So does this happen to you too?  Are there close by places – not necessarily bucket list-y ones, just cool sounding ones – that you mean to visit but you never seem to get to? 

I lived in LA for more than 25 years before getting out to nearby Joshua Tree National Park. At least I finally saw that amazing place – on the other hand, as a Star Trek fan, I can’t believe I still haven’t taken even closer trips like to Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park. (Um, fascinating history and geology aside, I’d mainly be psyched to look for Gorn!)

That’s the thing. I keep kicking interesting local experiences down the road – like visiting the La Brea Tar Pits (eight miles from home) or taking the Warner Bros. Studio Tour (all of a block away…). There are all kinds of spots within a two-hour-ish drive that I’ve wanted to check out – but the list only ever gets longer…

One place I’m pleased to have started covering pretty well, however, is Santa Barbara! I’ve mentioned it in previous posts – as a passing item in year-end wrap-ups, as part of my survey of California’s Missions, and in a meditation on the Pacific coast. Being just within that couple hours’ drive, the city’s been on my list, but it’s mostly served as a strategic point for pitstops or quick bites to eat while on the road to somewhere else.

Lately though, I’ve been giving Santa Barbara its due, discovering what so many folks already know: that it’s a fantastic destination of its own, good not just for a bite but for a whole banquet of things to do and see that’ll please all kinds of tastes – even nerdy ones like mine!

Just like when you hit a good buffet, it’s handy to be able to get a look at the whole spread before filling up your plate. In the case of Santa Barbara, the County Courthouse is actually a great place to start!

Beyond being a functioning government building (I queued up at an info desk behind a woman looking to file divorce papers…), it’s also home to impressive examples of art and architecture that pay homage to the area’s past:

A real treat too is the view from the clock tower! Surveying the town from above with the Pacific Ocean on one side and the Santa Ynez Mountains on the other, it’s easy to see why centuries’ worth of different peoples have wanted to call this “home”!

Having a hearty (and, yes, nerdy – I’m owning it) appetite for history, I’ve enjoyed good-sized helpings of the museums and historic sites around Santa Barbara! The Santa Barbara Historical Museum offers a survey of the region’s native, Spanish, Mexican, American, Chinese and even filmic roots, and it includes a room devoted to celebrating the long-standing annual Old Spanish Days Fiesta. Also playing host to events centered on everything from wine, to film, to the Summer Solstice, this city does seem to know a thing or two about fest-ing!

And if all the Santa Barbara lore there happens to get you in a romantic mood, you can even get married right on museum grounds! (BTW, the Courthouse isn’t just for divorcing – its pretty gardens and such are available for weddings too!)

Sampling yet more items from the historic end of the buffet, I’ve toured Mission Santa Barbara which has been an important fixture there in the hills since the 18th Century – a reminder of the town’s role as a link in the chain of Spanish missions that connected Alta California back in the day:

And El Presidio de Santa Barbara State Historic Park memorializes Spanish efforts at the time to maintain those connections in whatever way was needed:

Okay, keeping the whole “banquet” comparison rolling (or maybe running it into the ground…), I can confidently report that the spread at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art is spectacular!

The museum serves up a stunning floor to ceiling collection of paintings, sculptures and other media that spans the centuries as well as the globe:

I always play a game at art museums where I choose one favorite item I’d take home for my “collection” if I were wealthy – or good at burgling. The Museum of Art’s winner was this 19th century work by Paul Signac:

It was a tough call. Among the runners up was a portrait by Ilya Repin which would have joined my treasured print of a work of his I saw at a museum in Finland – catching another Repin felt like running into an old friend! In the end, the subject and texture of the Signac painting soothed me and won me over – not being any kind of a burglar though (or at least not having tried), I’ve settled for visiting it rather than grabbing it and running.

Meanwhile, down at the harbor, Mum and I were delighted one time to partake of the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum’s smorgasbord of stories about residents like the Chumash, explorers like Juan Cabrillo, as well as whalers, fishers and deep sea divers who’ve all made a living from the sea:

Despite having sampled a fair number of Santa Barbara delicacies by now, there’s still so much more I’d like to make room for like the zoo, whale watching, wine tasting, and shopping along State Street. And while I love taking in all of the city’s expressions of the human influences that shaped it, I’m always happy to soak in (maybe not literally) natural influences too like the ocean – and spend what I consider quality time simply gazing out to sea:

And finally, when the “banquet” metaphor gets real, man can that sea ever provide!

So even though there are still tons of other nearby places I plan to get around to exploring, I expect Santa Barbara will remain on my list. Because just like the ever-changing Pacific Ocean beside it, the city seems to reveal something different to me every time I visit. Plus, its rich history has now kind of become mingled with my own, and I treasure the memory of wonderful experiences and adventures I’ve been lucky to savor there with dear, dear family and friends – 

And that might be the richest treat of all.

Anyway, I’ll get around to places like the Tar Pits – truly. But hey, those creatures have been stuck there since the Ice Age, so I’m thinking that buffet will still be open when an archaeological hunger hits. In the meantime? Well, I’ll be going back to Santa Barbara for thirds and fourths!

Cheers!