3 Hours in Santa Barbara

Early bird gets the view! This week - a road trip from Pasadena to Santa Barbara.

For a nice break in routine, I kept J. company on the drive as he made a visit to a job site outsitde Santa Barbara. Though this meant waking early and leaving before coffee, the sunrise and ocean views were well worth the sacrifice.

After the drop off, I started driving before setting my navigation and made my way down windy 10 mph roads that scare me. Fortunately, I was headed in the right direction and popped out near edge of town.

A quick google search yielding a place I had been before - Handle Bar Coffee. I chose the location on De La Vina, within walking distance of the Santa Barbara courthouse, library and museum.

The library is undergoing renovation and the museum remains closed, so visits to both are saved for a future trip. Images below show a side entrance to the library (quite the portal!), view of the courthouse clock tower and archway and one taken at Handlebar Coffee.

My primary destination for this trip was to revisit Santa Barbara City College which sits on a Mesa across from Leadbetter Beach. On a previous trip, I discovered the lovely lookout and stone seating area on campus. The plan was to take in the scenic view of the mountains and ocean and to walk the campus.

The campus contains a mix of midcentury and newer buildings. SBCC was established in 1909 and moved to its bluff top location in 1959.

For the next Santa Barbara trip, I look forward visiting UCSB. A friend recommended the Art Design and Architecture Museum there as well as some modernist buildings.