Category: Travel

Santa Barbara

Kenny and I snuck away from the family for two days to go taste wines and be tourists in Santa Barbara. I hadn’t spent much time there since a trip with the girls for Spring Break during my senior year of college.

To summarize:

  • Santa Barbara wineries: recommended, especially for the scenery. We really liked Bridlewood. Not that we even tasted the wine, but the grounds were gorgeous.
  • Old Yacht Club Inn: not recommended. Kenny even felt inspired to write a TripAdvisor review warning other tourists about our unpleasant stay there.
  • Opal Restaurant and Bar: it came highly recommended by the host at our B&B. We thought it was somewhat over-hyped and over-priced. The food was good but not great.
  • Being a tourist on the wharf, State Street, and the courthouse: highly recommended.
  • Ostrich Land: we didn’t make it on this trip, but from past experience, it’s worth a visit if you’re nearby. I need to find and post my old ostrich photos.


Us at Bridlewood


Bridlewood


These silly-looking plants are all over Santa Barbara


Courthouse window

Highway 405 Will Take You

The 6ths have a song that goes

Highway 405 will take you
From the Boom-Boom Room
To Interstate 5 which goes right to
The San Diego Zoo…

Kenny and I had this song stuck in our heads all day during our trip to the San Diego Zoo with my brother. I hadn’t been to the zoo since I was a kid, and Kenny loves zoos, so we thought it would be a fun way to spend Xmas Eve.

The San Diego Zoo is most famous for breeding giant pandas in captivity, and has bred the first two giant pandas that were born in the US and have survived to adulthood. As a result, the lines to the panda exhibit are absurdly long, and we decided we’d see them another day. But we spent quite a while with the polar bears (recently on the endangered list) and the orangutans and gibbons (who share a habitat at the zoo).


At the entrance to the zoo


Polar bears


Wild animals


Two boys and a camel

We had a great time at the San Diego Zoo. Next time we’re in the area, we’re going to check out the Wild Animal Park (another place I haven’t visited since I was a kid).

A Stroll Through the French Quarter

The French Quarter has certainly recovered pretty well, but there were still many signs of the destruction that happened in August 2005.

Many establishments have signs like this, or “now hiring” signs.

Throw me something, FEMA.

One thing hasn’t changed: the daiquiris are still flowing.

Food!