The past couple of days have been pretty hot in Orange and LA county – It doesn’t really feel that way when we have our AC cranked but my husband Mike and I figured that we wanted to enjoy the outdoors but not in this type of weather.. My husband is not a very spontaneous kind of guy but he suggested early on the 4th to pack a bag and head out to Santa Barbara.

I love Santa Barbara- Okay I love all of California- but I really have a place in my heart for beach towns. Laguna being my favorite followed closely by Santa Barbara. It is truly a beautiful city with the beautiful architecture, gorgeous scenery and lots of things to do and see. We all enjoyed the drive and it took us only about an hour and forty five minutes to get from the OC to Santa Barbara. Once you get into Ventura County the drive just is so lovely. Our two year old let us know throughout the ride- oh pretty- oh look mommy the pretty agua(beach)- I love the way the 101 is side by side with the ocean from Ventura to Carpinteria. The weather was great and the first thing we did was headed over to the Santa Barbara mission. I had been there before but this was the first time we actually had the chance to tour the mission. It was just amazing to be in such a beautiful old building. It was also just great to learn all about the way the Catholic missionaries lived and how the Indians in the area also lived. It’s also a great place for photography. If you are a shutterbug then this is a must stop for you. The kids enjoyed looking at the mission and my two year old loved exploring the ground and so did we. The best part is also that the doorways of the old mission fit double strollers. Yipee!! I never knew I would one day get excited about this but yes it is very exciting when something is stroller accommodating.

Once we finished our little excursion we headed over to Goleta to explore the area. Goleta is the town next to SB and is actually where the campus of UCSB is located. It was just fun to drive around and explore the area.

We finished with a cruise down State street. We did a little window shopping and had dinner at CPK- There are so many shops and restaurants on state street you can spend all day exploring the street. It’s so much fun to just people watch and window shop. Those two activities actually took up most of our day. Santa Barbara is just amazingly beautiful. You have to check it out for yourself and see why they call it the American Riviera. I will definitely be posting more about this beautiful city since we plan on going there for a little getaway this summer.