Summer Road Trip 2015 - Day 6: Dutch Bros. Coffee + some scary birds, Crescent City

We were up bright and early on this gloomy morning...

Ready to get some coffee drinks (well, not proper coffee but frappe-like drinks)

at Dutch Brothers, a drive through coffee place, which Northern California didn't seem to have a shortage of...

Crescent City: Battery Point Lighthouse, The Curly Redwood Lodge & drive by photos

After our brief foray into Brookings, Oregon, we made our way back down to our last city in Northern California...

One more night then we'd head back down.

Before checking into our motel, we drove into the Crescent City Citizens Dock...

Burly & the Bean

After our breakfast at George's, we headed down Fairmont again...

and made a right on Poplar where you will see this neighborhood sign.

Burly and the Bean, used to be at this corner, but since, the end of June, relocated just a block and a half away...

George's Restaurant and Cafe

Breakfast was spent in this neighborhood today...

This is the southwest corner of Home Ave & Fairmont Blvd.

Across the street is this mural, as you make a left onto Fairmont.

Workers were busy patching up cracks and hopefully fixing up the corner. This was the scenic route to get to our breakfast destination...

Handlebar Coffee Roasters

I almost forgot...we had coffee here at Handlebar Coffee Roasters,

which is located in the buildng right next to Three Pickles.

While Bert was ordering our food, I went next door to get our super late coffee drinks...

Three Pickles Deli & the History of Jimmy's Oriental Garden

Our next stop was an educational foray into Santa Barbara's history...

but first, we had lunch at this building across the street from El Presidio of Santa Barbara...a place with its own unique history...

Nikka Japanese Market

Since we were still in Goleta...

TC wanted to come back to the Japanese market we saw next to Kyle's Kitchen a few nights ago...

Time to load up on some Japanese snack, eh...

Goleta Pier and Goleta State Beach

A few minutes away from the serene campus of UCSB is the Goleta Pier...

We hung a right and parked to admire the beach...

The pier was in the distance and we decided to repark...

Scenes from Highland Park (February & July 2016)

I would be remiss if I didn't post this set of photos....

featuring our visit to the Highland Park neighborhood of LA...

Photos from my previous trip earlier this  year plus this past weekend are included...

No Philippe the Original...so Capital Seafood Arcadia it was

We were supposed to go to Philippie the Original but when we saw the horrid traffic leading to the freeway, that idea was nixed immediately. Turns out that the Dodgers had a game going on, so yeah, we would NOT be heading in t hat direction.

Thus, Cathy in her infinite wisdom headed back through Pasadena, until we hit upon Arcadia...

where we employed Cathy's trusty method of seeking a place to eat...

which was to drive around until something looked good...

Return to Donut Friend

Before heading off to lunch, we had one more stop in Highland Park so I could pick up some donut delights here...

But something was missing...

Kindness & Mischief Coffee

While en route to Pasadena earlier, I googled new coffee shops as we were passing by the Highland Park Area. Last time I was here, we went to Civil Coffee.

Located on the same street, N. Figueroa Blvd was yet another new coffee place, Kindness & Mischief.  Yes, it had the two separate words with an ampersand in the middle.

Photos from instagram and yelp showed a sleek but homey interior and great looking coffee drinks...

So off to K & M we went...

The Pasadena Farmer's Market

Under the smoky skies, we headed off to our next stop, the Pasadena Farmer's Market...

passing by the beautiful Pasadena City Hall and Joe's Ice!

Gotta love that "ice font"!

Cathy showed me the parade route and where it ends, which is near Pasadena High on Sierra Madre Blvd...

Early morning trek to the Rose Parade Float Road Test with Cathy

This weekend Cathy and I made the trip up to Pasadena..

during the wee hours of the morning and also during the same weekend as the Sand Fire in Santa Clarita. [Update: a week later, the fire burned over 39,000 acres and is 95% contained]

Hence, the long streaks of smoky clouds...As we got closer to Los Angeles, we could see the fire's effects even more...

Highlights from yesterday's Road Trip to Pasadena

Yesterday I accompanied Cathy to the Rose Parade float road test...

leaving super early in the morning....

Summer Road Trip 2016 - Day 3: UC Santa Barbara

Our third day in beautiful Santa Barbara begin with a morning commute up to Goleta...

to meet up with a friend's friend who works here...

We'd been curious to visit this very popular university so here we were...

SBPM Revisit - I'A Fish Market & Cafe + Flagstone Pantry

Before heading over to Franceschi Park, we made a quick stop back here,

at the SB Public Market to pick up a few items for dinner...

Franceschi Park

Although we went back to the SBPB, I'll skip ahead to this post which details our visit to a local (but hidden) viewpoint, Franceschi Park...

The park is up in the Missions Hills Ridge neighborhood and was named after Francesco Franceschi, an internationally respected horticulturist who introduced many plants to the area.


Along with the park, there is a road named after him. His dilapidated (and abandoned) mansion is still there as well...

McConnell's Fine Ice Creams (State Street location)

I remember seeing McConnell's ice cream several summers ago in Solvang.

This time, we would try it again in beautiful Santa Barbara...

Santa Barbara Museum of Art + Santa Barbara Courthouse & Sunken Garden & even more tiles

Everytime we travel, I ask Bert and TC to write down a few places they want to visit for our travel wish list (places to visit, foods to try, etc).  This way, they have a "say" in the trip. For our second day, this stop was TC's choice...

She was very interested in seeing the Santa Barbara Museum of Art and thanks to the nice musuem worker...

The French Press

Within walking distance of Cajun Kitchen was our coffee stop...

We'd seen it the other day...

and wanted to give this place a try, as is our custom whenever we are on vacation...

Filipino Community Bldg, Santa Barbara

My same friend recommended that I check out this place of historical interest...

located at 425 State St. is a building with this sign...

Cajun Kitchen, State Street

One of my good friends who used to work at UCSB recommended several places to eat for us...

One of them was the locally owned Cajun Kitchen at the State Street location...

Bibbey's new paint job + a new cartoon themed mural

A couple of months ago I noticed that workers were painting over the existing murals at Bibbey's Shell Shop...

This is how it looked last weekend (a week after July 4th)...

Summer Road Trip 2016 - Day 2: Santa Barbara Waterfront, Harbor + Stearns Wharf

We were up bright and early this particular morning...

taking a morning stroll by the waterfront which was walking distance from our inn...

Dinner @ Quinua - Cocina Peruana

When looking at google maps prior to our trip, I noticed a new Peruvian restaurant on the map.

Not wanting to drive out again for dinner, we decided we would have dinner here at Quinua...

Downtown Petaluma + The Petaluma Pie Company

We thought we would explore downtown Petaluma on foot before calling it a day...

Dating from 1882, the clock tower is fixed atop the three story Masonic Building on the corner of Petaluma Blvd. and Western...

Kyle's Kitchen, Goleta + a sunset at the Douglas Family Preserve

After sufficient time for relaxing, we pondered our dinner choices...

I saw a place that looked promising but it was in nearby Goleta...

Luther Burbank's Gold Ridge Experimental Farm

Bert thought it would be interesting to visit this place...

which was the Luther Burbank Gold Ridge Experimental Farm.  It was only a few minutes away from Ninja Star Coffee...

Scenes from State Street, Santa Barbara

A few snapshots from our little stroll along State Street in Santa Barbara...

We would end up going to this Museum the very next day...

Rori's Artisanal Creamery @ the Santa Barbara Public Market

I was worried about not finding parking in Santa Barbara but we managed to score a spot in a lot off State Street.

Our first stop was the nearby Santa  Barbara Public Market...

Lookout Park, Summerland

It was back to the highway...

after enjoying a snack at The Spot and hanging out briefly at Carpinteria State Beach...

The Spot + Carpinteria State Beach

From Camarillo to Carpinteria...

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...