The first stop on the cruise was to the city of Santa Barbara. The first thing I noticed was the beautiful Spanish-style architecture. I always love seeing other places and occasionally fall in love with the vibe there. Had I spent more time in SB I could have had the opportunity to get to know the town. When I looked in to day trip activities the only things that came up were winery tours. We aren't winery people! There is a bus that will bring you around townSo through some research I found out about a town named Solvang. It is a Danish town about 45 minutes from Santa Barbara.
Santa Barbara is a tender port. I always get nervous with tender ports because there is the potential for severe backlogs when trying to go ashore. For the first hour-ish they allowed people to go down to "beat the rush." By the time we finished breakfast and headed down it was tender ticket time. We managed to get tickets for number one.
It was an easy trip to the wharf, no delays, no issues.
I reserved a car from Avis in advance, it was about a 20 minute walk from where the tenders let us off. Avis opened at 9am and we arrived at 8:50. The guy working opened the doors early because there were quite a few people waiting to pick up for the day. He was quick and got everyone in to their cars faster than I expected. I had reserved a small SUV for the day. We were given a Chevy Equinox. It was spacious enough for the five of us for the day.
We took the scenic route there along the coast rather than the mountain road. Someone on cruise critic told me about it, so we followed those directions.
We spent the day walking around looking in the shops, eating pastries, pretzels, and stopping for some coffee and hot chocolate. Right when we went for the coffee it started to rain. We weren't happy, but the locals were because the state of California is in a drought.
It was an easy trip to the wharf, no delays, no issues.
I reserved a car from Avis in advance, it was about a 20 minute walk from where the tenders let us off. Avis opened at 9am and we arrived at 8:50. The guy working opened the doors early because there were quite a few people waiting to pick up for the day. He was quick and got everyone in to their cars faster than I expected. I had reserved a small SUV for the day. We were given a Chevy Equinox. It was spacious enough for the five of us for the day.
We took the scenic route there along the coast rather than the mountain road. Someone on cruise critic told me about it, so we followed those directions.
We spent the day walking around looking in the shops, eating pastries, pretzels, and stopping for some coffee and hot chocolate. Right when we went for the coffee it started to rain. We weren't happy, but the locals were because the state of California is in a drought.
We enjoyed our time in Solvang. I wish we had eaten lunch in one of the restaurants but we filled up on treats throughout our day! I remember the Cruise Compass saying that the last tender was at 4:30pm. My husband, who likes to give me a heart attack, told me he saw 3pm. So now I was in a panic during the whole ride back to Santa Barbara. I kept running everything through my head:
1) Get gas
2) Return car
3) Walk to wharf.
It was raining throughout our entire drive back. I was happy for the locals, but it made for an interesting afternoon. We arrived at Avis and took care of the car return, but then we had to walk back to the wharf. About 20 minutes. The problem was, we had my son's car seat. Car seat straps cannot get wet, if they do they are no longer effective. So I asked the guy at Avis for a garbage bag to cover the seat. He went in the back and bought out a car seat bag that they use when cleaning them. I put the seat in a bag and then placed the seat on top of the stroller. The little one insisted that his monkey doll/blanket be safely put under the bag so he didn't get wet.
The next dilemma was my husband. He wasn't wearing a jacket and did not want to get drenched on the walk back to the ship. The guy at Avis gave him a car seat bag too. Matt proceeded to tear holes for his head and arms. Everyone was laughing at him, but in good fun of course...
and then we had this!
1) Get gas
2) Return car
3) Walk to wharf.
It was raining throughout our entire drive back. I was happy for the locals, but it made for an interesting afternoon. We arrived at Avis and took care of the car return, but then we had to walk back to the wharf. About 20 minutes. The problem was, we had my son's car seat. Car seat straps cannot get wet, if they do they are no longer effective. So I asked the guy at Avis for a garbage bag to cover the seat. He went in the back and bought out a car seat bag that they use when cleaning them. I put the seat in a bag and then placed the seat on top of the stroller. The little one insisted that his monkey doll/blanket be safely put under the bag so he didn't get wet.
The next dilemma was my husband. He wasn't wearing a jacket and did not want to get drenched on the walk back to the ship. The guy at Avis gave him a car seat bag too. Matt proceeded to tear holes for his head and arms. Everyone was laughing at him, but in good fun of course...
and then we had this!
I was in flip flops, so by the time we got to the wharf my feet were wet and cold. Thankfully part of the tender waiting area was covered so we were able to stand under it.
On the way back to the ship our tender saw a life jacket floating in the water. They have a duty to check out the situation and make sure there isn't a person attached to it. So we went in circles for a few minutes as the crew members retrieved the lifejacket from the water. It was pretty choppy out there. I never get seasick, but I was feeling queezy during this experience!
On the way back to the ship our tender saw a life jacket floating in the water. They have a duty to check out the situation and make sure there isn't a person attached to it. So we went in circles for a few minutes as the crew members retrieved the lifejacket from the water. It was pretty choppy out there. I never get seasick, but I was feeling queezy during this experience!
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