Sorry to break up our trip even more, but believe me...this tour deserves it's own post!
BUT before we get to that... let me pick up where I left off. So after I ate the most delicious cupcakes of my life and enjoyed sampling some champagne, we still had an hour or so to kill before the tour started (seems like the longest day ever when I write it all out lol). We decided we would walk down the street to the pier and check out the ships. As we were on our way, we noticed a huge crowd (lots of huge crowds actually) and then all of a sudden we saw why.
There were planes flying overhead! And not just any planes.
This was a special celebration for the upcoming Veteran's Day holiday.
Let me tell you, it was amazing. The planes were amazing and the vehicles there were amazing. The whole celebration was so special and it was awesome to be a part of it.
We stayed put until the fly over was done and then walked down the street to check out the vehicles they had on display on our way to the pier. It was pretty awesome to see the helicopter, Jeeps, and tanks in person.
By this time, it was time for our tour to start so we headed back over to our meeting spot.
We met our tour guide, Tara (who also happened to be the owner of the company - we later found out), for our tour called
Eat This, Shoot That. To be honest, I don't even know how I found the tour (google? trip advisor?), but I am SO happy I did! It was the perfect way to get a little taste of everything that Santa Barbara is all about in a short amount of time.
We were lucky enough to have a small group - Tour guide Tara, Seth, me, a girl from Australia, and Tara's boyfriend (who was taking her tour for the first time). It was perfect.
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[A little bit about the tour taken directly from the
Eat This, Shoot That website] This casual 2.5 hour Santa Barbara food tour takes guests through the Funk Zone for small bites and sips of beer, wine, and spirits. Along the way, learn a thing or two about photography from a pro. You’re welcome to bring along your camera or just your smartphone! We promise you’ll have a good time and maybe even learn a thing or two about photography and Santa Barbara history.
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Our first stop on the tour was the
Deep Sea Winery. It is the only winery to have this FANTASTIC view of Santa Barbara.
While at the winery, we got to taste two wines (of our choosing) and Tara taught us a little about photography and how to shoot some cool photos. The place was packed so I didn't get to try as much as I would like, but I shot the below photo of my wine glass on the ledge of the balcony.
And this picture inside.
After the winery, we headed down the pier to the
Santa Barbara Shellfish Company. Tara told us that since it was seafood, she couldn't order ahead of time, so we could go explore the pier while she ordered our food.
A couple of minutes later, the food was ready and we had this AMAZING, fresh shrimp ceviche to taste and photograph.
After the ceviche, we headed back down the pier and Tara gave us some history on Santa Barbara. After a few minutes, we were in what they call "The Funk Zone" where Tara taught us how to use the sun as our friend and how to get the right shadows in your pictures.
And then we headed to the
Lucky Penny. The whole outside wall was "wall papered" with pennies.
It was pretty amazing. As was this pizza. It had chorizo, potatoes, an egg, and much more.
We literally inhaled the pizza and were off to our next stop, the
Figueroa Mountain Brewing Company. We got to taste one beer and have one beer float. Holy moly. Not only was the beer amazing but the ice cream at the end of the float - to die for.
After the brewery, we were off to Santa Barbara's first distillery since Prohibition,
Cutler's Artisan Spirits. We were given small shots of
vodka,
gin,
bourbon whiskey, and this AMAZING
apple pie liqueur. Honest to goodness it tasted just like apple pie. It was delicious. And I've NEVER said that about straight alcohol before.
Our next (and last) stop was the
Riverbench Winery. We got to sample some of the most yummy champagne and eat some of the most delicious toffee from Koval Confections. Seriously it is so good, the locals call it crack.
We took a group selfie and the tour was over.
We were supposed to go to the
Seven Bar + Kitchen as well but there was an unexpected death in the owners (there are several owners and one passed away that weekend) and so they were closed for the funeral. Tara apologized profusely and assured us that if we came back to visit, we would have to go check them out. They are amazing.
Seriously, if you go to Santa Barbara, TAKE THIS TOUR. We had SO much fun and I literally asked if Tara could be our tour guide for the rest of the night. (Sadly she said no). But the tour was AMAZING. The tour was a little over two hours and totally worth every penny we paid.
We headed back to our car and back to our hotel to figure out what we wanted to do for our one last evening in Santa Barbara. We ended up deciding on take out sushi from a place across the street and sipping on some of our new wine.
We were about to hit the hay when I remembered that there was an ice cream place down the street... and not just any ice cream place, supposedly the best ice cream in Santa Barbara. So what did we do? Of course we went to get ice cream!
The place was PACKED with a line out the door but the employees worked really fast to help all the customers. We were able to choose between frozen yogurt and ice cream, in a cup or in a cone.
I opted for cookies and cream and Seth got coffee.
Both lived up to their reputation and were incredible.
Overall? Our trip was AMAZING. We had the best time. You might notice that almost all of my pictures revolve around food and you would be right. We pretty much ate our way around Santa Barbara and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute and every bite. You guys, I want to go back JUST for all of the food experiences that we had.
If you live near Santa Barbara, or in California in general, or are just looking for an amazing vacation, definitely check out Santa Barbara! You won't be disappointed!