to a place I had bookmarked but hadn't planned on going to until later in our trip. We meant to go to the beach but balked when we found out the beach parking fee was $10. The nice lady at the booth told us we could exit the lot and park along Linden Street for free...
and when we got out of the lot, I noticed the sign for The Spot! I had researched it prior to our trip and did want to go there but on our way down. However, since we were already there and parked across the street (which led to the Carpinteria camping grounds), why not have a snack?
Clam chowder in a bread bowl (complete with the cut out toasted and buttered bread plugs) for TC. A plain burger for me and Bert and fried for us to share.
Our burger was okay with a nice chargrilled patty. I liked the fresh fixings and the burger sauce which was probably Thousand Island. The fries were just okay as well. Unfortunately, the clam chowder was more potato heavy and it was thick. Not in a good way. :(
Across the street and closer to the beach was this Sno-Ball/Shave ice cart. They also served hot dogs there!
Map of Carpinteria State Beach and campgrounds
As we were checking out the beach, which was only a few blocks away from The Spot, the young lifeguard noticed TC's t-shirt and complimented her on it. It was of a band whom he was really good friends with, SWMRS (pronounced "swimmers"). The guys from SWMRS are from Oakland and comprise 3/4 of Emily's Army, a pop/punk band. Joey Armstrong's son is in Emily's Army and SWMRS.
The beach sand was so nice and clean. No seaweed clumps or flies or gnats and best of all, nodead animals (that decomposing sea lion at SF's OB was just...ugh). It wasn't even crowded!
We weren't really prepared to sit at the beach but decided to have a rest on the sand anyways. I was wearing jeans (one of the few days I actually wore pants during the WHOLE summer vacation) and was burning up. Fun.
A beautiful sunny day at a quintessential California beach town AND a great donut made our brief beach visit even better. At least it did for me, ha ha.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, we weren't really in a big rush to get to our hotel. It was still pretty early and we didn't need to check in until later that afternoon anyways.
Here is drone video showing the beach and the boardwalk crossing a protected dune. That same lifeguard station is in the screen shot below.
Plus this video of Linden Avenue (The Spot makes an appearance at :46).
Carpinteria was such a cute place and we would have the chance to explore it more a few days later.
The Spot
389 Linden Ave
Carpinteria, CA93013
(805) 684-6311
There is no website but here are the reviews from you know where & tripadvisor
www.parks.ca.gov
Although Santa Barbara, our eventual destination wasn't too far away, we still had another stop...
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