The Santa Barbara Zoo is what one might call a 'boutique' zoo. It is not one of the large, institutional zoos like San Diego's with tens of thousands of animals and jam packed with visitors. Instead, Santa Barbara has a small, yet very unique and beautiful zoo.
Located on the hills above the Pacific, the zoo has some of the most incredible grounds I've ever seen AND an amazing ocean view. What animal wouldn't appreciate that? Okay, most of the animals probably couldn't care less about an ocean view, but what visitor wouldn't appreciate that?
The Grounds
The Santa Barbara Zoo is unique in that...
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I'll admit it, I'm phoning it in on this post - yes, it's a photo essay on the Old Mission Santa Barbara in Santa Barbara, California.
To be honest, while the mission is incredibly visually impressive it did not leave much of a lasting impression on me. The exhibits were a bit dull and dry.
So instead of boring you with the my trip report and the history of the Mission (cliffs notes version: built by Franciscan monks to convert the local indigineous populations), I'll just be sharing some eye candy from my visit to the spectacularly beautiful mission in Santa Barbara, California and keeping...
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When I'm visiting a new destination, civic buildings that serve the governmental needs of a city are rarely on the top of my list of places to visit. Sure, some cities have interesting town halls or a stately old capitol building, but I usually only seem to give these buildings a passing glance or fleeting attention.
Before visiting Santa Barbara, I had heard that the county courthouse was a nice place to visit. But I originally dismissed it. After all, it was a courthouse - not a museum, not a monument...but a courthouse. How could a courthouse possibly be interesting? It's a civic building...
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I landed in Santa Barbara, California just after midnight. This trip was my first flex trip of the new year, and I was excited to spend some much needed time next to the Pacific ocean basking underneath the California sun.
As I stepped off the small regional jet and onto the tarmac, what struck me most was the sweet smell of the Santa Barbara air, a welcome departure from the exhaust fumes and petroleum plants of the industrial portion of Baton Rouge I had been working in. It was dark so I couldn't tell just what kind of blooms were responsible for the smell, but I certainly didn't care. I was just...
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