Santa Barbara, CA

I'm in love.

I fell in love with the Spanish-influenced town of Santa Barbara. Leo and I spent New Year's weekend there. It sits between the ocean and the mountains, the perfect setting for amazing views no matter where you are. We were spoiled with tours that finally allowed me to appreciate history, which is a subject I've always detested. I want to go back already, hopefully in August when the city celebrates with flamenco and folklórico dancers on the steps of the Mission. I will not fail to mention that Leo was the perfect boyfriend, too. He opened doors, walked on the street side of the curb, and held my hand like it was our second date in 2001. I'm going to try to recreate my wonderful time in Santa Barbara here so I can relive it over and over again until I return.

Our trip started on Saturday. The two-and-a-half hour drive was partly wet, partly sunny and always cold. The first stop was the cheapy hotel we booked in Santa Barbara to unload our stuff before we headed to the much talked about Danish town of Solvang another 40 minutes away. 

Mountains on one side...

...ocean on the other.

(This one is for you, Nacho and Sophia)

I did not know that Solvang was on the other side of a mountain. I wasn't too worried about the rain that fell during the first half of the drive there but I asked Leo to turn back when I saw patches of snow on the side of the road. I thought the raindrops falling on the windshield were going to turn into snowflakes any minute. But Leo kept a steady hand on the wheel and asked me if I trusted him. I did. He was excited to see more snow but it never fell. Instead, the sky cleared up as we started to descend which was perfect for our Solvang stroll. 

We walked around looking for a restaurant Leo had liked online. But as we passed others, he started checking their menus. That's when The Red Viking caught our eye. While Leo had an Italian place in mind because he knows how much I love me some pasta, I thought we should have something more authentic to the city's influences. The packed place convinced Leo it was a good eatery so we went inside. We were seated right away and that's when I heard the first foreign language being spoken that weekend. Italian? I couldn't tell. If it's not French or Spanish, I can't identify it. We passed on the buffet and I ordered the most delicious lemon herb chicken and even ate the veggies (with the exception of the cauliflower). Leo got something that resembled the appendages of a male's private parts. 

We skipped dessert at The Red Viking because Leo wanted to get a danish from one of the local bakeries. And we were in luck. The one across the street from the parking lot we had parked at was about to close. Leo got what he wanted and I ordered a cookie composed of two crushed almond crackers with honey dipped in chocolate with cream in the middle. It was delicious.  

Since most of the stores were already closed, we had no choice but to head back to our hotel. We watched part of a movie before turning the TV off because we had a walking tour of Santa Barbara scheduled at 10am the next morning and couldn't afford to sleep late. 

After the tastiest continental breakfast out of all three hotels-- Frosted Flakes, Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwiches, hard-boiled eggs, fruit cups--we met our tour guide in front of the Santa Barbara Public Library. He was a local architect and this made him much more knowledgeable because he had worked on several of the buildings we saw over the course of his career. Although probably in his 60's, the man could've been around since the mid to late 1800's because he described Santa Barbara pre and post the 1925 earthquake as if he'd witnessed the fall and rise of the city himself.

This used to be the main entrance to the library

Close-up: That's Plato and Aristotle and each shield represents the four major libraries in the world at the time. (I didn't have a recorder so I don't remember all the details). Mr. Architect said that there are snake-like things behind the statues to keep birds from standing on them.

This was the Liberty Building. The three chains that used to be there represented truth, love, and friendship.

The Granada was one of the few buildings that didn't suffer massive damage during the 1925 quake. It was renovated and reopened about 5 years ago.

Hey! I know those flags. This is one of the entrances to El Paseo, an open mall where we had lunch after the tour.

Arlington Theater

Painting on the inside of the Arlington Theater. 

I'm going to see these kinds of dances at the Mission someday.

We passed by this Catholic church during our tour. I thought it was pretty. We tried going inside twice but it was closed. 

After the tour, we walked through El Paseo on State St. searching for a place to eat. Leo thought it was funny the way I pointed out the Spanish-inflenced iron rails on balconies, arches, concrete that was made to look like wood on buildings, and concrete that was made to appear as brick on the sidewalks like our tour guide had done during our walk. I told you, I learned a lot.

We finished lunch early, about 30 minutes before the 2pm tour of the court house Mr. Architect had recommended. Leo read great reviews about the historical site online so we decided to check it out on our own before we met with the next middle-aged tour guide. 

We learned later during the tour that the lock on the gate is on the outside. 

Ten minutes to the hour, we went inside the court house. The man at the front desk said we had time to climb up the clock tower. We followed orders. 

The climb

Clock history and mechanics

View from the top. 

Along with the iron rail and rooftops, my last name might also be of Spanish influences.

There was a wedding taking place in the garden. It was freezing. The bride looked older. My first instinct was that this was not her first wedding. Then I told myself not to judge because I too might marry with a few wrinkles on my face.

We looked at our watches and it was five minutes past the touring time. We ran down the stairs and sat inside the oldest court room in the building for another hour of learning. 

Tour man got to stand behind the rope.

Lo que todos deseamos. 

The Spanish arriving in Santa Barbara.

Ceiling

Spiral staircase

Seal at the bottom of the staircase

Main entrace

After seeing the courthouse, Leo and I headed to the Museum of Art. But we were tired and cold. We went through the show rooms fairly quickly and then I dragged him to the store outside to get some souvenirs. Thinking about our beach-front hotel room for the night is what kept us going.

Our view. It was gorgeous!

After we took in the view and closed our mouths, we got ready for dinner. We wanted to go to the pier which was about a mile away but 1) we had a good spot on the street that we didn't want to lose (didn't want to deal with valet) and 2) if we drove that meant we couldn't really drink. Leo considered calling a taxi but the fees were not worth the travel. We found Bistro 1111 at the Hyatt next door and walked right over instead.

I loooved getting ready in the built-in vanity. I need to make sure my future house comes with one of these.

I had wheat spaghetti bolognese but I can't remember what Leo got. We each ordered a holiday specialty drink and then switched them for what the other got because we didn't like our own. We splurged on a delectable gelato trio and walked back to our hotel. We changed into our pajamas and sat for a while on the balcony under a blanket. We drank from the bottle of Stella Rosa my friend Maria gave me, Ferrero Rocher chocolates, chocolates with shots of alcohol (also from Maria, I think she had a plan), and cheese and crackers as we listened to and watched the waves crashing. It was wonderful.

On Monday morning, we fueled up at continental breakfast #2. There was a sign-in sheet but it was pretty blank compared to all the foreigners grubbing by the large windows overlooking the Pacific. When we finished we headed to the pier. 

There were different test-your-luck games on the sand as we walked on the pier.  This one was the funniest.

I couldn't believe there wasn't a fence! 

11 years to the date we went on our second date to Santa Monica Pier. Now, we were in a different Santa.

And finally, we drove to Mission Santa Barbara where I fell in love with its history. 

You can clearly see the ocean from the Mission.

El nacimiento

Three adobe missions were built before this one. 

I've never taken so many pictures of myself on a trip. 

Detail at the top of the Mission.

This corridor was dark but my flash captured what we thought to be the friars' quarters.

Virgen de Guadalupe at the entrance. Was it wrong that I asked for a favor as I slipped two dollars in the donation box?

The Sacred Garden

Another Virgen inside the Video Room where I learned the entire history of the Mission.

This one is for my mom who likes to care for (and eat) cactus, or is it cacti?

An ox cart.

Beautiful cross inside the mausoleum

I wondered what was behind that rotting door in the cemetery.

I found this angel hiding in the garden.

The church. It's still active today. "Imbedded in the floor are stone plaques which mark the crypt room where early missionaries and laymen are buried beneath the church."

A church is not a Catholic church to me without my patroness.

So life-like, St. Clare of Assisi.

My visit to Santa Barbara was complete after visiting the Mission. I could've driven home happily after our self-guided tour but it was New Year's Eve. We had to prepare to ring in 2013. We checked into the Santa Barbara Inn on State St. and started calling different places to compare dinner prices and entertainment. We settled on The Sandbar across the street. Margaritas plus a four-course meal and a bottle of champagne for the low, low price of $39 per person PLUS dancing? Uh, yeah. That was the perfect spot for us.

When we told the valet guy the next morning where we'd celebrated, he said we had gone to the "wild" place.

It wasn't crazy yet. 

Yummy. 

Before the bottle of champagne: I told Leo we couldn't get up until we finished it.

After 3 glasses of champagne each. 

Leo and I started 2013 with a hearty and delicious breakfast from Esau's Cafe. He ordered a biscuit sandwich and I got chilaquiles, with were pretty enchilosos. Unfortunately, because it was New Year's Day, a lot of places were closed, including our next stop, El Presidio State Historic Park. I have no history lesson to share about this site but that's okay because it'll serve as an incentive to return sooner than later.  

Since I already started the year off right, 2013 is only going to get better. I hope we are all filled with joy, health, and love this year. Let's do this!

(Maria, this one's for you: he does exist.)