Travel Journals: Santa Barbara - Missions, Mansions, Models and History

Ever since we saw a gardener last year sweeping the sidewalk with a palm frond, Carol has craved her own palm broom. This year I made it my job to find one for her. It wasn't easy. I found several possibilities, but none quite fit the bill. Too big. Too small. Too scrawny. Then one morning last week on our dog walk on the ocean front, eureka! Just right! Carol was delighted. For my part, I was proud to find something for the Queen of Finding Things. Rowdie gazed out to sea, unimpressed.

(Click on any photo to make it screen size.)

Carol's Dream Broom

On that same walk, I scored another find - Eller's Bakery, where they make the best raised glazed doughnuts I've tasted in a long, long time.

On another dog walk last week, we decided to stroll the beach at Arroyo Burro. Rowdie loves the beach. The smells are pure heaven for a Midwestern dog - salt air, seaweed, shells. And the birds! Terns! Gulls! Sometimes even pelicans! She barks a greeting to each and every one. We didn't get to walk this day, however. We had forgotten to check the tide charts; there was no beach to walk at high tide!

The excitement for the week began with a trip to Getty Villa. Carol loved our visit so much last year that she just had to go again. While she took the garden tour, I set myself the challenge of finding photos that I hadn't already taken last year, when I had a field day with my camera.

Pottery, Getty Villa

Gardens, Getty Villa

Fresco Detail, Getty Villa

Bench, Getty Villa

There is a walk high in the Santa Ynez Mountains that I wanted badly to take because of the promise of a dramatic sunset. The one-mile round trip to Knapp's Castle isn't long enough or hard enough to qualify as a "hike," but it turned out to be worth the drive up into the mountains, which is a pleasure in itself. We left the house in fog, but I was hoping that the remains of the mansion would be above the fog. I was right!

Fog-enshrouded Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz Island, seen at dusk from Camino Cielo, Santa Ynez Mountains

We arrived in plenty of time for me to shoot photos to my heart's content while we waited for the sun to descend below the mountains between us and the sea. What we encountered at Knapp's Castle when we arrived reminded us that you never know what surprises await when you are exploring new trails.

Knapp's Castle, Santa Ynez Mountains

Sunset in the Santa Ynez Mountains, from Knapp's Castle

And the surprise - we happened upon a fashion photo shoot.

Natural Beauty of Santa Ynez Mountains, Enhanced


Fashion Photographer - my retirement career?

The parade of visitors began last Friday with the arrival of our friend, Jan Search. (I'll talk more about visitors in my next blog.) Jan, Carol and I had a great day on Sunday, when we drove to Lompoc to visit Mission La Purisima. I was expecting to see just another mission church, but instead we found a complete restoration of a mission compound - church, dwellings, livestock pens (with some livestock), gardens, residences. While Carol took an interesting docent-led tour, Jan and I wandered the several acres trying to capture it all with our photography.

The mission was a thriving community in the early 19th century, with over a thousand residents. A plaque informed us that the mission livestock inventory for 1820 lists: 9,500 cattle; 12,600 sheep; 1,305 horses; 288 mules; 86 swine; 40 goats and 15 burros. "The ducks, turkeys, chickens and geese," it reported, "were not counted."