Exploring the American Riviera’s Beaches, Culture, and Cuisine

Santa Barbara, California, has always sounded like a dream destination—a place where rolling mountains meet the sparkling Pacific and Spanish-style architecture glows in the sunshine. This summer, I finally had the opportunity to spend a few unforgettable days in what is known as the American Riviera, and I’m excited to share the highlights of my trip.

Arrival and First Impressions

The first thing you notice upon visiting Santa Barbara is its physical beauty. The city lives up to the praise it gets. You have mountains on one side, the Pacific Ocean on the other and palm-lined streets and red-tile rooftops and white stucco buildings which gave the city a Mediterranean feel in between.

Beach Bliss and Waterfront Adventures

Naturally the first thing we did was head to ocean. Santa Barbara has a beautiful beach front and a long wooden pier, Stearns Wharf Pier (“the Pier”), that goes over the beach to well over the ocean. The Pier mainly has restaurants but also includes some small shops, a wine tasting room, and a small aquarium. We ate at several of the restaurants on the pier. The Moby Dick Restaurant stood out for the combination of quality seafood to pair with ocean views.

The real star of The Pier, though, was the Deep Sea Wine Tasting Room, which is part of Conway Family Wines. There is a small interior seating section but we, like most people, preferred to sit outside. From there you are right on the Ocean and taking in the Ocean breeze with palm trees, the beach, and Mountains all in the backdrop. It makes for a supremely relaxing atmosphere.

The Pier is active and accommodates vehicles in addition to foot traffic. At the end of The Pier the shops stop but the fishing begins, and you can see all manner of people trying their luck. Sometimes there is a busker performing live music as well.

Fronting the beach is scenic Cabrillo Boulevard which has restaurants and hotels on the other side.

Cultural Strolls and Local History

Downtown Santa Barbara is a haven for art and history lovers. One thing you will quickly notice about downtown Santa Barbara is the unique Spanish Colonial Revival architectural style. This dates back to a devastating earthquake in 1925 after which the city resolved to rebuild in the Spanish Colonial Revival style.

I wandered through the Santa Barbara Museum of Art and admired its eclectic collection, then took a tour of the Old Mission Santa Barbara. Founded in 1786, the mission’s stunning gardens and beautiful chapel made it easy to imagine life centuries ago. Inside there are exhibits covering the history of the mission from inception to today. Outside, the mission is on a hill offering great views of the city below and the Pacific Ocean. When we went there the mission had artwork in chalk in the parking lot which is unique.

The Santa Barbara Courthouse is the flagship building for the city and is featured in the county logo. It is a popular venue for weddings—we saw a wedding occurring when we walked by. The courthouse is four stories, but the clock tower rises to 85 feet tall. Buildings like this are rare and by design. The city wants to allow people to view the mountains from any vantage point so you will not see the tall hotels, residential buildings, etc. that you will find in many tourist cities.

In addition to on foot, another good way to soak in Santa Barbara’s views and learn the city’s history is the Land Shark Tour. The tour begins on land, goes through downtown and then goes into the ocean to cover maritime history all in the same vehicle. In the ocean you can observe seals and sea lions sitting on a buoy or on a piece of wood.

Wine Tasting and Culinary Delights

Santa Barbara County is famous for its wine, so I had to explore the Urban Wine Trail. The area is dotted with tasting rooms—most of them are in the Funk Zone, a lively neighborhood full of street art, galleries, and trendy eateries that is adjacent to what is considered downtown Santa Barbara.  

The first that we went to was the Deep Sea Wine Tasting Room on the Pier that was mentioned earlier. The next was Paradise Springs Winery. We wound up there after stopping at the beautiful Santa Barbara train station, which serves the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner route that runs from San Diego to the San Franciso Bay area. Paradise Springs is across the road. It turns out Paradise Springs was founded in Clifton, Virginia but opened a West Coast branch when its owner moved there. The space, both indoors and outdoors, is small but the vibe is lively. They had live music in the parking lot and a food truck. The staff were very friendly.

Nearby is Pali Wine Co. Wine Garden. This has an indoor and a large, as the name suggests, outside garden. They had live music at Pali as well.

The winner, though, was Skyenna Wine Lounge. This is located near the beachfront on the same road as Happy Cats Eats. Skyenna is much smaller than the other places but that made it charming as it produced great conversations on the outside deck area and the owner was present and mingling with patrons himself.

In terms of food, we tended to play it by ear. There are plenty of options in downtown and on State Street. The one we liked the most was an Indian place, but I do not recall the name.

Music

Our favorite place in Santa Barbara hands down was the Red Piano, a live music venue in the heart of downtown on State Street. The Red Piano features bands but is known mostly for, as the name suggests, piano players. The players the Red Piano get are from all over the country. One of them was from Georgia, the other one was from Washington state. They stay at the Red Piano for a couple of weeks and then a new player comes in. The Red Piano must be getting the pick of the litter! There is always a good crowd, especially on weekend nights, and the players combine good music with personality and interacting with the audience.

Piano player Jimi Finn, based in Spokane, Washington, was extraordinary. He has an amazing voice, knows a lot of songs across all genres and decades, and gets the crowd involved. It is a shame he is focused on West Coast, but we definitely hope to see him again when we go out West in the future.

If you love music, the Red Piano is a must visit and its location in the heart of downtown makes it a perfect place to close the day out after dinner.

If you prefer karaoke, you can go to Whiskey Richards which is about two minutes away on State Street.

State Street is very lively at night, especially on Fridays and Saturdays. You will see people of all ages. On a Friday night I saw 15 weddings or bachelorette parties on State Street.

Other Sites

The Santa Barbara Zoo is a nice, small zoo not far from downtown. If you have young children, the zoo has a small train that circulates around that kids can ride in. The zoo also allows you to feed the giraffes which is neat. It packs diversity and several interesting animals, including lions, in a small space.

Being from the East Coast I had never been to In and Out Burger. Unfortunately, there is not a location in Santa Barbara but we did manage to go to one about 10-15 minutes outside of the city. It did not disappoint, as I had thought would be the case given the hype. I wouldn’t go there for the sake of going to the burger place, but it was en route to us briefly stopping in Goleta.

Getting There

Santa Barbara has its own airport, but the airport has limited direct flights and those are to West Coast or Mountain region cities, mostly hubs. The airport is served by all of the “Big 4” airlines plus Alaska so there are plenty of pathways to connect your way to Santa Barbara. We went from Washington Dulles to Denver and then to Santa Barbara via United Airlines.

The airport is, like all things in Santa Barbara, very charming and does not look like an airport from the outside.

Lasting Memories

Leaving Santa Barbara was bittersweet—I left with incredible memories, a camera full of photos, and a newfound appreciation for California’s coastal beauty. If you’re planning your own escape, I can’t recommend Santa Barbara enough. Whether you love beaches, food, art, or just relaxing under the sun, this city offers something special for everyone.