Santa Barbara Review
Santa Barbara is such a fun place to visit! It’s got fun beaches, delicious food, great shopping, and an easy electric bike rental program. We didn’t even have to rent a car!
The Backstory:
14 year old Mother/Daughter Trip
When each of my girls turned 14, we booked a mother/daughter trip for some quality 1:1 time. I knew I wanted to start this tradition when they were old enough to appreciate it, but I didn’t realize I had picked the perfect age (after middle school and before high school) so I was still somewhat cool.
Alli, my first born, chose to go to Fashion Island in Newport Beach, CA. Chloe, my middle, chose Disneyland. And Em, my last baby, chose Santa Barbara.
What we loved and why:
The fact that we didn’t have to rent a car!
Easy to grab an Uber from the airport to the Funk Zone - maybe 20 min drive
Easily walkable to everything we wanted from our hotel
Bikes are such an efficient way to get around quickly - plus added bonus to be in the fresh air!
The Funk Zone!
Awesome location for all the FUN
Safe, easy to navigate, friendly people, lots to do
Restaurants, surf shops, coffee shops, beach, pier, marina, etc
Healthy, Active Vacation Destination
We walked, biked and boogie boarded our way through the week
We went to the gym daily
Tons of healthy food options that were also delicious.
Hotel had cold water for filling water bottles - made it easy to stay hydrated
All Our recommendations:
The Hotel
Great little pool - they also have ping pong and hammocks, and outdoor eating areas.
Rooms were small but efficient - including a murphy bunk bed!
Hotel had free bike rentals, but only for an hour - so we opted for the electric ones (see below)
Can’t beat the location - easy walk to everything including State Street and the Pier
The Restaurants
Helena Ave Bakery - delicious breakfast and cute atmosphere
Dart Coffee - adorable ambience, best coffee hands down, and Tyger Tyger has good avocado toast
The Lark - the best! Fancy, but casual. Food is top notch!
La Paloma - best Brussels (and we ordered a lot!)
Arigato - fresh, flavorful sushi. Must try the “Locals Only” (see the dish on fire above…ironically, our friends who are locals recommended this dish!)
The Blue Owl - such a hidden gem. I loved my thai bowl with mango, cucumbers, peanuts. Yum!
The Gym
This local gym was one of the highlights of our trip!
The Waterman has a collab with The Base, so we got to workout each day and this was included in our hotel fees!
We just had to walk a few blocks to this awesome gym. We both had all the equipment we wanted, and loved our experience.
This place was rad! It had giant garage doors that opened to the outside. There were 2 large rooms plus a big outdoor space with turf and some equipment. Em and I both felt at home here and loved that by the end of the week, we felt like regulars and even knew a few people by name.
The E-Bikes
Fabulous surroundings- so much to see and do. ANd on bikes, with the wind in our hair, even better
These bikes were easy to find, plentiful and so simple to operate. It was $7 per ride up to 30 minutes. There was a train station across the street from The Waterman and we found that was the best place to get the bikes. Ride up to State Street or along the beach.
Farmers Market - on state street every Tues and Sat
Pelicans by the pier
The marina was so fun to walk around
The train tracks provide great photo opps
Until next time, SB!
She’s still got 4 years, but if I have learned one thing about college hunting so far, it’s that it’s never too early to start thinking about it. And we will try to visit as many colleges as possible. So, UC Santa Barbara is top on Emily’s list for sure!