Santa Barbara Girls Trip

This past weekend my Mom and I went to Santa Barbara. We were able to use a family members beach house, which was so nice because it was a lot more comfortable than a hotel. This was the first time my Mom and I have taken a vacation just the two of us and now we are planning to do this annually.

Day 1- We were able to get an early start on leaving for Santa Barbara. We got there around 3, unpacked, and quickly hit the beach. There was a great dog beach that was a few blocks from the house called Arroyo Burro Beach (Hendry's Beach) that I fell in love with!

Day 2- We drove back up the coast and visited Summerland Beach and Carpenteria. We shopped in both places, but had a difficult time finding stores that weren't so touristy and expensive.

It was sad to visit Summerland Beach because the oil spill was more evident there than the other beaches. It smelled like a gas station and the waves were brown. We walked along the beach looking for shells and sea glass but didn't go in the water obviously.

My Mom was thrilled to find a quilt shop in Carpenteria!

Lemon drop and chocolate chip cookie dough cupcake from Crushcakes Cupcakery 

in downtown Santa Barbara. The chocolate frosting was delicious!

 We had an amazing Italian dinner at Palazzio's in downtown Santa Barbara! We shared a large order of Spaghetti and their Baked Macaroni Pie! It was so delicious, plus we had left overs for dinner the next night. I can't wait to go back and eat there again!

 Day 3- This day was supposed to be an all day beach day but Mother Nature wasn't cooperating. It started it out as a cloudy day but quickly turned into rain and then thunder and lightening. By noon we were back home and decided to head to Solvang for a few hours. On the way back from Solvang we drove through UCSB and stopped at a beach that had a peir.

 See those clouds!

 We thought that they were having a paddle board race, but we weren't sure.

Solvang Bakery

Scary looking clouds in Solvang!

Beach view from the pier. In the distance you could see UCSB!

We also completed a puzzle together during the trip.

Day 4- We had breakfast at The Boat House while watching dolphins play in the ocean. Then we walked along Arroyo Beach one last time and watched the dogs play in the water. We probably saw around 20 Golden Retrievers within the four days we were there! I so enjoyed watching the dogs play in the water and on the beach. After the walk we had to pack up and get back home. I was happy to find a Starbucks that day too and had not one but two tea drinks, which made for a lot of bathroom stops on the way home! The drive home was also difficult because we hit a rain storm so there were a lot of accidents and flooding to get through. It was an awesome trip though and I'm looking forward to our next girls trip!

 The Boat House Restaurant on Arroyo Burro Beach

Breakfast

 Lobster anyone?