Day 2 – Santa Barbara: Time to Wine

We woke up at 8am & I told myself I would REALLY try to workout at least half of the days we were on vacation (something I have not been great at in the past) It was a cloudy morning and kind of chilly so I had no excuse. Stelios was also down to hit the gym so we walked down to the fitness center. It had two treadmills, a bike, elliptical, a few weight machines & free weights. All that we needed. I ran on the treadmill & did an ab workout while Stelios hit the weights. We both felt awesome after and Stelios turned to me and goes – I feel GREAT we should do this every morning. I hope we do!

After a quick shower we were in search of a breakfast spot – preferably outside because the weather had took a turn for the better with blue skies & the sun shining. The place next door to our hotel, Jeannine’s, had a HUGE line outside – easily over 20 people long, so we’ll have to come back another day to try since it’s clearly very popular. We started walking up State Street (the main strip that runs from the ocean all the way to the northern part of downtown) and saw a place with a lot of outdoor seating called Goat Tree. We grabbed a table for 2 – I ordered a BLT and iced latte and Stelios had a Turkey sandwich & IPA. They also have homemade fresh croissants so Stelios ordered a Pain Au Chocolat (chocolate croissant) for dessert for us to share. He said it was delicious but compared to the croissants I had in Paris I’d rate it a 3.5/5.

We continued to walk up State Street to explore the downtown. We stumbled upon a flea market – the jewelry was gorgeous but WAY too expensive. So we kept walking and ended up in an outdoor mall – it was entirely made of white walls and instantly reminded us of Greece. All of a sudden Stelios stopped me – somehow a piece of chocolate from the croissant found it’s way to the back of my white shorts. I was so upset – it was my first day wearing them and they were already stained before 2pm. Luckily I had a cardigan that I wrapped around my waist and we walked to the nearest CVS for some Tide to Go. I couldn’t believe it, but it worked like magic & the stain came right out !

Now it was time for some wine ! Our first stop was Grassini Family Vineyards – a cute winery with a courtyard and outdoor seating. We shared the estate tasting of 4 wines – a sauv blac, rose, Pinot noir, and cab franc. Then we each ordered a glass of our top pick which were the cab & sauv blanc. Every glass was so smooth – it’s such a difference ordering local wine that’s made in small batches compared to the large production bottles that you would normally purchase in the liquor store. I told Stelios we should sign up for a wine club membership before we leave – LOL. If only we lived in Cali it would totally be worth all the perks. After leaving Grassini, we walked back out to the street and there was a jazz band called the Brassicals playing a Bruno Mars cover. We hung out and listened to them for a bit, and I tipped them a few bucks before we left.

Our 2nd stop was Au Bon Climat – a French inspired winery. Our sommelier was Gavin – a local Californian who went to school at UCSB and now works for a private aviation company and just works here on the side as they need him – how cool. His energy was great and even though he said he was “rusty” I thought he did a phenomenal job describing the wines. Here the whites were my favorite – both the Riesling and Chardonnay had interesting flavors and Stelios liked the Pinot Noir best.

As dusk approached, we went back to the hotel to change into jeans and grab jackets. As soon as the sun goes down here it feels like a completely different season. In retrospect I should’ve packed booties for night time but oh well – I’ll have to rock sandals for dinner and hope my feet don’t get too cold. We had about 90 minutes before our dinner res so we decided to go to Margerum winery which was on my list and right around the corner from our hotel. They also served lite bites so we could have a quick snack before dinner. I couldn’t believe we hadn’t eaten since brunch at 11am and it was now 6pm. We were really embracing that liquid vacation diet. Stelios ordered the Syrah flight and I got the premium flight so we could try both. My favorite was the Cinsault which was a light red wine that could be chilled on a summer day.

At 7:30 pm we called an uber and went to Stella Mare for dinner, a French bistro. The restaurant was a quick 7 min drive from our hotel, tucked away from the downtown. It Resembled a large glass greenhouse which was really cool to sit in. To start the evening off we ordered a bottle of Syrah. I was a bit chilly so it was the perfect occasion to also order French Onion Soup. The onions were fresh, and the flavor was incredible. We also ordered deviled eggs, and escargot for appetizers – this was THE BEST escargot that I’ve had in the states and honestly comparable to the ones I had in Paris. It smelled and tasted SO good that I forgot to take a picture before we ate it. By the time we got to ordering our entrees I was already getting very full and was VERY tipsy from all of the wine that we drank (all day long). So we decided to share the braised lamb shank & grilled artichoke. While I was only able to manage a few bites of the lamb – the meat was so tender and delicious we both have never had lamb cooked like that before. Although I was stuffed, our waiter convinced us to order dessert – and boy were we glad that he did. We ordered the beignets and they were freshly made, right out of the oven, and still steaming hot. These were nothing like the Cafe Du Monde beignets that I had in NOLA (which were basically a glorified zeppole). These beignets had a thin crispy outside layer and were light & fluffy on the inside – they had an egg-batter like texture that literally melted in your mouth like butter. At this point my stomach was full of food and wine. My eyes felt heavy and Stelios could tell I was slightly drunk & very tired. It was no crazy Saturday night out for us, but definitely had ourselves a day & an evening to remember.