We headed to Santa Barbara in Southern California in the middle of winter to soak up some sun and enjoy 80 degree weather.
Santa Barbara was beautiful, both at the ocean, and in the hills above the city.
After walking along the Stearns Wharf, the beach, and shopping in town, we enjoyed a break for ice cream at McConnell’s. Definitely worth the stop!
As we made our way into the hills, we stopped by the beautiful Santa Barbara Mission. Notice how clear the sky is.
We visited the Santa Barbara Botanical Gardens, which has showcased native Califirnia plants since 1925. Here, you can walk through beautful gardens from poppy fields to redwoods. The gardens are also dog-friendly, and Lucy really enjoyed the walk.
On the way back to our RV park in Buellton, we stopped along the coast to enjoy the view. Notive how clear the air is. The Channel Islands seemed so close you could swim there.
The railroad was doing a lot of work on the tracks, apparently replacing the railroad ties. Lots os specialized equipment.
Back in Buellton, we enjoyed dinner at Industrial Eats. It caters to millenials, but we enjoy the quirky atmosphere and good pizza!
In the evening, our RV reort, Flying Flags, had a country western band playing in the field near the restaurant, but we found a fire pit on the other side of the building and had it all to ourselves.
The next day we drove to Solvang for pastries and coffee.
Of course, we needed to walk-off all the calories, so we found a good trail just outside of Solvang that leads to Santa Ines Mission.
We had a winderful time in Santa Barbara, Buellton, and Solvang. Lucy, as you can see, developed a bit of an attitude (jk, she’s a very sweet dog 🙂
Al &Deb
p.s. Our thoughts and prayers were with the people of Montecito who were still digging out from the terrible mudslides that had hit the week before. Highway 101 was closed at the southern end of Santa Barbara and parts of it were under 12 feet of mud and water.
Worth going out to Channel Islands National Park. The Galapagos Islands of USA.
I would LOVE to visit there! Maybe on our next trip if they have day trips to the islands.
eeltinge, I just checked the website, and day trips by boat are very reasonable. It’s on my list for our next trip!
I’ve camped and sea kayaked there for 3 days. There are about 140 flora and fauna only found there. Like the Galapagos.
Amazing! Thanks for the recommendation!