Anyone Know Santa Barbara?

[JPatrick]

The city that is....DS drives out that way this weekend for a 4 week, 4th year med school clinical. He will likely have a goodly amount of free time so he is looking to make the most of it.
I suppose it may be a bit cold for much fun in the water, but he is a scuba diver and a novice surfer (Hawaii). He is a pretty serious runner also.
Any beach ideas and good places to run would be appreciated as would other adventures a unattached 27 year old might enjoy.

Thanks!

[ronin]

The Channel Islands are really close and it'd be easy to arrange a dive trip through one of the local dive shops. Lots of surf spots nearby. Hit a surf shop for more info or look at Surfline.com.

[haha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JPatrick The city that is....DS drives out that way this weekend for a 4 week, 4th year med school clinical. He will likely have a goodly amount of free time so he is looking to make the most of it. I suppose it may be a bit cold for much fun in the water, but he is a scuba diver and a novice surfer (Hawaii). He is a pretty serious runner also. Any beach ideas and good places to run would be appreciated as would other adventures a unattached 27 year old might enjoy. Thanks!

Goleta Beach! UCSB, party central, awaits his pleasure.

BTW, I swam all winter in Santa Monica Bay and down at Huntington Beach. If he isn't spoiled by bathwater oceans he should be fine at that part of the coast now.

Ha

[RootyToot]

Recommended by Julia Childs:

La Super Rica Tacqueria
622 N. Milpas Street

very reasonably priced, casual dining

[Fireup2020]

Santa Barbara Brewery
Pretty darn decent eats (and local brews!)
www.sbbrewco.com

[mh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JPatrick The city that is....DS drives out that way this weekend for a 4 week, 4th year med school clinical. He will likely have a goodly amount of free time so he is looking to make the most of it. I suppose it may be a bit cold for much fun in the water, but he is a scuba diver and a novice surfer (Hawaii). He is a pretty serious runner also. Any beach ideas and good places to run would be appreciated as would other adventures a unattached 27 year old might enjoy. Thanks!

Renting a bike for the day is always a good idea in santa barbara.
driving in the downtown area on a weekend can be a pain.
a bike is better. there's more than one bike rental place in the
state street area near the beach. once you get the bike
just go down state street till you hit the beach then go south along east
beach which has a nice bike path that goes to montecito.
(you might want to stop when the beach stops.)

then you can cruise back and hit a brewpub or whatever for lunch
and maybe explore santa barbara some more on the bike.
maybe go the the S.B mission. below is a map link..

from:Santa Barbara, CA to:500 Ninos Dr, Santa Barbara, CA 93103 (Santa Barbara Zoological Grdns) to:34.424541,-119.682999 to:E Gutierrez St @34.418040, -119.691880 to:State St @34.430870, -119.714650 to:W Constance Ave @34.434754, -119.724107 to:Stat


Coastal Bike Rental
Write a review
630 Anacapa St
Santa Barbara, CA 93101

(805) 962-2400

[nuisance]

Walk into any bike store and pick up the Santa Barbara bicycle map. It's free, and the best map of the area.
Visit the courthouse and climb up its tower (10am-5pm, iirc).
Lots of people run along the beach, starting at Stearns' Wharf.
Definitely go scuba diving at the islands. The folks at Anacapa Dive Center can rent you gear and get you a spot on a boat.
Lots of good hiking around here. Check out santabarbarahikes.com.
Our current favorite restaurant is Opal, right by the Arlington on State Street.
There's an excellent swing dance scene here, if he's into that.

Tim

[JPatrick]

I appreciate everyone's assistance.
I'll be interested if he tolerates the water Ha, he is a warm water type.

Nuisance, you mention the swing dance place. One of his favorite things to do is dancing....However, he recently won a contest for the best version of the "sprinkler head." I'm betting you are talking about a different kind of club..or are you?

Great tips on scuba, biking, running and hiking. Also, he will definately be hauling back some of the local brew for me.

Rooty Toot, I noticed the first post--Welcome and thanks for the tip.

Tomorrow I journey to Texas to do a car switch. I shall present your ideas and aim him west.

[yakers]

I like kayaking in the islands off SB, Santa Cruz in particular, lost of good caves to paddle into. Several good places to eat but X2 for La Super Rica Tacqueria.

[mb]

There is a great running path along the beach in Santa Barbara.

I think that there is also some pretty good running around UCSB.

The mountains to the west are around 5,000' and I understand that there are some great trails for hiking, mountain biking and trail running.

MB

[megacorp-firee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RootyToot Recommended by Julia Childs: La Super Rica Tacqueria 622 N. Milpas Street very reasonably priced, casual dining

just about 2 blocks south (going towards the water) and across the street there is another Mexican place (sorry forgot the name) that has some great food also. Good menudo if you're into intestines .

There is a good Indian buffet on State St. (name also escapes me).

Be sure to have him check out the pier. If he's into fishing or crabbing, he may see people doing that there. I've spent the day crabbing off the pier myself (DD lives there).

There is also a yacht club (?) that has cruises at night (nibbles and wine
(of course)). Nice way to see the sunset.

[nuisance]

[quote=JPatrick;630887]Nuisance, you mention the swing dance place. One of his favorite things to do is dancing....However, he recently won a contest for the best version of the "sprinkler head." I'm betting you are talking about a different kind of club..or are you?[/quota]

Yes, I'm talking east coast swing, mostly. There are several clubs on State St. My favorite is Soho because they've got good live music every night. The crowd is mostly 30s and older though. Younger crowds (and less good music, IMO) are at Rocks. Qs is also good, which doesn't usually have live music but it makes up for it in volume?

Oh, if he has a female (or other chocolate-loving creature) friend, then a stop at Chocolats du CaliBressan in Carpinteria is a must. Bring your wallet.

And if he likes to cook, you can get excellent fresh fish at the fishmonger at the harbor. I also recommend Tri County Produce at the bottom of Milpas, or the real farmer's market Tue night / Sat morning on State.

Oh, and check out the art walk Sunday morning at east beach.

Who knows if any of these apply to your son. :-)

Tim

[haha]

Santa Barbara is one of the places that God made perfect. Just breathing the air is fun.

Ha

[Urchina]

For a great beach run, I recommend heading west from Arroyo Burro beach at low tide. You can run all the way to UCSB / Campus beach.

Also, there's a paved trail from Modoc road (just below Hope Ranch) that goes to the beach at UCSB -- it's on any of the aforementioned bicycle maps.

Food:

Mexican: La Super Rica on Milpas, Los Arroyos on Figueora (downtown) and Super Cuca's (a couple of blocks west of downtown on Micheltorena, over the freeway) are good.

The Indian buffet we like is Spice Avenue, 1100 block of State Street.

Italian: We love Palazzio, across the street from Spice Avenue. HUGE portions, try the quarter-order for lunch, first.

For good atmosphere, try Cold Spring Tavern off of 154. It's a century-old tavern and stage coach stop with some great food and a lively bar scene (in the cabin). Reservations recommended on weekends.

Santa Barbara has four brewpubs. One is Santa Barbara Brewing company, 400 block of State Street. Good food, sports bar, and good beer. Their brewmaster makes a pretty good Belgian-style double or triple.

The second is The Brewhouse, on Montecito street. Great food, lively scene (a bit loud) and also has a sports bar. Beers are not as reliably good as the Brewing company, but occasionally they've got a great one. Also, they carry a good selection of imported beers. Try the de Konick (belgian) on tap.

Third is the Downtown brewing company on upper state, by La Cumbre road. OK food, OK beer, but if you're a sports fan -- they have a LOT of screens.

Finally, Hollister Brewing company in Goleta has uniformly good beer with some bistro-type food. Their smoked-hemp beer rocks (some of the best beer I've tried -- it was a total surprise). They're located in the Camino Real marketplace, near Borders.

Weekend fun wine tasting can be had in the Santa Ynez Valley, about 25 minutes away. Take highway 154 over the mountains, turn left onto highway 246, and then left into Gainey cellars. Pick up a tasting map there and have fun! (We're especially partial to Rideau on Alamo Pintado in Solvang).

There are some lovely front-country hikes -- up Tunnel road to Inspiration Point, for example, that are popular.

Regular pick-up beach volleyball games at East Beach.

[Midpack]

Quote:

Originally Posted by haha Santa Barbara is one of the places that God made perfect. Just breathing the air is fun. Ha

No question it's heaven on earth, but there are few places more expensive. Spectacular place to visit but I wouldn't want couldn't afford live there. Funny how you almost always get what you pay for...