First trip to Santa Barbara

So my wife and I are attending a wedding in SB next weekend. We will be driving up from the LA area Friday the 10th around 9-10am. We are staying at the Holiday Inn-Goleta.

I%26#39;ve heard the drive is about 3 hours or so.

Check in isn%26#39;t until 3pm and we will get there about 1pm.

The wedding isn%26#39;t until Sat. afternoon so we have plenty of time to go check stuff out.

Mostly interested in nightlife and my wife wants to check out the mission.

We will be there until Sunday.

Ideas?

First trip to Santa Barbara

Hi, don%26#39;t miss spending some time at Stearn%26#39;s Wharf, a beautiful wharf on the CA coast, this would be a very nice place for a photograph. The SB Shellfish Co. is there for a casual, seafood meal, yummy lobster bisque here and full lobster dinners at great prices. I would also go to Montecito, an upscale area, the Four Seasons Biltmore is there and they also have a beautiful beach in Montecito. Shopping on State Street is great fun and there is also the Los Olivos wine country is not too far away, either. www.santabarbara.com is a great website for this area. Have fun! :)

First trip to Santa Barbara

On the way, start your trip off right and drive the PCH north along the coast into Camarillo and connect up with the 101 North all the way to SB. Best route is 10 to PCH, then exit Las Posas Road and turn right (it%26#39;s the first exit after you start going inland) and take this road thru farmfields until you reach the 101 North (only about 8 miles from PCH to 101 this way). This trip from the 10/PCH tunnel to SB is about 2 hours assuming no traffic, which you won%26#39;t have if you keep with your departure time.

As for things to do, going to the wharf is a good tip from previous post, other ideas would be to find Hendry%26#39;s Beach (weather forecast has it in the 70%26#39;s next weekend) and have lunch at the restaurant there then take a long walk on the beach just steps away, take a whale watching tour, take a landshark tour, go to the top of the courthouse tower for incredible views, relax, and have a good time at the wedding!!

The route taking PCH thru Malibu and ending up in Camarillo and Oxnard is much longer than taking the 101 freeway. From Downtown LA using Highway 101, Santa Barbara is about 1.5 hours unless there is traffic.

I was thinking of having breakfast in LA first, I live 20 minutes outside the city.

I could use a nice drive so thanks for the suggestion. After Breakfast in LA I was thinking taking Sunset to PCH then PCH up to Las Posas Rd.