Santa Barbara Trip

For us, 2007 was a great year as far as travel goes and we ended the year with another good trip. With our regular travel companions Sundar & family, we went down to Santa Barbara for a relaxing 3-day trip right after Christmas.

As on our trip to Solvang in 2006, we drove to Santa Barabara on Highway 1. This time we stopped at Point Lobos State park. Like most of the parks along 1, this one too offers spectacular views of the ocean with the waves crashing against the rocks. We took the short Bird Island hike that gave us a good view of Bird Island that true to its name, served as the resting place for a large number of birds. We also took the stairs down to China Cove, a beautiful small beach that we had all to ourselves. We drove straight to Santa Barbara from there.

Since the next day was rather cloudy, we started the day with a trip to the Mission. This Mission, established in 1786, was even older than Mission Santa Ines, which we visited last year. But otherwise, it was pretty similar to the other mission in terms of its history and old artifacts. We then went to the Botanical gardens, which was a few minutes away. It was a pretty large garden with a large variety of plants and a number of walking paths but since it was winter, it was pretty green all around with barely a flower in sight. So it turned out to be a good walk but not much more than that. After lunch, we went to downtown Santa Barbara, where we visited the Courthouse and spent some time walking around.

The next day was bright and sunny. In other words, perfect beach weather. So we went to the wharf after a quick stop at a play area right by the sea. We took a cute little half-hour long pirate cruise that gave us looks at a group of sea otters and a much larger group of pelicans. The kids were even more thrilled by the fact that they got to be ship captains and pilot the ship! After lunch at an Indian restaurant, we headed back. We stayed the night at Pismo Beach, the place that stole our heart after our stop there last year, at a beachside hotel that had a gorgeous view of the ocean from the room's deck.

The next morning we walked down to the beach and spent the whole morning there, letting the kids play in the sand while we enjoyed the sun and the view. After checking out of the hotel, we headed back home.

A few photos from the trip can be seen here.