Final Week - Santa Barbara❤️

My first time in Santa Barbara and I loved it! So beautiful sandwiched in between the ocean and the mountains. In one day you can do both - and we did! I estimate it is about a three and a half hour drive from Newport Beach - a two hour drive north of LA depending on traffic. Deidre and I had rented an AirBNB there, but couldn’t check in till 3PM so decided to stop for lunch in Ventura on the way. It was a pretty sunny day so we had lunch right on the wharf at a local restaurant recommended to us called Brophy Bros. We had great clam chowder and salads and then decided to walk out to the beach. Have you heard of the Channel Islands? I had not, so was blown away by what I learned post lunch. There are eight islands off the coast of Southern California and they are part of our National Park system. Four are quite close to Ventura and Santa Barbara and the other 4 further south. We stumbled into the information building right off the Ventura wharf and saw an awesome 25 minute movie about them narrated by Kevin Costner. You can watch it from their website and it’s fascinating. Uninhabited now, but considered to be the US version of the Galápagos Islands as far as animals and plants. You can take a boat out and visit for the day or even take camping gear and spend the night, but all need reservations made in advance. Once there you can hike and even rent kayaks and explore caves. I have added this to my list of things to definitely do on my next trip to the area.

We made it to our AirBNB and it was definitely high up in the mountains. An awesome view but quite the windy road to get there. Poor Deidre in the passenger seat! The hotels in Santa Barbara are quite pricey even in this what is considered off season - and there are restrictions on AirBNB’s closer to downtown and the water so we knew we would be about a 10 to 15 minute drive from downtown. It was great as it was super quiet and quite a view at sunrise of the ocean.

The day was perfect until we got into Santa Barbara and then it got overcast and started to sprinkle. What to do that first night in the rain? Go see a play! The University of CA Santa Barbara has a great theater department and Deidre found a play called She Wolf that had just opened. We called to get tickets but they said they were sold out but if we came early they would try to get us in. So we did…and they did! We got to see a bit of the campus as we drove around trying to figure out where to park and it looked like a great place to go to school. The play was very interesting. A modern twist on Queen Margaret. Who says I can’t be spontaneous?😂

We had three full days in SB so our plan was to spend the first day in the downtown area seeing all the history and gorgeous architecture, trying some of the famous area wine and getting some delicious food. We accomplished all our goals. You can take what is called the Red Tile Walking Tour (self guided) by either down loading it or picking up a map in the Tourist Office in the Court House where the tour originates, or down closer to the wharf at the TI in the Funk Zone. We picked up a paper copy at the Court House, and if you only see one thing in SB it should be the Court House. Spectacular! We spent at least an hour there as there is so much to see. And you can go up in the tower and see the area in all four directions. They have free guided tours twice a day but we missed the 10AM one so just explored on our own.

Another great thing about the walking tour is that it takes you through the whole downtown so whenever you’re hungry there are plenty of places to eat. Bakeries always call my name loudly so when we walked by Andersen Restaurant and Bakery I just had to stop. We got chicken vegetable soup and shared a veggie sandwich so that we would have room for dessert. So many delicious options! Such a cute place and the people working there were lovely. In fact they gave us a dessert to share! That’s a pic of me so happy because I’m eating something sweet!

We took our time on the tour stopping at various cute shops that looked interesting or fun in between seeing the historic buildings. The SB Historical Museum was worth a good look and it’s free so we enjoyed seeing the various exhibits giving us some great information about the early years and the people that were integral to Santa Barbara becoming the beautiful town it is.

Now what about all that wine we’ve been hearing so much about? Head to the Funk Zone! That’s just one of the areas downtown where you have many choices to taste the local wines. We decided the SB Wine Collective looked good so decided to each try a wine flight. I like whites and Deidre likes reds. We were helped by a very knowledgeable bartender and each got to try 4 wines. Then we discussed which ones we liked best and even which labels and names were our favorites. Very fun.

Now for dinner. We had read about a place called The Lark so gave it a try. Wonderful! Definitely so memorable. Everything is meant to share which was perfect for us. A friend of Deidre’s was meeting us so we ordered a few things knowing if we needed more food we could just order more. I did a terrible job of snapping food pics - actually didn’t take any so you’ll just have to trust me that it was great. A kale salad, brussel sprouts, pimento toast and Italian doughnuts for dessert. They were way fancier than my humble description but all so delicious. Inside they have big community tables so great for a group. We sat outside and it was a lovely patio with flowers and lots of heat lamps and fire pits. Number one on my list when I return. We didn’t have a reservation but got there fairly early and they seated us but during a busier time I would recommend a reservation for sure.

Day Two. The plan was to head out and drive through the wine country and stop at a few of the darling towns just 45 minutes from Santa Barbara. First stop was Solvang which if you woke up there you might think you had been transported while you slept to Denmark. So adorable and so many amazing bakeries! They even have a windmill. I twisted Deidre’s arm to make a stop for coffee and a pastry. The pastries were big so we shared one. I wish I had one right now!

We decided to head to Los Olivos which was just 5 miles away and seemed from our research to be great also. We were not disappointed. Totally different than Solvang - quite a bit smaller and more artsy and has 30 wine tasting spots! 30! It was hard to decide since they all looked great so we basically just finally stopped and said this one. Ended up with wine from Larner and split a sandwich from Panini next door. Done!

We found Deidre’s favorite wine AND label from the wine flight the night before so here she is pointing to it.

Things we didn’t know. Michael Jackson’s Neverland Castle is just 5 miles from Los Olivos. I guess I just assumed it was closer to LA. A woman in a store in Solvang told us we should go there so we thought since we are so close why not? Well we went so you don’t have to. All you can see is the gate and there is a guard so they don’t let you park in the drive. But he was nice and said we could park on the road and take pictures. I assume someone else owns it now. So here you go! The gate to Neverland. People write on the stones and leave messages for Michael. We did not. RIP MJ💙I did like his music.

Is that enough for one day? Not even close! We headed back to Santa Barbara to visit the Art Museum. It’s open from 5-8PM on Thursday nights and it’s free. On the first Thursday of the month it’s really special and they have live music and entertainment. It pays to do some research. So we headed there and while it’s not a large museum it has some interesting pieces and a decent European collection for a small museum. And the live music was wonderful.

For dinner we decided to try La Super-Rica Taqueria. Reason being in the 7 travel books I read to get ideas for SB every single book recommended this restaurant. How could they all be wrong? And Deidre’s friend mentioned it as well as a legendary spot to be sure and try. So we did. First of all bring cash. They don’t take credit cards, and it’s not fancy. In fact I’m pretty sure it’s exactly the same as it was decades ago. Order at the window and they will call your number for pickup when it’s ready. Not a huge place to sit and eat and most people getting it to go. We deliberated over what to order and ended up ordering a beef taco, a marinated pork taco, a chicken breast with cheese on a tortilla and a side of rice and took it home and shared it all. The entire bill with tip was $17. It was very good. Not Lark good but still worth a stop. You don’t want to be the person who goes to Santa Barbara and doesn’t eat there right?

Now that was Day Two - on to Day Three. On our agenda - hiking, and everything else we hadn’t had a chance to do. You might have heard there was a lot of rain in CA in January. Emphasis on A LOT! We definitely could see evidence of many of the mudslides as we drove up to our place on the mountain, so many hiking trails are technically closed. The rule is kind of if there are no other cars parked at the trailhead you shouldn’t hike but if there are cars then go ahead and try it. The worst is that it will be muddy and you might have to turn around. We wanted to hike at Rattlesnake Canyon and the hiking sites said it was closed but when we got there we saw lots of cars so decided to give it a try. It was challenging but we took our time crossing the streams and getting through some mud on the climbs. Some really amazing views if you remember to look up frequently and enjoy where you are! We got really close to the end where you can either pull out the gear you brought to rock climb - or turn around and go back down. The majority of people we saw hiking had their gear with them and we definitely did not so when we got really close to the end and our choice was leap like a gazelle across the stones at the top of the waterfall to cross it and continue or turn around and go back we decided to use our heads and retreat. I have no regrets and I lived to write about it. Winning!

We hadn’t made it out to Stearns Wharf yet - so drove back downtown, parked and walked out on it. It’s a cool wharf and quite historic built originally in 1872 and the longest deep-water wharf between San Francisco and San Pedro. It is the oldest working wood wharf in California, and has a couple of restaurants, tourist shops, and a marine museum. We almost made a big mistake and ate on the wharf - but when we sat down at a restaurant that shall remain nameless the good samaritans sitting next to us said leave while you can - the food is terrible here! We looked around and noticed quite a bit of food left on tables almost untouched so we discreetly left and walked off the wharf and headed back into town. I’m sure not all the restaurants are bad, we just probably picked the wrong day for this place. We were craving one last meal of fish tacos and saw a cute place called Finney’s Crafthouse and Kitchen and decided to give it a try. It was great! Really delicious fish tacos and a chicken quesadilla that we shared.

We spent our last couple of daylight hours driving down the Main Street in Montecito, which is really part of Santa Barbara so very close, and walking down Butterfly Beach which is right across from the Biltmore Hotel and definitely is the nicest beach in Santa Barbara. I had read it was the best beach sunset in the area so that’s what we were hoping. Here you go!

Last meal was at a cute little wine bar back in downtown SB called Appertivo close to the Funk Zone. Just a nice glass of wine each and we shared a salad and pasta - perfect! Very tiny place but really great people.

We had an excellent time in Santa Barbara. Still lots of things to go back to do, see and eat. Thanks for being a great travel partner Deidre! I will be back!