Travel Diary: Santa Barbara

Before school started, we took a little family trip to California to visit Andrew. We explored LA when we visited him last fall, so this time we decided to head, just a bit further north, up the coast to Santa Barbara. It was wonderful to spend time together as a family of four again, enjoy the spectacular weather (best we’ve ever had on any vacation), eat incredible food, discover new towns, bike along the coast, take long sunset walks, stop at all the delicious farmer’s markets and spend every possible minute outside. Before we left I did a little crowd sourcing on IG and received SO MANY recommendations for this area that I promised to share when we got back. We spent time in Santa Barbara, Montecito, Summerland and Solvang. Here is the list, denoting our favorites…

State Street Farmer’s Market, Santa Barbara

S U M M E R L A N D

Summerland is basically one street full of little shops, boutiques, and restaurants. Easy to park and spend a couple hours and see it all. We went twice because Field and Fort is so good!

SHOPPING

The Wells - there are multiple locations, but the one in Summerland is not to be missed - antiques, garden and home

Godmothers - very chic bookstore

Porch - home goods and clothing

Botanik - home goods and gifts

Antique Collective - antique mall

Field and Fort - shop and resturant. Shop is beautifully curated! Great spot to get gifts for people back home.

EATING

Field & Fort - AMAZING food! We ate here twice. Apparently missed Cameron Diaz by a day. It’s a lot of locals. Beautiful outdoor patio area. Loved it here! Perfect for breakfast, brunch or lunch. Longer wait time on weekends.

M O T E C I T O

Montecito was my favorite of the towns we visited and where we spent the most time. It’s divided into an upper and lower village, each with its own shopping area and restaurants.

SHOPPING

The Montecito Country Mart - boutiques, clothing (Doen, Claire V), home shop (Emily Joubert)

Montecito Village Shopping Center (upper village)

Rooms and Gardens - one of my favorite home stores ever! Not to miss!

Pierre La Fond Upstairs

William Layman - antiques

Country Home Antiques

Jenni Kayne Home

The Post - Shopping area, we didn’t make it. Amber Interiors has location here.

EATING

Jeannine’s - For breakfast! We went twice. Once to Montecito location and once to SB location. Charming and good food.

The Honor Bar - We went for a late dinner, they don’t take reservations. We sat at the bar and had one of our favorite dinners of the trip. Boys had the burgers and said they were amazing, I had the kale salad with rotisserie chicken and I’ve thought about it at least once a day ever since. Wish I would have gotten it once more - that good! I believe they have an LA location too, so next time I visit Andrew it is a must!

Stonehouse at San Ysidro Ranch - This was the single most recommended place by far! One of the most beautiful places I’ve ever eaten in the US. Movie set vibes, so pretty it doesn’t seem real. The food and service were outstanding! I echo everyone else and highly recommend. It was one of the priciest dinners we’ve ever had as a family. but worth it. We celebrated Andrew’s 23rd birthday and I’ll never forget this meal!

Bettina’s Pizza - another highly recommended spot. You need a reservation. Not sure if it was just because we ate very late, but it was just very good, nothing amazing for us. We are pizza snobs though.

Rori’s Ice Cream - Right across from Bettina’s. Loved their “Itty Bitty” cones but the ice cream was ho-hum. Sorry, I fear we might be ice cream snobs too.

Merci - Obsessed. Great for takeaway too. I had their salad trio and it was delish!

Tru Luma - recommended but didn’t go

Miramar Beach/Rosewood - For evening drinks, ideal location

`Pierre La Fond - Went twice! Great baked goods, excellent coffee. Breakfast was so-so. They have a large selection of pre-made meals that looked very good.

Farmer’s Market in Montecito - very small, but excellent produce

Los Arroyos - Taco’s, didn’t get a chance to go

Lucky’s Steakhouse - Didn’t do, but recommended

Panino - Jimmy and Charlie ate lunch here and like it. Sandwiches, casual.

S A N T A B A R B A R A

Santa Barbara is the largest of the towns and where we stayed, though we were actually equal distance between State Street in SB and the lower village of Montecito. We rented this home through VRBO. It has been years since we used VRBO, but the house was great. The decor was not my style but the location and ocean views were gorgeous. The boys appreciated the pool and hottub and I appreciated the well stocked house. If we went back I would stay in Montecito. If I went with just Jimmy we would stay at the Rosewood. The rental home was right next to steps leading down to the beach, which we used everyday. Many mentioned SB was hit hard during the pandemic and State Street (the main shopping area) has quite a few closures. We still really loved the harbor area and the old movie theater. Definitely worth a visit if you are in the area.

SHOPPING

Lewis and Clark - A charming little shop packed to the gills with unique gifts.

Diani Boutique - I didn’t go but recommended

Raoul Textiles - A textile lover’s must! I love their LA showroom too, but this shop also had items you could purchase at retail if you aren’t a designer.

The Funkzone - Skip for shopping

EATING

La Super Rica Taqueria - Julia Child’s favorite taco spot. Very authentic. Go for the specials that are hand written next to the counter. Cash only. I loved it!

The Boathouse at Hendry’s Beach - We walked along the beach from our rental home for breakfast here. Loved it! The beach allows dogs off leash so it was fun to watch them while we had breakfast. Views can’t be beat! Great spot at sunset too.

Dart’s Coffee - Excellent. In the Funkzone.

Habit Burgers - Didn’t have, Andrew says they are just ok. California chain.

McConnell’s Ice Cream - Good but not great. It’s really tough to be blown away by ice cream, we have Jeni’s in Ohio. And we have Juice Bar on Nantucket. Nothing else really holds a candle.

Farmer’s Market on State Street - Best Farmer’s Market we saw!

White Cap’s Food Truck - Only open on weekends, in the Funkzone. Lobster Rolls!

Hook & Press Donuts - Didn’t go but looked good.

Brophy Brothers - Excellent atmosphere and very good seafood on the harbor.

Recommended but didn’t go:

Helena Avenue Bakery

Oat Bakery

Renoud’s Bakery

Lark

ACTIVITIES

Rent bikes and bike along coat bike path. We biked to Butterfly Beach.

Old Mission Santa Barbara - Worth seeing of you like a bit of history, tour takes less than 30 minutes.

Sunset Sail - Didn’t do

Whale Watching - Didn’t do, but heard you often see whales and lots of dolphins. We spotted dolphins on our beach walks.

Hike Inspiration Point - Didn’t do

Hike Cold Spring Trail - Didn’t do

San Marcos Foothills Preserve - Didn’t do

Beach by our rental home in Santa Barbara

S O L V A N G

Many people recommended a day trip here, since it’s a cute Danish village. We stopped and walked to see falls on the way (can’t remember the name) but it was very underwhleming, no falls, more like a trickle of water. The walk under the canopy of trees was pretty though. The town of Solvang was too touristy for us though. Food options weren’t great and the bakeries weren’t very appetizing either. Personally I would skip this excursion. It made for a funny family memory though.

O J A I

We had panned to visit Ojai and go horse back riding, but the stable called and warned us of extremely warm temperatures, so we canceled. It is amazing the difference in temperature between Santa Barbara (perfection!) and the valley! This is a must visit for us next time though. Andrew has been to Ojai for a shoot with work and loved it. Here are the spots people recommended…

Hike/Walk - Off Shelf Road to Signal Street entrance, walk late afternoon/early evening

Take Highway 150 on drive out

Boccali’s for dinner and get the strawberry shortcake

Ojai Ice Cream

The Farmer & The Cook

Bartt’s Books

The Arcade for shops

Whew! That’s a lot of recommendations!! I highly recommend a visit! California is growing on us!! The crowds were minimal, it’s not touristy at all (except Solvang) so we just sort of lived the Southern California lifestyle for a week and we felt` we did it quite well. Jimmy played some golf too which I didn’t include but he loved the course where he played. So many more place for us to explore in CA, but we will definitely be making a return trip here! `

The Country Home Collection