Santa Barbara, LA, San Diego

Santa Barbara is a cushy town with a fifty fifty split of wealthy to lower middle class. Hungry after sightseeing we ate at the Taco Bell (my shameful guilty pleasure). One of the main attractions in downtown is the Court House. While it doesn't sound glamorous the building offers a surprising mix of western architecture and beautifully painted murals. A short elevator ride up brought us to the tower which has a terrace offering a 360 degree view of downtown Santa Barbara, the mountains of course, the Pacific ocean.

Later that day we headed further down the Pacific Coast driving through Malibu and ending up at the Santa Monica Pier just in time to see the sun set. The view and the weather were perfect We stopped by the Arcade to play a few rounds of Skee Ball in which Jack proceeded to beat  me a few rounds in a row...with his winnings he bought me a plastic spider ring...he is the most thoughtful man I know. Our stomachs were rumbling so we grabbed veggie burgers at Swingers Diner. It was about 10pm so we headed south on the 405 towards LAX where our hotel was, and we hit tons of traffic! I always knew LA was notorious for their traffic, but at 10 at night its a little absurd. I've never seen so many cars and I wouldn't be surprised if LA was the main reason for climate change.

The next day we did a bit of sight seeing at the usual tourist places: the walk of fame, a fancy brunch place, the Hollywood sign and also to the Griffith Observatory.  At the observatory we walked around the lobby area and exhibits for free, we had just missed the planetarium show which is only seven dollars per person. Griffith also had a working Telsa Coil which I was very excited about and proves how much of a dork that I am. :(


After Los Angeles we headed south to San Diego where we spent an entire day at the zoo mingling with all of the fabulous creatures that live there. We saw Koalas, Pandas, Polar Bears, Lions, and even a Jaguar! The Zoo is incredible and offers activities, an aerial tram and of course hundreds of gorgeously photographed animals.

Also in San Diego we checked out the La Jolla area and hung out at the beach at dusk for a little bit as people cleaned up from their Sunday picnics. While I didn't get to see "downtown", San Diego was a nice city and of course who can argue with the weather?

Our entire Southern California collection can be viewed here.