A Sunny Morning in Santa Barbara [1/15]

When we decided to venture out into the United States, the idea came out of the notion that we had been traveling through Europe for a very long time now. Even though you will find amazing cities here in Europe, after a couple of years you'll want to explore something different. I suggested that we should do a road trip through California, Nevada and Arizona, and once we had everything in place our journey began. We had a one-stop flight from Belgrade, through Amsterdam until we eventually arrived at Los Angeles Airport (LAX) on October 18th.

The first stop on the first day of our USA Road Trip was in Santa Barbara, a lovely little city which is just a two hour drive away from Los Angeles. As we pulled into town we were immediately charmed by its flair and sights. Here you will find the Stearns Wharf, which is an old fashioned pier that offers restaurants, shops and many sightseeing spots. Of course the rest of the town is great as well. Let me share our experiences from the start of a long road trip down the Pacific Highway.

This is only a part of our big travel series to the USA

For the other parts click here

We arrived late in the evening in Santa Monica (which is near LAX Airport), and went straight to bed in the Santa Monica Motel. I didn't make a lot of pictures on that first night, just a couple of them, the next morning. The motel was fine but nothing special. We just needed a place to rest after a long journey to the US. We would later jokingly refer to this motel as the murder-murder-suicide motel, since it really turned out to be the least flattering accommodation of our stay. But LA and its surrounding cities are very expensive, so a moderate alternative had to be found.

We rented our car at Alamo Rent-a-Car at the LAX Airport through rentalcars.com, since they gave us the best rate, which included full insurance and a free GPS. We woke up very early on this first day, since we went to bed at 8pm the previous night. That's why we started our road trip refreshed and without any delay.

Arrival in Santa Barbara

We parked our car at the parking lot next to the Stearns Wharf pier, which was 2$ an hour. You can find cheaper parking on the pier itself, where the first 90 minutes are free.I should mention that we didn't arrive on the GPS recommended route, but rather on California Route 1, which is the so called Pacific Highway, a very picturesque road that goes along the Pacific ocean and that we traveled on for the first two days of our road trip. This road coincides in places with the newer Highway CA-101. If you follow California Route 1 you will arrive into Santa Barbara without needing any directions, since it goes through the city.

Visiting Stearns Wharf in Santa Barbara

Stearns Wharf is located right in the harbor of Santa Barbara. When it was completed in 1872 it became the longest deep-water pier between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Named for its builder, local lumberman John P. Stearns, the wharf served the passenger and freight shipping needs of California's South Coast for over a quarter century. Before the wharf, passengers and cargo had to be rowed ashore. It's very quiet in the morning and you can enjoy a walk here and take in the scenery. Beware of the overpriced restaurants in this part of the city, there much better ones on shore.

I loved the maritime decors and designs here. You can find many colors on the pier, but they all go so well with each other. The sky was cloudy for a while but eventually the sun returned, and we would have lovely weather for the rest of the day.

Since it was early in the morning, there were not many people and tourists on the pier. This gave as on opportunity to look around the place and have it all to ourselves.

Breakfast in Santa Barbara

We went to Sambo's Restuarant in Santa Barbara for some breakfast. This was our first meal in the USA and we loved it. The only thing we had to get used to is that the prices on the menus (everywhere) didn't inlcude the tax, which varied from place to place and that you also had to tip. Here it was 10% put in some places the suggested tip went up to 25%. But the food was really good here.

I had a BLT sandwich which was so big that I couldn't even finish it. The others had a quesadilla filled with eggs and cheese that came with a side of guacamole, tomato salad, sour cream and various fruit. It was all so fresh and delicious.

We spent the rest of our time here walking the sidewalks and going to the beach. It was very enjoyable. Santa Barbara is very upscale in some parts. If you walk inland you will find many boutiques and high end shops, with expensive cars that roam the streets. This is why the city is usually skipped by people who are on a road trip. And while the city is admittedly expensive it's certainly worth exploring. 

Mission Santa Barbara

In addition to the city's cultural assets, several iconic destinations lie within the city's limits. Mission Santa Barbara, "The Queen of the Missions," is located on a rise about two miles (3 km) inland from the harbor, and is maintained as an active place of worship, sightseeing stop, and national historic landmark. Unfortunately we didn't have the time to visit it, even though we saw it while driving. We just had so much to finish up on this first day as you will soon see.

Our Road Trip Continues

We then kept driving further on California Route 1 towards Pismo Beach. The next part of the travel series will be from this little town which was truly amazing and had as all in awe. Until then here are some preview images from there.

For those interested here is a map of our complete road trip across the USA, all wonderful 3200 km/1988 miles of it. These are the places you can look forward to seeing in our travel series.

End of Part One

To be continued...

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