bobanddenisewanderlust

Saturday- We went to the great breakfast again this morning. Around 10, we left and drove to Santa Barbara to the Farmers Market. We purchased strawberries, potatoes, and oranges.

We left and went to the Santa Barbara Mission. They have a nice parking lot, so it was easy parking. The cost was $7 each, senior rate. We had just missed the tour, so we did the self guided tour. This is a working parish, and known for being the only Mission which has continuously been used. It was the 10th Mission established by Padre Junipero Serra, the founder of the first nine missions. He died before it was built, but his successor, Padre Antionio Paterna built the Mission in the 1790’s. Some of the buildings still exist today, but the Mission has been through several devastating earthquakes. 

The tour starts in the garden. Due to the drought, the fountain is not working and the plants/flowers are being traded out for water conserving plants.

 

Below is the closed area where the Jesuits live.

Below is the entrance to the cemetery. The far building houses some graves.

Below is inside that back building.

Below is an old external entrance to the cemetery.

This was quite a tree in the center of the cemetery.

With the picture below I am trying to show how empty the cemetery looks. There were mausoleums around the outside walls and a few in the center.

Yet, over 4,000 Chumash Native Americans are buried in the cemetery, in addition to others.

Next we entered the Mission Church.

On the left above is St. Francis of Assai and on the right is St. Clare of Assai. This was on the right side of  the church. In the back was the baptismal font.

On the left side were these statues of Jesus, post resurrection and Mary Magdalene.

Below is the history of the growth of the Mission.

We moved into the museum.

Below is a traveling Tabernacle which they used to take to various areas when saying Mass.

Back out front, there is this Moorish Fountain.

The Lavanderia.

On each end were statures which are deteriorating. The Chumash used a lot of concrete! .

The cross below is to honor Padre Sierrra.

We went across from the Mission to the Mission Garden, This was a hopping placed with parties and picnics.

We left and went to lunch. We found a seafood restaurant at Henry beach. We arrived to find a 1.5 hour wait, so we left. Too bad, as the restaurant was right on the dog friendly beach. We went to lunch at a small restaurant downtown, nothing impressive.

We stopped at Ralphs for groceries and returned to the MH.

Sunday-  We went to the park breakfast then did our usual Sunday tasks. Checking accounts, sheet and towels, and filling pill boxes. We left and went to In n Out burger for lunch, then to the Santa Barbara Arts and Craft Show at Chase Palm Park, right on the ocean. We skipped the arts part, and just cruised the crafts. They had some interesting items, but living in a MH, means we don’t buy that sort of “stuff”. Below is Stearns Wharf from the street.

We returned to the MH and had a quiet evening.

Monday- Bob was supposed to take the car in for repair, but we have not had the issue with the transmission. So he cancelled the appointment. We did need the oil changed. I was having massive problems trying to work on articles as the internet was so slow. So I went to Santa Barbara with Bob. He found a Jiffy Lube and dropped me off at a Starbucks close by to work on the internet. I was able to download what I needed and was very surprised when Bob returned quickly after the oil change.

We went to little Mexican Restaurant in a shopping center near by, which had excellent lunch specials.

On the way back, we decided to drive onto Stage Coach Rd. This road winds through the entire area, up and down some interesting hills. Those poor horses, having to drag the stagecoach over these mountains. On Stage Coach road in this area is the historic Cold Spring Tavern.

On the weekends, they have a band and the place gets very busy. I guess here is where the action is. They also had an outside BBQ cooking kitchen.

We checked out the menu inside and decided we would return for lunch on Saturday. We returned to the MH and had a quiet afternoon and evening.

Tuesday- The internet was better today since so many of the weekend folks have left. So I was able to work all morning. We decided to go out to lunch, but most of the restaurants in Solvang are closed on Monday and Tuesday, so we went to Buellton for lunch at Anderson’s Restaurant. This restaurant is famous for creating Split Pea Soup.

We did not have the soup, but did have a nice meal. We drove back through Solvang, and stopped at the Hans Christian Anderson Museum. The Museum had been closed the last time we were in Solvang. He certainly wrote a lot of famous books! He never married and did not have children. His books are in the public domain, which is why Disney is able to make so many of the books into movies.

We returned home and it started to rain. The first rain we have had. It is cold and damp, with temps in the 50’s. Solvang was in the 60’s and sunny!

Wednesday- We stayed home most of today, having leftovers for lunch. We had a quiet day with me working on articles and Bob working on Genealogy. I worked on Genealogy in the afternoon. We ate dinner at home and drove to Santa Barbara. We stopped for gas, then went to the Square Dance. It was the club’s 49th anniversary, so they had a small party. There were two squares all evening. The last dance, we dance with two squares of 6, which was interesting, as the caller joined the two squares, into a rectangle, and we danced that way. It was fun.

Thursday- I worked on articles again today. We decided to go to lunch in Solvang. We had seen on the menu outside the Belgium Café that they had crepes, so we went for crepes. Bob had a chicken crepe and I had a shrimp.

We went to Los Olivos to a brewery for Bob to sample some beers. Los Olivos is a pretty little town with lots of restaurants.

Friday- We went to breakfast at the resort. Then at 10, we left and drove to Ventura, about 1 hour and 10 minutes away. We stopped at Andrea’s Seafood and met up with my friend Glenda for a nice seafood lunch. We sat and talked until the restaurant became very busy, and we left and wandered down the wharf.

Above are both sides of the Fishermen’s Memorial. Below is the restaurant. That is Glenda walking into the outside area. Forgot to get pic’s of us all together….

Below is the wharf. It was a beautiful day!

Thank you Glenda for showing us the Ventura Wharf and suggesting a great restaurant!

We stopped at Walmart, then returned to Santa Barbara. The ride back was not fun, as the traffic picked up. No accidents, but it was slow and bumper to bumper thru Santa Barbara. It was heavy traffic crossing the pass, but at least it was moving.

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