Santa Barbara is a beautiful city with all the charm of some of the towns we visited in Spain. Not having been to Mexico and knowing little about the history and architecture of that country, it’s possible that the style of the town that I am identifying with Spain is, in fact, Mexican. But the stucco walls, red tiled roofs, and signature wrought iron upper story railings were reminiscent of the Spanish towns we visited in Andalucía. Even the red and pink blooms that climb up trellises and fall over rock walls in Santa Barbara were prolific in Spain.

State Street, the main downtown strip was a long stretch of open door shops and outdoor cafes. Side alleys held their own hidden treasures and opened into courtyards or open air shopping malls like consumer secret gardens. Even the pedestrian walkways were patterned with different coloured bricks as they were in Europe.

Santa Barbara is a city I could return to. (Sorry about the dangling preposition). Beautiful parks, European architecture and culture, near perfect climate, and – pelicans (and other birds). Who wouldn’t want to come back?

Our route to San Luis Obispo was the coast highway, the road less travelled. For the most part it was a slower freeway that would end as we reached a town and then begin again as we left it. Just south of Guatalupe, in an obviously agricultural area, there were fields upon fields of blue/green foliage in perfect rows and a smell of cabbage permeatd the air. I was thinking broccoli or cauliflower, but I couldn’t see any crowns on the plants.  This will remain a mystery for the time being.

Until tomorrow. . . .