Santa Barbara

After feasting on the French toast in Carpinteria we headed off to Santa Barbara. 

Instead of taking the busy 101 freeway, we took the very quiet route 192 that winds around in the hills. Unfortunately there are not many places to pull over and take photos so trust me that this is the nicest way to drive between the two places.

We parked near the Tourist Bureau and as we got out of the car, the Amtrak Coast Starlight train pulled out from the nearby station. It runs from Seattle to Los Angeles.

A few minutes later, the Pacific Surfliner headed south. This train runs from San Luis Obispo to San Diego via Los Angeles. A normal ticket to Los Angeles costs $31 and takes about three hours.

We walked down to the beach's main attraction, Stearns Wharf, for which there will be a separate blog.

There are palm trees everywhere.

Missions Creek that might flow into the ocean if there is enough rain.

The wharf.

After finishing with the wharf, we walked along State Street which is the main shopping  street. This is Mission Creek.

Another of what is known as 'Spanish Colonial' style buildings.

This site was where Lockheed started.

Santa Barbara Station was built in 1902. Perhaps I will pass through here sometime in the future.

The freeway runs right through the city and State Street becomes and underpass. It was starting to get a bit hot so it felt nice and cool in the shade.

As a popular weekend destination from Los Angeles, the street is lined with restaurants, pubs and shops that sell stuff I would never need.

Still, it is all quite pleasant. Just remember to walk on the shady side of the street.

In one section, the street is lined with Jacaranda trees.

These trees usually bloom in Spring but here was a solitary confused bloom.

We wandered into some back streets that had interesting buildings.

Walked past City Hall.

Supposedly the oldest street in SB.

With a garden at the end of the street.

Hibiscus, one of my favourite flowers..

One of the oldest parts of the city.

The Historical Museum.

These lanterns reminded me of a tube / valve amplifier that I built years ago. The lantern came from Ikea.

We walked past a market area, but it was closing down. By now it was quite hot and we were getting a bit tired.

You can get Australian coffee here. Aussies from Sydney and Melbourne reckon their coffee is superior to that available in the USA. 

And the Aussie influence in this part of the world is shown by the number of eucalyptus trees.

Now this is unusual.

A little lending library.

Housing prices in SB are very high. This wreck on a large block would go for a fortune.

As would this junk yard that rescues interesting pieces of iron.

We got back in the car and headed further west to the really expensive part of SB where houses are on acreage with an ocean view.

While we pulled over to take the prior photo, this cute little vehicle turned up.

More palm trees. SB has a policy of restricting the number of people who live in the area which leads to the high prices. However, I would not want to live there because it is all so touristy. We prefer the peace and quiet of Carpinteria.