Started the day with a walk to get coffee. I beelined to a plaza where Starbucks was shown on the map but halfway there I saw The French Press coffee and diverted over. I had some really good coffee and a croissant:
Afterwards I did some frugal traveler work and grabbed groceries to keep in the hotel room–smoked Salmon, cheese, yogurt, and some frozen sausage. All this plus an avocado I brought with me made for a really filling lunch/snack later in the day.
I tossed the Brompton in the trunk and drove to the Santa Barbara airport to drop off the car. Goleta has well-signed bike paths and separated lanes. I ended up on the UCSB campus and got to go through some cool bicycle traffic circles; it was Sunday so the only traffic was me.
After the aforementioned snack I caught a ride down to downtown Santa Barbara. In what is one of the most California-car-culture sights I’ve seen, the pier has free parking and a lane to drive out on:
Still, had a very good time. I also met up for some barefoot running and an overall great time with a Santa Barbaran who took time out of his schedule to hang out with me. Among other things I learned that Santa Barbara is one of the longest-inhabited human settlements in North America–lots of great links out there like this one.
Santa Barbara was also a destination for wealthy folk with their private railroad cars:
Finished off with a trip back to the pier for some fish-and-chips.
Had an extra bonus waiting for a ride back–I happened to wait right in front of the Fazzino Gallery. This was really cool 3D art and they graciously let me check it out even though it was technically closing time.
On to day 2!
Zaiserama 