Santa Barbara | Getting There

The last time we went to Santa Barbara was in March 2010, to celebrate a milestone birthday for me.  Todd planned the whole trip.  The only thing I knew was that we were going to Santa Barbara.  Imagine my surprise when we pulled up at the Four Seasons Biltmore resort.  You can read more about our last Santa Barbara trip here, here, here, and here.  And just as a side note, I love to blog about trips in great detail, because blogging is my main form of memory-keeping, and when I go back to read memorable trips, I want to feel like I’m re-living it all.  It brings a huge smile on my face to reminisce about past adventures.  :) 

We left around noon on Sunday.  We meant to leave a little bit earlier, but packing (or lack thereof the night before) got in the way of leaving on time.  And Noodle climbed into our bag.

Cat in a bag?  Always funny.

We encountered some traffic in the OC.  Then more traffic on the 101 up in LA.  More traffic in the Valley and up to Ventura.  Traffic cost us about an hour, so what was usually a four hour trip turned into five hours.  But as we approached Santa Barbara, we couldn’t help but admire the view from the 101.


Todd researched on Yelp and decided on Lavender Inn By The Sea.  Except that he was under the impression that it was right off of State Street.  It’s about a one mile walk to the main part of State Street.  No matter.  The weather was gorgeous and we were in Santa Barbara, the American Riviera!


The Lavender Inn was quite charming.


Soon after checking in, we walked towards the Harbor for dinner.  We were hungry!


The harbor was beautiful.  The sky was unbelievably blue and the air so clean.


We decided to go to Brophy Bros for dinner.  The upstairs dining area had a 45 minute wait for a table for two, so we decided to go downstairs to the bar.


It turned out to be a good choice, since right outside the door to our right was the view of the harbor.


Fish & Chips for Todd.  This was really good!


We shared the blackened chicken salad. 


And I also had the fried calamari, which was delish!  Brophy Bros was definitely a good choice.


We asked this drunk girl to take our photo.


After dinner we walked around the harbor.  It was so picturesque. 






One of my favorite things about Santa Barbara is how close the mountains are to the ocean.  It really adds to the beauty of the place.


View from the dock back to the restaurants.


Right about now I wish I had put my sunglasses on, because it was so bright!


We walked to the end of the harbor, with a view of the beach and ocean.  So pretty and serene.








We went back to our room to rest for about half an hour.  Then we walked over to the main drag, State Street. 


State Street is where all the action is.  Tons of shopping and restaurants.


And pretty architecture.


And beautifully lit as the sun went down.


Complimentary champagne from the hotel.  We toasted to arriving at one of our favorite getaways, and to almost 18 years of marriage!


Stay tuned for Santa Barbara day 2!