California Trip, September 2014

Wednesday, October 1

We checked out of our Pismo Beach hotel (just loved that location) and drove on down toward Santa Barbara. We decided to spend the day there and go on to LA after rush hour, if there is such a thing. Pat did some wine tasting at Sanford, downtown, and we fell in love with Santa Barbara. What a great town!

On the street outside the Sanford tasting room, where Ben was
taking a load off (probably after having too much wine).
These quirky brass statues were all up and down the avenue.

Pat loved the tasting selection there and joined the wine club. I couldn't taste because I was taking heavy-duty asthma medication. The cold I'd caught right before our trip had unfortunately turned into asthma, and I had to call my doc back at home and pick up medicine on our way out of Pismo Beach.

Wine tasting at the Sanford tasting room

We looked up seafood places for lunch and found a top-rated one out on the pier in Santa Barbara. What a cool pier! You can drive out on it and park, and there's a whole row of eateries and shops and ice cream stands. Very fun. We watched cruise ships come in (you can see one in the background in the next photo) and people doing stand-up paddeboarding.

Pier in Santa Barbara

Lunch was a hoot. We ate at the Santa Barbara Shellfish Co., a small eatery with seating all around the outside windows as well as outdoors. The food was kept alive in big aquariums all along the windows on the opposite side until it was time to steam/fry/boil it for our culinary delight. We had crab and mussels and fresh clam chowder and all sorts of good stuff. Delicious! The locals love it. Afterward we wandered the shops and Pat found another tasting room while I had ice cream. People were fishing off the pier and catching mackerel like crazy. They caught so many, they threw the smaller ones back, directly into the mouths of sea lions cruising right underneath. One guy caught a mackerel and then a cormorant grabbed it and wouldn't let go. He nearly caught both a fish and a bird on one hook!

Lunch at Santa Barbara Shellfish Co.

We hated to end the trip, but onward we went to LA, driving in incredibly heavy traffic, even at 8:30 pm. I got a little car sick because of my medication and the long car ride. We stayed at the Marriott and then flew home the next day. A successful trip.

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