California: Beach-Style

After a lovely time up in the Valley, it was time to descend towards the sea, and we stopped over in one of my favorite little cities on the planet: Santa Barbara. We stayed towards the heart of Old Town only a block back from the beach, so it was mostly walkable for everything that we wanted to do. Each morning here did start with a walk down the beach, being absorbed by the salt air.

One of our first stops, after checking in, was the Santa Barbara Wine Collective where we enjoyed sampling a wide array of local wines. There are also individual locale to do this, and we absolutely loved the Melville Winery Tasting Room (and wines)! From there it was time to satiate our bellies so we delved into our taco delight at Los Agaves Tacoria. We had grand ambitions that we were doing a “taco tour” but were full after the first stop!

Pork tacos

Chicken tacos

The remainder of the day was spent leisurely exploring this beautiful city, taking in Institutional Ale Company (have to balance out the wine, right?), sharing a bottle of wine on the patio, enjoying drinks at FisHouse, and one of the best sushi restaurant of my life for dinner: Arigato. I am almost not-kidding when I say that I enjoyed my weight in Aji. It. Was. Incredible.

Beautiful Santa Barbara twilight

Arigato: The most incredible of sushi!!!

We enjoyed an incredible breakfast at D’Angelo Bakery before making our slow return towards LAX. While the bakery does not look like anything special, it is a SB institution and the baked goods (and breakfasts) are incredible. That and they don’t mind keeping your cup full of good coffee! So southward we bound, stopping in Ventura along the way to enjoy a beer tasting flight at MadeWest Brewing Company and to explore the pier, before landing in LA for the overnight.

Ventura Pier

Ventura Pier

It was the most perfect of trips to catch up with ourselves, each other, good friends, and enjoy the wonderful sights, sounds, and tastes that CA has to offer!