Santa Barbara

We arrived after 3 am and went up to the Harbourmaster’s office. We were shocked that they gave us a checkout time of 11 am…not even 8 hours sleep and we were exhausted! The guy told us that his boss might be more flexible in the morning. We woke up thinking that logic would prevail and let us go back to sleep for another 10 hours. But when we checked in with her, she offered (with a big smile no less) an extra hour to compensate for daylight savings. Our first taste of inflexible beauraucracy.

We moved our boat to the Santa Barbara Yacht Club guest slip and went on a trip to explore the town. This city is beautiful, with south-western style architecture nestled between the mountains and the water.


Santa Barbara from the water


Southwest style architecture on State Street

The old mission had a good museum, where we learned about the native Chumash people that lived here when the Spanish missionaries arrived. They had lived along the coast and on the Channel Islands and are well known for their weaving skills.


The Santa Barbara Mission

We got a great tip on a local Mexican restaurant from some local ultimate players. Apparently the “five minutes away” part of the directions assumed we were driving, because it took us 45 minutes to walk there (few people walk anywhere in Southern California). It was a great walk, though, and the restaurant did not disappoint…a true “hole in the wall” place called “La Super Rica” (look it up on the internet, its there!). Dirt cheap and awesome traditional mexican food! We then walked another 45 minutes back to the boat.


Gary and La Super Rica


Inside La Super Rica - dinner for 5 bucks and they don't take VISA!

We would definitely come back here. There is apparently some great mountain biking and climbing in the local mountains and some up-and-coming wine country too.