Santa Barbara Getaway, Part 2

We began our first full day of vacation with a hike.  If someone had told me six months ago that I’d be suggesting hiking on a vacation, I would have laughed at them, but suggest I did.  We found a trail online and after breakfast we headed there.  The trail started in a neighborhood that I can honestly say was the cutest, most beautiful neighborhood I’ve ever seen.  I informed Mr. C that I had updated my lotto living to that neighborhood.  We passed houses with shutters, window boxes, and white picket fences. 

The hike was a nice change from the brown surroundings in our AZ hikes.  The trail was next to a creek and we were able to hear the running water most of the time.  There were wildflowers everywhere (and apparently poisonous plants I found out later).

After cleaning up we headed to the closest beach for lunch.  We ate fresh fish on the pier; fish and chips for me and fish tacos for Mr. C.  Both were super good and so fresh.

I prefer to blend in on vacation and being asked if we’re local is one of the most flattering things for me.  One time in Sedona we got a discount at an ice cream shop for being locals.  That was a proud day!  Anyhow, we wanted a beach that wasn’t covered with tourists so Mr. C found the perfect one, Butterfly Beach.  It didn’t have facilities so it was mainly frequented by locals and Four Seasons’ guests.  I napped on the beach, read for awhile, and people watched.  It was a leash-free beach so many people brought their dogs for walks.  I loved watching the dogs run by.  One dog was chasing a bird through the water (the bird was fine) and he looked like he was having the time of his life.  Another dog was playing fetch with his owner and ran up to Mr. C. with his ball.  The dog went on with his owner after a few moments and on his way back he ran over to Mr. C and laid down on his towel, apparently ready for a nap of his own.  Everyone was so friendly and it ended up being the quite beach we had hoped for.

We made it back to the B & B for wine time again and ate a bit before heading out for our walk down State Street.  This time we were early enough to check out some of the shops.  One of them had some very funky, fun things and we wanted to buy everything, but as I mentioned, we have not yet won the lottery.  We both saw a picture we loved and after some intense conversation, we decided to sleep on it.  We have some beautiful pictures in our house but we’ve never bought anything real together (I’m not counting Hobby Lobby canvases as real).  My favorite items in our house are those that remind me of a person, a plac, or a moment so this picture was right up my alley because it represented a couple trips for me.  Mr. C is the practical one of us so he took a bit of convincing and in the end we decided to sleep on it.

We walked around looking for a dinner place and found a cute pizza place that just so happened to be giving out free appetizers for signing up online.  We just so happen to love free things so we gave it a shot.  Dinner was delicious and our meatball appetizers were the best meatballs I’ve ever had.  Because we split everything we weren’t super full.  This came in handy when we passed McConnell's, an ice cream shop.  We got in line and within minutes the line was out the door, easily a 30 minute wait.  I ordered the salted caramel with chocolate and Mr. C got something not as amazing (it wasn’t as amazing because it wasn’t the salted caramel).

Saturday morning we woke up to the smell of something sweet baking.  We were served brioche French toast with a hint of fresh orange.  After breakfast we took a walk around the surrounding neighborhood.  One of my very favorite things to do is look at houses.  If we’re driving in a cute neighborhood I am constantly distracted by the houses.  Don’t even get me started on how amazing it is when the people in those cute houses leave the lights on at night so I can actually see in when I’m driving by.  Maybe it’s the designer in me but I just love checking out other people’s style.  Mr. C participated in the “check out that cute house” game during the walk and we picked out our favorites.  Some had huge roses in the front, others had pretty porches perfect for morning tea, and others looked like they needed a bit of help.  In general the houses were all unique and had so much personality. 

After our leisurely walk we took another long walk to the shop we had been at the night before and there we bought our very first legit piece of art.  It was small and very reasonably priced, however it was a bit more than our usual ½ priced Hobby Lobby picture.  We found out later that the artist was a local and former architect now following his passion.  Although it hasn’t been hung yet, I love it.

We checked out of our hotel and headed to The Old Mission, built in 1786.  The building itself and the surrounding rose garden were beautiful.  I’ve never seen so many unique roses in one place.

We found a local sandwich shop for lunch and sat outside eating a couple of the best sandwiches ever made.

We finished the trip with a quick stop at the beach to listen to the waves for one last time.

The trip was one of my favorites.   We didn’t have many expectations going into the trip and that in itself was pretty great.  We spent most of the trip looking at beautiful things, relaxing, eating, and walking.  If you haven’t had the pleasure of visiting Santa Barbara, I can’t recommend it enough!