I thought this sign, from the Paseo Nuevo
plaza on State Street, was amusing!
plaza on State Street, was amusing!
Hi everyone!
I know I'm a couple days late with the Santa Barbara details, sorry about that! And thanks mom, for the loving comment telling me to get a move on (I love you, too!).
I meant to get a post out yesterday, but by the time I hit the road, suffered through mind-blowingly frustrating traffic (I'm telling you now, avoid the I-680 at all costs! 6 lanes of completely gridlocked traffic...the only thing that would have made it worse was if it was 8 lanes!), and finally pulled into my current destination (more on that tomorrow!), I wasn't in the mood to do anymore serious thinking!
Anyway!
Santa Barbara was a lot of fun! When I arrived there the first night I was actually early for my slotted check-in time, but the innkeeper didn't mention it and before long I was settled into my suite and free to spend the rest of the evening exploring! My mom recommended State street, which I guess is what you would call the "main drag" of Santa Barbara. Well, the innkeeper (I can't remember his name already!) suggested it, as well, so I figured that's where I should go!
Now would be a great time to introduce Michelle. Michelle has been with me since the day I left on my road trip, and without her I am certain I would have gotten irretreivably lost by now!
Who is Michelle, you ask??
She's my GPS system!! Well, technically, she's the voice of my GPS system, but still.
My mom was adamant about purchasing "her" for my phone, and boy am I glad she did! I just plug in where I need to go, and Michelle gets me there with almost no problems! We did run into a few oopsie moments, but they were all resolved relatively quickly and forgiven!
Ok, so back to Santa Barbara!
After spending so many hours in the car, I opted to walk to State street, which was only about 3 blocks away. I actually didn't even need Michelle's directives for that, which is good because I was busy catching up with my dad while I walked!
I spent about 2 hours carousing up and down State street, marvelling at how a small town can take perfectly familar stores (like Tuesday Morning) and turn them into complete novelties (hey, I'm a born and raised big-city girl, so small towns are like an entirely new universe!). Along the way I stopped into a cute smoothie place called Blenders in the Grass and indulged in a succulent smoothie called the Red Mango.
By then it was getting a little dark so I decided to head home (well, back to the Inn).
The next morning after I ate this delicious breakfast (provided by the inn, prepared by the owner, who is the innkeeper's wife!):
I set off on my next adventure... Santa Barbara's neighbor-city, Montecito, to view some beautiful paintings done by none other than my mom's manicurist, Gary Babb. Gary paints in his free time, then sells his work to private buyers and popular galleries! He's extremely talented, and always has newer pieces hanging on the walls when my mom or I go to get our nails done. During one of my appointments with him I asked him where some of his CA galleries are, and it turned out that one of them was just a few minutes away from Santa Barbara. Since that fit in nicely with my schedule, I told Gary I would stop by to see some of his other pieces!
Well, I got to Montecito after only one mishap on Michelle's part- she tried to take me through a messy constsruction zone that was not traveler friendly- only to discover that the studio, Portico gallery, had just rotated out Gary's paintings. They had been on display for a few months already, and "it was just time," as the lady who explained it to me said.
Well, boo! I consoled myself by eating lunch at an adorable little cafe called Jeannine's bakery.
The menu turned out to be outrageously more expensive than I expected, but the food was good and I got a free dessert, so I won't complain!
What's that? You want to hear about the free dessert?
Well, good, because it's quite the story!
I am pretty sure that Jeannine's is either a family-owned-and-operated business, or it has just been around so long that everyone there knows everyone else. So I felt a little out of place, but I didn't let that stop me from enjoying my gargantuan cobb salad (from which I had removed the tomatoes, placing them discreetly on my napkin) while eavesdropping on the many animated conversations going on around me. One of the more intriguing conversations was between the girl working behind the counter and a man who continuously insisted that she get him a chocolate chip cookie with coconut in it. No matter how many times she told him she didn't know what he was talking about, he kept asking for it! I was just beginning to wonder when they'd throw him out when the altercation randomly ended and the guy disappeared.
Or so I thought. Imagine my surprise when that very man showed up at my table a short time later, asking me good-naturedly "you don't like tomatoes, huh?"
"Nope," I responded. "I forgot to have them taken off the salad, but that's alright."
I don't really remember how the rest of the converstation went, except that eventually it came back around to those darned chocolate-chip-with-coconut cookies! And then, out of the blue, he said, "I'll treat you to something. It's on me. Would you like to try a coconut chocolate chip cookie? Or how about a macaroon? Have you ever had a macaroon?"
What? Where did that come from? I thought. But I told him I was from Phoenix, "which is south enough, I guess." He asked me again which treat I would like, and I told him I might as well try a macaroon. So he went back over to the counter and told the same poor girl to wrap him up some of those coconut chocolate chip cookies "and a macaroon for that young woman sitting over there." He brought it over then departed, checking back only once to see if I liked the macaroon (I flashed him a thumbs-up sign, since my mouth was full of chewy coconut). He bid me good day as I left the restaurant a few minutes later...I still have no idea if he maybe owned the place, was a relative of someone, or just some looney-but-well-meaning guy!! Either way, it was quite an experience!
After lunch I asked Michelle to take me to the neighborhood my mom lived in many years ago. I drove over but didn't stay long, since there was a fire truck with an occupied gurney on the street and lots of people just kind of wandering around. I headed back to the Inn, where I spent the night watching a movie and packing up.
The next morning (yesterday) I ate my second provided breakfast:
then decided I might as well hit the road sooner rather than later. It turned out to be a good thing I checked out early (10:30, regular check out is at 11) because the innkeeper and I ended up chatting for a good half hour before I finally made it out the door! I was struck by his resemblance to the Jeannine's guy, and not just because of his chatty nature. They both wore khaki board shorts and faded Hawaiian shirts, had curly gray hair (that I bet used to be bleached blonde by sun and salt water), and exuded an overall air of retired-native-Californian-surfer-dude.
Like I mentioned at the beginning of this post, getting to my current location had it's frustrations. I'm generally a stoic person in the face of social adversities, but I'm pretty sure there were a few people wondering how many bees were in my bonnet as I sat impatiently in the gridlocked pre-rush hour traffic (it was only like 3:30!).
I meant to get a post out yesterday, but by the time I hit the road, suffered through mind-blowingly frustrating traffic (I'm telling you now, avoid the I-680 at all costs! 6 lanes of completely gridlocked traffic...the only thing that would have made it worse was if it was 8 lanes!), and finally pulled into my current destination (more on that tomorrow!), I wasn't in the mood to do anymore serious thinking!
Anyway!
Santa Barbara was a lot of fun! When I arrived there the first night I was actually early for my slotted check-in time, but the innkeeper didn't mention it and before long I was settled into my suite and free to spend the rest of the evening exploring! My mom recommended State street, which I guess is what you would call the "main drag" of Santa Barbara. Well, the innkeeper (I can't remember his name already!) suggested it, as well, so I figured that's where I should go!
Now would be a great time to introduce Michelle. Michelle has been with me since the day I left on my road trip, and without her I am certain I would have gotten irretreivably lost by now!
Who is Michelle, you ask??
She's my GPS system!! Well, technically, she's the voice of my GPS system, but still.
My mom was adamant about purchasing "her" for my phone, and boy am I glad she did! I just plug in where I need to go, and Michelle gets me there with almost no problems! We did run into a few oopsie moments, but they were all resolved relatively quickly and forgiven!
Ok, so back to Santa Barbara!
After spending so many hours in the car, I opted to walk to State street, which was only about 3 blocks away. I actually didn't even need Michelle's directives for that, which is good because I was busy catching up with my dad while I walked!
I spent about 2 hours carousing up and down State street, marvelling at how a small town can take perfectly familar stores (like Tuesday Morning) and turn them into complete novelties (hey, I'm a born and raised big-city girl, so small towns are like an entirely new universe!). Along the way I stopped into a cute smoothie place called Blenders in the Grass and indulged in a succulent smoothie called the Red Mango.
By then it was getting a little dark so I decided to head home (well, back to the Inn).
The next morning after I ate this delicious breakfast (provided by the inn, prepared by the owner, who is the innkeeper's wife!):
Well, I got to Montecito after only one mishap on Michelle's part- she tried to take me through a messy constsruction zone that was not traveler friendly- only to discover that the studio, Portico gallery, had just rotated out Gary's paintings. They had been on display for a few months already, and "it was just time," as the lady who explained it to me said.
Well, boo! I consoled myself by eating lunch at an adorable little cafe called Jeannine's bakery.
What's that? You want to hear about the free dessert?
Well, good, because it's quite the story!
I am pretty sure that Jeannine's is either a family-owned-and-operated business, or it has just been around so long that everyone there knows everyone else. So I felt a little out of place, but I didn't let that stop me from enjoying my gargantuan cobb salad (from which I had removed the tomatoes, placing them discreetly on my napkin) while eavesdropping on the many animated conversations going on around me. One of the more intriguing conversations was between the girl working behind the counter and a man who continuously insisted that she get him a chocolate chip cookie with coconut in it. No matter how many times she told him she didn't know what he was talking about, he kept asking for it! I was just beginning to wonder when they'd throw him out when the altercation randomly ended and the guy disappeared.
Or so I thought. Imagine my surprise when that very man showed up at my table a short time later, asking me good-naturedly "you don't like tomatoes, huh?"
"Nope," I responded. "I forgot to have them taken off the salad, but that's alright."
I don't really remember how the rest of the converstation went, except that eventually it came back around to those darned chocolate-chip-with-coconut cookies! And then, out of the blue, he said, "I'll treat you to something. It's on me. Would you like to try a coconut chocolate chip cookie? Or how about a macaroon? Have you ever had a macaroon?"
A macaroon is a chewy cookie made with sugar,
egg whites, and almond paste (or coconut!)
I had no idea what had drawn his attention to me (except my discarded tomatoes!), nor who he was. I admitted that I didn't think I had ever had a macaroon before, and he said something very bizzare in response: "Where are you from, South America or something?"egg whites, and almond paste (or coconut!)
What? Where did that come from? I thought. But I told him I was from Phoenix, "which is south enough, I guess." He asked me again which treat I would like, and I told him I might as well try a macaroon. So he went back over to the counter and told the same poor girl to wrap him up some of those coconut chocolate chip cookies "and a macaroon for that young woman sitting over there." He brought it over then departed, checking back only once to see if I liked the macaroon (I flashed him a thumbs-up sign, since my mouth was full of chewy coconut). He bid me good day as I left the restaurant a few minutes later...I still have no idea if he maybe owned the place, was a relative of someone, or just some looney-but-well-meaning guy!! Either way, it was quite an experience!
After lunch I asked Michelle to take me to the neighborhood my mom lived in many years ago. I drove over but didn't stay long, since there was a fire truck with an occupied gurney on the street and lots of people just kind of wandering around. I headed back to the Inn, where I spent the night watching a movie and packing up.
The next morning (yesterday) I ate my second provided breakfast:
Like I mentioned at the beginning of this post, getting to my current location had it's frustrations. I'm generally a stoic person in the face of social adversities, but I'm pretty sure there were a few people wondering how many bees were in my bonnet as I sat impatiently in the gridlocked pre-rush hour traffic (it was only like 3:30!).
My road trip is really picking up, I'm having a blast! Forgive me if I start to get a little behind, I'll do my best to keep up with myself!!! Tomorrow I'll hopefully find some time to update you about where I've been for the last 48 hours. But tomorrow is another fun-filled day, so I may not get a chance to update until nighttime. And by then I'll be in a new city, so then I'll have to update you on that!
Whew, I'm exhausted already!
More tomorrow, folks!
so glad you are meeting and talking to people. will you hit a local bar like your cousin aaron and chat it up with the patrons? just no going anywhere with any body, ever, from the bar or bakeries or any place else. that's how i ended up married to #2! i just have to know, was my old neighborhood pretty and green but poor and run-down, still? LOVE!
ReplyDeleteWow. What an adventure. It just keeps getting better and better. Thanks for the updates. It sounds very exciting. Brian
ReplyDeleteMore pictures more pictures! Hey, it was great talking to you today. Love you girl!
ReplyDelete