santa barbara and north to paso robles

Santa Barbara is beautiful  And so high-end.  So much so that one of the mayors of the city couldn't afford to live there and, instead, lived in Montecito.

What a lovely place.  We stayed in a hotel (Best Western Beachside) about 100 steps from the beach and a 15 minute walk from two breweries: the Santa Barbara Brewing Co. and Figueroa Mountain Brewing. The weather started off cloudy and really unappealing, but then the sun came out and gave us a chance to hit the beach...at least for a bit.  The sand was soooo soft and fine.  Like powdered sugar...but sandy colored, rather than white.  It was warm and pretty much cleared off by the time we got there.  A delightful short nap followed.  Loved it.

This morning we got up and headed to Paso Robles and Firestone Walker.  But on the way, we HAD to go check out Solvang - a little Danish community in the Santa Ynez valley.  So cute and so viking!

Of course we went to the brewery.

Back on the road we decided to check out a little brewery in Santa Margarita: Dunbar Brewery (and I'm totally glad we did).  This small brewery only had two brews on tap, but they were dynamite.  And the guest taps were an A-List of CA beers.

Once in Paso Robles, we settled in, then took out for Firestone Walker...just a little homage.  Their facility is enormous!  And the food is fabulous.  We ate, drank, shopped, and drank some more!

We also heard about a brewery called BarrelHouse.  I guess if you're down the road from Firestone Walker, you ought to be brewing some really good beer.  And they do.

My only complaint is that I have never NEVER seen so many children running around...it was like McDonald's playland.  The beer was good, but the vibe was disneyland.  At least no one asked me to curtail my fucking language! 

Tomorrow?  Hearst Castle and Monterey.