Outside of Santa Barbara, up the San Marcos Pass, there is a former stagecoach stop. The Cold Spring Tavern, built in 1868, brings one back in time to the Old West.
A scenic drive led to this now popular restaurant where reservations are needed. We had lunch reservations set for 11:30 a.m., as soon as it opened.
It sits all by itself on this old stagecoach route, on Stagecoach Road. We found parking in the rocky, rutty unpaved parking lot that held about ten cars. After the lot is full, cars line the streets for a long way…which was the case by the time we left.
I love eating outdoors, and this restaurant offered outdoor seating, but I thought it would be more of a unique experience to eat inside this original tavern. It had multiple, small rooms.
We were led to a room with a stone fireplace, and the fire was blazing. It was windy and cool outside so the fire felt good, and added much to the ambiance. We had the room to ourselves for a short while. We placed our order and sat back to relax in this unique and quiet setting. The food was tasty.
We know friends from Northfield who were married at the Cold Spring Tavern, back in 1973. We thought of them while we were there.
After lunch we drove another route home, through wine country and then back to Santa Barbara, along the Pacific Ocean.
Many special memories were created on our recent trip to Santa Barbara. We went to meet our newest granddaughter, born in March. She is beautiful and so very precious. Being with her, and our other two grandchildren, ages 7 & 4, and with our son and daughter-in-love was the best. And we were able to attend grandparents’ day at the two older kid’s school which was a highlight.
We celebrated three generations of birthdays. All three birthdays fell within a week of each other, and within the time we were in California. Grandpa turned 72 on his birthday, and our son had a birthday, as did his daughter, our granddaughter. She turned 7.
We also enjoyed seeing our youngest son who joined us for a few days. We missed his two children and daughter-in-love who stayed back in North Carolina.
We stayed at a European-style villa, about a 9-minute walk to our son’s house. It was a lovely jaunt to begin each morning, and a nice stroll back at the end of the day.
Many flowers were in bloom! I didn’t identify them all with my app, but I did take a lot of pictures. So many interesting kinds and colors…
Succulents were a popular garden plant. I was delighted to see how beautiful they are, with such a variety of shapes and colors.
Of course, an ocean view never gets old. We ate lunch on the harbor a couple of times. It is enchanting…and so picturesque to see all the “boats” docked.
It was fun to see the pelicans fly by, and watch them dive bomb for their dinner. They circle high above the water, then dive straight down, head and beak first, when they spot a tasty morsel.
One afternoon Gary and I descended 200+ steps down Mesa Lane Steps to the beach and walked a mile or so to the next set of steps called One Thousand Steps. On our way up we counted about 150. Apparently the name dates back to a time when there were actually 1,000 small wooden steps.
One can only walk along this section of beach, bordered by sandstone cliffs that jut into the water, during low tide, otherwise water at high tide covers the beach.
Santa Barbara is on a 42-mile stretch of land that faces south on the Pacific Ocean. It is the longest stretch of south-facing coast between Alaska and South America. During a few months, you can see both the sunrise and the sunset in some places.
During our stay, April’s full moon waxed and waned to and from its fullness, shining in all its glory.
In the past we have not usually acknowledged Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, which is the day before Ash Wednesday, when Lent begins, but we did celebrate the occasion this year. When we arrived in Dunedin, where our friends now live in Florida, a Mardi Gras parade was scheduled for that evening.
The parade route was blocks from their house so we walked over to join the fun. Our friends had a few Mardi Gras parades “under their belt” because their daughter lives in New Orleans, so Sue dug out her box of goodies labeled “Mardi Gras” and we donned some extra embellishments before we headed out.
I did not know, but at Mardi Gras parades the MO (mode of operation) is to throw out sparkly beaded necklaces…and when you catch one (or miss it and pick it up off the street) you collect them around your neck. They are plentiful, and we had accumulated a lot by the end of the parade.
The parade was at night, which meant the floats and displays were all lit up with multi-colored lights. I’m a fan of color and I really enjoyed seeing the beautiful lighted processions. It was fun to catch the jewels too.
There was a very large turnout for this parade. The parade route ended at a city park where there were plenty of concessions stands and other forms of entertainment to participate in after the parade.
We experienced some colorful adventures on our trip. One being in the “American Sign Museum” in Cincinnati, Ohio.
After seeing some neon sign pictures recently, I became intrigued. I wondered if there was a neon sign museum anywhere in the U.S. I searched the internet and found a few…the largest being The Museum of Neon Art in Glendale, California. There was also The National Sign Museum in The Dalles, Oregon, The Neon Museum in Las Vegas, Nevada, American Sign Museum in Cincinnati, Ohio and The Lost Highway Museum (a private collection in Washington).
I thought if our undetermined route takes us near Cincinnati, it might be possible to check out the American Sign Museum on our way home from our recent roadtrip…and we did. The museum is small (it’s hoping to expand) but it was full of fun signs (not all neon) and signage history.
We enjoyed our time looking at all the different types and styles of signs and we felt it was worth the stop. I would consider going to other sign museums, if there was an opportunity to do so.
I was impressed by all the figures neon signs could portray. They are truly works of art. Each one unique.
Color, color… wonderful, bright color.
Who knew it would be so interesting to see a collection of old signs, but it was!
It is great to know neon signs continue to be crafted.
Color, color… so much color. This was one of two colorful adventures on this trip. Stay tuned for another one.
On our February road trip through the southeastern states, we met up with a lot of friends and family. We pre-planned, or made last minute plans, to connect with folks that either lived in the areas we visited, or they were visiting the same areas in the south where we were. Our two intended sightseeing destinations were Charleston, South Carolina and St. Augustine, Florida.
We stayed in a beautiful carriage house in the historic district of Charleston, South Carolina. It rained the first day we were there, but the inn provided umbrellas so we went on our merry way, walking around the city, and to the Charleston Museum which was very interesting.
We toured a WWII aircraft carrier (the Yorktown) in Charleston which we found intriguing and worthwhile.
We went on a horse-drawn carriage ride (on a nice, sunny day).
We walked along Rainbow Row (named for a series of thirteen colorful historic row houses in Charleston), and ate some great seafood.
Charleston is nicknamed the holy city because of its number of church spires that dot its skyline.
St. Michael’s is one of the churches with a steeple, built in the 1750’s. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. George Washington worshipped there one time, as did Robert E. Lee. It continues to have an active congregation today.
It’s a stunning white church that stands out. It is gorgeous! During the revolutionary war, the steeple was painted black for disguise. For more of its colorful history click here: St. Michael’s Church.
A friend recommended I read the book Celia Garth prior to our visit to Charleston. It is a historical fiction novel by Gwen Bristow written in 1959. The narrative takes place in Charleston during the revolutionary war. The author provided me some orientation to the town, and a lot of its history. The story was fun to envision as we walked along the cobblestone streets.
Charleston is s charming city.
St. Augustine, on the northeast coast of Florida, was an exciting place to visit too. It is the oldest city in the U.S., and is known for its Spanish colonial architecture. We enjoyed walking around this city, which is our preferred mode of transportation. The beautiful buildings and quaint shops and old city gate were all fun to see.
We toured the Castillo de San Marcos fort, a 17th-century Spanish stone fortress.
We climbed up 219 steps of the historic 1874 St. Augustine Lighthouse.
And we ate more great seafood.
Although I had not read a book about St. Augustine before our trip (it was referred to several times in Celia Garth), we throughly enjoyed our visit to the oldest city in the United States.
On our recent trip to visit our son and his family in North Carolina, I brought along my rock painting materials. I had collected several smooth stones for the grandkids to paint, and I prepared them ahead of time by painting the background black.
We set up our work area by placing a cheap, plastic table cloth over the kitchen island. We put on old t-shirts to protect our clothing.
We took out the paints and put a few drops of paint in each indention of the little palettes I brought along. We set out our paint brushes, and a glass of water in a plastic glass to clean our brushes in-between colors. Then we sat down to paint.
We each painted about 6-8 rocks with non-toxic acrylic paints. We painted some designs but mostly words (and some design with words). Our intent was to bring them on our next hike and place each stone strategically along a path for others to find the painted rocks.
The kids loved that idea, although they did want to keep a couple rocks for themselves. I sprayed lacquer, to set the paint color, on the two they wanted to keep.
The next day we went to the near-by nature preserve, which we visit often. On our hike we stopped occassionally, to place a painted rock on the ground next to the trail, hoping someone would enjoy finding these special treasures.
I know I always enjoy finding positive messages in unexpected places. A good time was had by all, and hopefully for those who find the rocks.
We have arrived safely home from our 4,690 miles road trip, through eleven states in southeastern US. We saw a lot of beauty in nature, and beauty in the many friends and family we were able to visit. We are grateful all went well, and we had a great time!
There have been unusual weather patterns all across the country. It was warm here in Minnesota during February, with little snow fall. And it was cooler than normal in the southeast, where we were.
In Iowa Monday night, February 26, it was 72* and we ate dinner outside on a restaurant patio.
But our welcome home present was a cold snap. As we drove closer to Northfield the next day, the temperature kept dropping. When we arrived home we unloaded our car in 25* temperatures. It also started snowing. Sigh. We woke up to 5*!
It is predicted to remain cold for one day and then the temperatures will start climbing back up again. What a roller coaster. I wonder what kind of weather March will bring?
While visiting with our friends near Clearwater, FL they thought we would like to visit the Seaside Seabird Sanctuary, and they were right.
We enjoyed seeing the beautiful coastal birds, which included owls, egrets, herons, and several other birds we see back in Minnesota.
Although most of the birds in the sanctuary have been injured somehow, it was great to see them recovering and walking or flying around…some up close and personal.
Many of the birds were in enclosures by themselves, or in large pens with multiple birds. Some were walking the grounds and others were flying freely.
Of course, the risk is one may get bombed with a plop of bird poop. One such plop landed on our friend’s cell phone.
Some of the birds may be perfectly healthy, but they know where to find an easy, free meal. Part of the sanctuary is open to the seashore, along the intercoastal waterway.
I’m grateful for the people who run this small, but intimate bird sanctuary that is free and open to the public (donations accepted). It’s a way to help the birds, and to introduce the birds to anyone who stops by.
One of the attractions in Charleston, South Carolina is an old, oak tree named the Angel Oak Tree. I’m not sure how it got its name…maybe because of its huge canopy of overarching branches offering protection. It is a Southern live oak, which is different than your “ordinary oak” tree.
“The Southern live oak (Quercus virginiana), also known simply as the live oak, gets its name from the fact that, unlike other oaks, it doesn’t lose its leaves in the autumn. Live oaks are native to the Southeastern coast of the United States.”*
We like trees and decided to drive the extra miles out of town, to visit this majestic tree. It did not disappoint. Surprisingly, it is down a rutty, dirt road.
We knew we had arrived when we saw a high, chainlink fence outlining the circumference of the tree, with signs saying this property is protected and patrolled. We noticed the surveillance cameras too. The area is free and open to the public during the day, but closed and gated at night.
This is all good. We contrasted this to the Sycamore Gap tree next to Hadrian’s Wall where we hiked last fall, in England. That sycamore tree stood tall and majestic also, and was 200-300 years old, standing alone in the gap, for anyone to enjoy. A national treasure, for Great Britian. Unfortunately, two weeks after we sat under that beautiful Sycamore tree, vandals came and cut it down! Hopefully that will not happen to the Angel Oak Tree in South Carolina.
The Angel Oak tree is a national treasure. It is 300-400 years old…some estimate even older. They say the tree is 65 feet high with a trunk circumference of 25.5 feet, shading an area of 17,000 square feet. Of course, I couldn’t capture the whole tree in one photo…but I did take several photos.
The Angel Oak tree was worth the extra effort to find. A cardinal serenaded us from a different tree, but he added extra joy to our experience. A new baby tree has been sprouted from an acorn from the Angel Oak tree. It is three years old and grows in a pot next to the trunk, under the protecting branches of its mama.
Think of all this tree has lived through. Ah, the stories it could tell.
Our trip to Duluth to see the Bentleyville “Tour of Lights” also provided an opportunity to witness some beautiful and interesting scenes of the magnificent Lake Superior.
We arrived on a bright and sunny day. Except for an small accumulation of snow -remnants of a recent snowfall- the shores of Lake Superior look like an ocean beach. There were no tropical temperatures though!
As the sun set, the skies remained clear so we could see the full moon rise and shine (however, the clear skies kept the temperatures below freezing!)
The next morning a cloud bank appeared over the lake.
I went out on the balcony, which faced north, to take a few photos. As I leaned over the balcony and turned to the east, I saw the stunning sunrise and images over the lake.