TRAVELOGUE NO. 2
PACIFIC COASTAL CRUISE LOS ANGELES TO VANCOUVER
SUNDAY, May 9, 2010 – “Mother’s Day” – Santa Barbara, CA
We arrived in Santa Barbara early in the morning after a pleasant evening sailing up the coast from Los Angeles. Santa Barbara is a tender port, so the Sapphire Princess anchored out in the harbor and began to launch the tender boats to transport the passengers to and from the pier.
The weather could not have been more beautiful. It was about 65° with a slight breeze. The sky was blue with only a few fluffy clouds here and there in the sky. As you looked from the ship towards the city of Santa Barbara, you could not help but notice the mountains behind the city that were still green from the winter rains. With the shadows from the few clouds, the mountains almost appeared to be covered with a dark, forest green velvet cloth.
As we entered the harbor on our tender, and came around the breakwater we were greeted by hundreds of pelicans that were lining the shore. Many more were flying above and then diving straight down into the water “going fishing”. As we arrived at the pier, it seemed that the entire staff of the visitor’s bureau was out to greet us along with the harbor patrol and the police department. Everyone wished all of the ladies Happy Mother’s Day as we walked up the ramp. There were tables near the street where we could find maps of the downtown area. This is also where we were directed to our Trolley Tour.
We chose the Trolley Tour because we have only ever driven through Santa Barbara before and have not had the good fortune to explore it much – so we thought this would be a great way to introduce ourselves to this beautiful city.
Santa Barbara is called the America Riviera and is a place where food, art, history, fashion, sunshine and WINE mix to create a delightful and unique experience. The architecture is mostly Spanish and with the warm Mediterranean climate, you can take full advantage of the charming sidewalk-cafés and beautiful seaside setting.
Our Trolley driver, Mark, was quite enjoyable and explained about the history of Santa Barbara as well as pointing out popular current attractions. As he drove us through the streets of Santa Barbara, you could almost picture yourself in the Mediterranean. The Spanish and Moorish style buildings are graced with beautiful bougainvillea which was in full bloom. The streets are lined with 900 different species of trees (all of them imported). The ficus trees give a beautiful shade cover to some streets, where others are lined with tall palm trees that have their trunks full of huge bougainvillea bushes that are climbing up. Yet other streets are lined with jacaranda trees which are in full bloom with their delicate purple flowers.
You could definitely tell that Spring was here, because the rose bushes were in full bloom. There is a rose garden up at the Santa Barbara Mission across the long lawn. As you arrive at the Mission, you pass a large wooden cross in the middle of the lawn and at its’ base are a wide array of colorful flowers. The Mission is set back in a valley and up on a hill. If you turn around, you will have a beautiful panoramic view of the valley and out to the ocean. The hills that surround the Mission are gentle rolling hills that graduate up to the top of the range of only about 1,000 feet.
Though we were not able to get inside the Mission, we were able to walk around the grounds and take in the beauty. The architecture is definitely Spanish. There are two bell towers on the main part of the church; and to the left was a row of rooms that were all lined with covered archways. There was a bronze statue out front of Father Junipero Serra and a beautiful tiled fountain.
Once we left the Mission, Mark drove us down through the town and explained that the area known as Montecito is very popular with the “rich and famous”. Brad Pitt¸ Jennifer Aniston, Oprah Winfrey, Michael Douglas, just to name a few, have all purchased multi-million dollar homes here. One of the most famous residents of the area is Fess Parker, best known for his role of Davy Crocket on the Disney Show many years ago. After his show business career, he bought up quite a bit of land here in Santa Barbara and started a vineyard. Fess Parker wines are among some of the best from this region.
After our tour was over, we opted to be dropped in town and walked down State Street past the refurbished train station and across the railroad tracks. At the entrance to the station, there are curved planters with four, 12 inch ceramic tiles that form the picture of a train. It was quite interesting. We were told that once a week the red-brick lined sidewalks of State Street are steam cleaned, so they remain pristine and beautiful for everyone. The streets are lined with tile fountains and beautiful planters full of colorful flowers from bougainvillea to birds of paradise to morning glorys. Most of the stores have archway entrances which are lined with vines. We walked under the freeway and continued on down to Cabrillo Street which is directly across from the beach.
There was an art fair on the lawn adjacent to the beach where the lawn was literally lined with paintings and photographs and the artists selling their work. Across the street, we could not help but notice “Rusty’s Pizza” which was in a lighthouse building. So, in honor of our Golden Retriever, Rusty, we decided to have lunch out on the terrace. We chose to enjoy the lunch “special” which was a small salad from the salad bar, a personal size pizza with two toppings and a soft drink for $6.95 each. After lunch, we walked further down the street and out onto the pier at Stearns Wharf and then headed back to the dock where we caught our tender back to the ship.
The winds came up dramatically in the mid-afternoon and this became an “issue” for the crew as it was difficult to keep the tenders steady enough to unload the passengers coming back from town. The winds actually increased to 40 knots around 4:00 p.m. and this delayed our departure as the crew had a difficult time getting the tenders secured back on the ship.
Once we finally left Santa Barbara, we expected a “rough” night because of the high winds and white-capped seas. But, we were graced within an hour of a calm Pacific and I even saw breaching gray whales off the port side of the ship. Though they were far in the distance, I still was able to capture a picture or two.
For Mother’s Day, Jim treated me to a delicious dinner of steak and lobster in the Sterling Steakhouse. The Maitre’ d, Stefan, was quite gracious and sent us a complimentary appetizer of jalapeno poppers stuffed with a light cheddar cheese and marinara dipping sauce. We each enjoyed a glass of wine and a beautiful sunset out the window as we continued sailing north out of Santa Barbara. I enjoyed a brie cheese quesadilla with mango salsa appetizer while Jim had a jumbo shrimp cocktail. Then my main course was a rib eye steak and lobster tail with a baked potato and Jim had a filet mignon with lobster tail and baked potato. For dessert (which we did NOT need) I enjoyed a raspberry crème brulee and Jim had a chocolate pecan pie.
We hope you all had a wonderful Mother’s Day and enjoyed each other.
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