SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA – I’m geared up for my first-ever sailboat ride in Santa Barbara. But the weather isn’t co-operating.
We’re supposed to take a sunset cruise with the folks from the Santa Barbara Sailing Center, but it’s a grey afternoon in mid-November and the prospects of an actual sunset are rather dim.
But, hey, it’s warm enough for a ride on the water and this native Californian has 37 Canadian winters under his belt, so I’m not overly stressed.
The captain and crew pull the ship out of the marina and out past the pretty Santa Barbara Pier, ,where a group of sea lions are crowded on a rocking buoy; piled two or three deep and grunting with dissatisfaction whenever one of the group decides to shift positions. The crew opens the bar and invite one of the passengers to help hoist the sail, which she does with gusto; especially when the crew instructs her to get her foot up high and use some leverage.
The sun begins to shine on our sunset cruise in Santa Barbara. JIM BYERS PHOTO
Just about then, perhaps 10 minutes into the cruise, the clouds begin to break. I’m excited by the light, which is soft and reminiscent of a French Impressionist painting. A few boats scudder in front of us, giving me something to shoot other than sky and water. Pretty soon it’s almost balmy. The crew points out a home on the shore that belongs to the guy who started Beanie Babies toys (Ty Warner) and also the distant palace on a hill that’s the home of a certain Oprah Winfrey.
By now the sun is full force, and we luck into one of the prettier sunsets I can remember. The P.A. system on the boat is playing a song about Santa Barbara girls and the dozen or so guests are soaking it all in as we slide past the pier and back to the dock.
The website lists a sunset cruise – ours was two hours or so – for $40 for adults; a bargain if you ask me.
The Santa Barbara Sailing Center crew do a fine job, and their sailboats are beauties. JIM BYERS PHOTO
Earlier in the day we’d had lunch at a new place in downtown Santa Barbara called Tyger Tyger, where we had Southeast Asian food wrapped in thin rice paper crepes that you make yourself and then stuff with whatever you order. In our case, it was pork slices, perfect pink shrimp, shredded carrots, fragrant Thai basil, bean sprouts and cilantro. We also enjoy a fine Korean short rib with salad.
There’s a small patio off to one side of the restaurant. Inside the place is decorated with dozens and dozens of tiny pink lanterns that give off a lovely light. The inside section also boasts a coffee place and an ice cream shop called Monkey Shine ice cream place that serves up unusual flavours, including a sundae with toasted rice ice soft serve ice cream, miso caramel sauce, salted rice crackers and shredded coconut.
A sunset cruise in Santa Barbara, California. JIM BYERS PHOTO
We have just enough time for a couple of wine tastings; the Santa Barbara area and nearby Santa Ynez Valley being one of the best – and most diverse – wine-growing regions in a state that’s overflowing with them. You can drive all around the valley and taste wine, but it’s a lot easier to sample at the many wine tasting rooms in downtown Santa Barbara, specifically in an area near Highway 101 called “The Funk Zone.”
We try some wonderful unoaked Chardonnay at the Santa Barbara Wine Collective, which appears to be built in a space that once housed a garage or car repair shop. One of the wines is called A State of Grace and was, we’re told, named after one of the winemaker’s grandmothers.
At Kunin Wines, we sample a nice white called Pape Star (as in Chateauneuf du Pape) and perhaps the palest of rose wine you’ll ever see. It’s like someone took a bottle of white wine and just whispered the words “red grape skins” over the top. They also make a nice Mourvedre, one of the Rhone varietals that seems to flourish in the region.
The Wine Collective of Santa Barbara.
Santa Barbara, as I said, is a diverse wine-growing region. Areas near the coast are often kissed with cool night and morning fog from the Pacific, which makes them ideal for cool climate Chardonnays or for Pinot Noir, which is both elegant and excellent in the region. Areas that are further inland can get baking hot in summer, making them better for fuller-bodied whites or big reds such as Cabernet Sauvignon or Syrah.
I remember being in the Santa Ynez Valley eight or ten years ago and tasting Sauvignon Blanc wines made the same exact way by the same winemaker, but in two disparate areas with different climates. The differences in the wines were astonishing; one quite crisp and zippy and the other big and blousy.
Our lodgings for the night are out in Buellton, a small city in the Santa Ynez Valley about a half-hour away by car. We drive past pretty beaches and rolling hills dotted with chaparral and oak trees and roll into town.
An ice cream sundae to go at Monkey Shine in Santa Barbara. JIM BYERS PHOTO
We unload our bags in nearby Buellton at a funky property called Flying Flags RV Resort and Campground, where they have not only spaces for trailers and RV’s but also a series of small cabins or cottages for folks who prefer their hotel room not be on wheels.
The cabins are all named after horses, and we haul our bags into one called Palomino, where there’s a horse pillow on the sofa and a Horse Encyclopedia book on the coffee table. It’s a small but well-thought-out unit, with a bedroom, a loft upstairs with two beds, a full kitchen with beautiful, stainless steel appliances and a small living room with a sofa, a big-screen TV and a high table for casual dining.
It’s not big but it has everything you need. And there’s a covered porch out front with chairs and, off to the side, a good-sized patio with potted plants, a dining area and a barbeque. We didn’t have time, but I would’ve love to have spent an afternoon lazing in the sun on the patio with a glass of local Pinot Noir and then have my morning coffee on the porch.
Our cabin at the Flying Flags RV Resort and Campground in Buellton. JIM BYERS PHOTO
There’s a large play area for kids, with a swimming pool and Jacuzzi, a bocce court, bean bag toss games, ping pong and more. It strikes me as a nice spot for folks on their own, and darned near perfect for a family with a couple of small kids.
If you’re up for something different, you also can arrange to stay the night in a sleek, silver Airstream trailer. They also have smaller cottages and “glamping” tents.
The resort is steps from Highway 101 and maybe 15 minutes to Gaviota Beach. The cool town of Los Olivos is nearby, with its wineries and home décor shops. Or you can wander down the road to Solvang, which is made up to look like a Danish settlement.
The Hitching Post II restaurant is featured in the hilarious movie “Sideways.”
For dinner, a friend sets us up at Hitching Post II, made famous in the movie Sideways, which was set in the area and follows the adventures of college roommates who head here for a weekend of drinking and debauchery.
It’s a short drive to the restaurant from Flying Flags, and we find ourselves at a table next to the kitchen, where there’s a glassed-in section that allows us to see the cooks firing the steaks over an open fire pit. This part of California is famous for what’s called Santa Maria Barbeque, where fresh cuts of beef are cooked over open fires fueled with local oak, which imparts a kiss of smoke and wood to the meat.
Grilling up a storm at Hitching Post II in Buellton.
The steaks here are exceptional. And the prices are ridiculously cheap by Canadian standards. If you try a Ruth’s Chris in Toronto you might pay $70 CAD for a 16-ounce sirloin cut, which is far too large. Sides are extra, and not cheap.
At Hitching Post II, I got a perfectly sized, 7 ounce sirloin that was full of flavour and perfectly charred around the edges for $29 US; roughly $42 CAD. But it came with a baked potato (or fries or rice), an appetizer (I had tomato soup with sausage), garlic bread, a salad and a veggie tray. That meal in Toronto would cost at least $90 or $100 CAD. And, to me, a Hitching Post II steak is far better than what you get at Ruth’s Chris or those other high-end steak joints.
Besides, you also can order one of the local Hitching Post II Pinot Noirs or other great California wines at far less than what you’d pay in Canada.
I love this area. And I adore this restaurant.
MORE INFORMATION: https://santabarbaraca.com/, https://www.discoverbuellton.com/
