Summertime in Summerland

On Friday morning, we began our northward trek. The destination was Santa Barbara, California, 111 miles north of Huntington Beach. We left at 10:30 AM. By 12:15 or so, we hit a little traffic backup. so we pulled off in Carpinteria, a beautiful seaside town. Several years ago, Doc, Delila and I had a little trip up to Cambria to look at some property, and we stopped for the night in Carpineteria, and loved its charm.

We parked and walked to the State Beach. On the way, we passed this giant Torrey Pine tree.

This is the famous Wardholme Torrey Pine, which was planted in 1888. I gave him some luvin'.

Then we walked down Linden Avenue to the Carpinteria State Beach. We stopped for lunch at The Spot. This is a hamburger stand that we always eat at when passing through the town.

Here I am, carrying our order from the takeaway window:

I had a chili-cheese dog with mustard and onions, and Doc had a double bacon cheeseburger. After that, we walked along the beach and stopped in a couple of shops. I found a Paloma Picasso belt, and Doc found an old school transistor radio.

                                                    Here I am, at the State Beach.

Then we went abput 10 minutes north to Summerland, California. We looked in a few antique shops, which were very high end and mostly exquisite furniture. We saw a dining table made entirely of malachite. Then we went to a folk art gallery called Just Folk.

They specialize in art made by the disabled, mentally deranged, and incarcerated. The large painting in the first picture (5 x 7 ft) was priced at $60,000. I didn't get why it was so much, but Doc said maybe we just don't understand the art behind it. In the second picture, I stood next to the Venus of Willendorfish statue, and when I raised my arms, my shorts hiked up and I looked just like her. HAHAHAHAHa. Classic.

  Then I stood next to a papier mache burro. I had a burro, George, once, and he sure was cute.

After that, we went the last 5 miles and checked in to our hotel, the Encina Lodge, a Best Western property. It has a giant cage of finches. They are so cute and there is fruit and lettuce placed out for them to eat.

                            That is really a sweet little touch. We also got bathrobes to use.

There is also a nice shaded pool with handicapped access here. It's a nice hotel - very California Spanish style. The room is lovely. Here is a picture of the little garden outside our room. I didn't take one of the pool, because there were people using it, and they should have their privacy.

On Saturday, we got up and took Lyft down to Stearns Wharf. It only cost $1.50. Lyft is awesome. Here is the wharf, in the distance.

                                        Here I am, lounging on the fence at the wharf.

You can see the mountains of Santa Barbara in the background. Ojai is up there - there is a famous spa in the Ojai Valley Inn. People were fishing and enjoying themselves on the wharf. Parking is free.

           Here's a picture of me, striding to the restaurant part of the wharf, ready for action.

We ate lunch at the Breakwater Restaurant. I started with a lemonade cocktail with mango lemonade vodka and mint in it. It was deelish.

Then we had a wedge salad, fried calamari, and fish and chips. The calamari was steaks, which I like better than rings and tentacles, but steaks are hard to find. The wedge came with extra bleu cheese crumbles. It was all mouth wateringly yummy.

Then we walked back up the wharf to State Street, the shopping and action hub of Santa Barbara. I played a game on the way.

My quarter is at 11 o'clock in the circle that says Fantastic. I feel that this is accurate :).

                   Then we shopped and strolled for a few hours. Here I am, in Antique Alley.

Stay tuned for Part 2 - Shopping in Santa Barbara. I'll show you my finds. We are going to Isla Vista (home of UCSB) and Montecito (home of Oprah Winfrey) tomorrow. More to come !!!