Santa Barbara Fun and Sun

We played the tourist roles to the hilt yesterday and today by hopping on a trolley tour that took us all along the waterfront, up into the hills where the real $$$$ lives and then back down through the heart of downtown Santa Barbara.  It was a great overview with some chances to take some really nice pictures and videos.

The beautiful Fess Parker (yes that Fess Parker!) Doubletree Resort.

Along the waterfront


The lovely fountain at the Mission of Santa Barbara:

After seeing some of the multi-million dollar homes I may have to settle for this sweet little cottage, which is fine by me.

Wednesday began with a walk to the beach in the morning fog after breakfast at the somewhat politically incorrectly named SAMBOS, a local breakfast favorite.  It is the original restaurant that spawned some others, but they faded away over time as the general population became a little more aware of perhaps offensive references.   I read the Little Sambo books as a child, how many of my readers remember them?  Nevertheless, pictures inside the restaurant still represent the story of the little boy who tricked the tigers into turning themselves into butter for his pancakes.

Mr. Tennis enjoys his morning coffee al fresco

We headed for the lovely Santa Barbara zoo where we were greeted by the obligatory flamingo gathering:

Managed to capture a hummingbird on video in one of the bird exhibits:











The aptly named Bleeding Heart  Pigeon was something I had never seen before.

The elephants had a million dollar view from their enclosure:

The lions were lazy, yet still majestic:

And we spied a slightly familiar-looking face (sorry Panda)

The gorillas were surprisingly delicate in their eating technique:

After watching the gorillas chowing down, it was time for lunch and we headed to Brophy Bros. in the marina.  Where the view from our table was just lovely.

Our Sunset Sailing cruise fell through, so we rented a tandem bike and enjoyed the sunset along the beach.

We then ended the night with some good food and drinks at our new favorite restaurant in SB :

We highly recommend this place for it's eclectic menu, excellent kitchen and inexpensive adult beverages. And laid-back atmosphere,

Hopefully our last day in Santa Barbara will begin with a whale watching trip and end with us enjoying some of the sights and sounds of the local Fiesta Days activities that are going on around town right now.