group Site called: Jalama Burger Fans - it had a fairly slow beginning, but when our neighbor down the street joined the group it really took off - you see, he grew up very close to this beloved campground, and actually went to school with the store owner. The group site is not quite two years old and we've got 537 fans and counting - and we know there are more fans out there!!

A few weeks ago Shannon posted on the group wall that she was craving a Jalama Burger, a couple of days later she discovered that Mike Eittreim, the Store Owner, had posted an invitation for her to come and make her own!! You should have seen the three of us trying to figure out the soonest possible time we could go and coordinate our trip in between weather systems! We laughed at ourselves, but hey... they're really GREAT burgers!!

Mike was very nice and made good on his offer to let Shannon make her own burger (and she made ours as well!) I took a bunch of pictures while the two "burger masters" showed Shannon the ropes. She enjoyed herself a little bit too much - hmmm maybe a summer job?? Oh yeah!! She did a masterful job because they tasted just as wonderful as ever!

It was a once in a lifetime experience - THANKS MIKE! and we want to give a shout out to Mike's mother, Kathleen Eittreim, she is the inventor of the Jalama Burger - KATHLEEN, GOD BLESS YOU!!