Santa Barbara, California: A Great Spot for a Beach Getaway!

If you have never been to Santa Barbara, California, you are missing out on a real treasure. So much of California is heavily touristed that it is difficult to find a place whose genuine charm persists despite commercialization. My husband and I had the pleasure of stumbling upon this beautiful city on our honeymoon. We took a three week trip throughout the west and up the coast of California using only a Froemmer's Guide and Atlas for recommendations.

We decided to stop in Santa Barbara completely by accident. It was the Fourth of July, and we knew we wanted to have a picnic on the beach, but we had no destination in mind as we headed north from a campsite on the outskirts of L.A. I was driving, and getting frustrated that we had no gameplan as the afternoon hours rolled by as we traveled up Highway 1. We had been calling hotels from the car with no luck because of the holiday. When I saw the signs for Santa Barbara, I told my husband to find a hotel in the book and try to find us a room that didn't cost a fortune. He called the Franciscan Inn, where there was one room available at $130.

When we pulled in, we had a feeling we would not be disappointed. The entire town's architecture has a Spanish flair to it. Between the red tiled roofs, palm trees, and flowers as big as our heads, we knew we had made a good decision to stop. We checked in to the hotel, which was complete with flowering trees, a jacuzzi, pool, and decorative fountains. The room was charmingly quaint and homey, like checking in to the spare bedroom at your Grandma's house. The hotel is only two stories high, and spread out among several buildings with access directly from the sidewalks. The weather was so perfect that we could just sit with our door open, with a privacy screen composed of giant flowers hanging from a tree outside our room.

We were so close to the beach that we had no problem carrying all our picnic gear there for the fireworks show that evening. After a full day of swimming in the warm sun, we were happy that it cooled down a bit so that we needed jackets as the sun set. All the inhabitants of the small college town seemed to all be out that night as we realized we were not the only ones to come up with the idea of a picnic on the sand. The piers were filled with cute seafood restaurants and small marinas. It seems like everyone we met were locals who were so excited that we decided to visit them for our honeymoon. After the fireworks we followed some people we'd met to a bar called "The Neighborhood" where locals bought drinks for us all night long.

After a great night, we didn't really want to leave, but we had to continue our trip. Some day, we will go back and visit when we will be able to spend more time! I would highly recommend a stay at the Franciscan Inn in Santa Barbara to anyone who wants to spend some relaxing time on the beach. You won't regret it!