Day 2 and 3 in Santa Barbara

August 22nd, 2009

missionsb

The mission in Santa Barbara. As beautiful as the architecture is, the rose gardens and the rolling front lawn were my favorite (and my moms puppy Bella’s favorite) of the area.

clocktower

The clock tower in downtown was magnificent. 360 degree views of Santa Barbara, but not for those afraid of heights…

After walking through all the stores downtown State St. (surprisingly I didn’t buy a thing!) we went to Arigato’s (thanks to a recommendation from @LarryBroughton). The sushi and sake with both incredible, if you are in Santa Barbara it is a must stop. We had a mixed sushi sampler, halibut carpaccio, and Wakatake sake (daiginjo and delicious!), oh and being able to sit on the patio with our puppy made it perfect.

Today (forgot the camera!), we decided to take it easy and had a leisurely morning drinking coffee and catching up with a family friend who lives in Carpinteria. The weather was a little overcast, and so we were really in no hurry to hit the town. Around 12:30, we finally headed out and went to an Italian pottery outlet, where it was really difficult to not buy and entire wine goblet set….but the price tag and knowing what my hubby would have said, stopped me. We then headed out to the wharf for some incredible calamari and clam chowder in a bread bowl at the Santa Barbara Seafood Company, and wouldn’t you know it, the sun deided to come out just as we sat down! After lunch, we picked up some fresh fruit and cheeses to go with the bottle of Gainey Chardonnay we picked up during wine tasting on Thursday, for dinner tonight, and then wandered a bit down Shoreline to enjoy the sun. Now, we are relaxing and catching up on emails before opening the bottle and starting our evening.

TOmorrow, we head back to Solvang to get the aebelskivers we missed out on, and to wander around a local bookstore we found. I am a sucker for old books (and real bookstores…I can’t stand the chains), and am hoping to find a couple romance novels to get me re-inspired to start writing again. The boys will be back around dinner time, and Steve and I will be ready to head back to reality (and work) Monday morning.