California Dreamin' - Day 5 (Full Day in Santa Barbara)

The primary reason we picked Santa Barbara as one of our vacation destinations was that Jim fell in love with town when he visited for work.  When he'd been there before, he'd stayed at a Holiday Inn Express that was in an historical building with these fantastic almost floor-to-ceiling windows.  Well, when we got checked in our first night, the room was not at all like the room Jim had stayed in before.  I had no point of reference so I was happy but Jim wasn't sooooooo he arranged to have us moved the next day.  When we got up to our new room, I totally understand the hype - it was easily twice the size of our previous room and the views from the windows were great and it set the stage for a VERY big milestone for our family (but you'll have to read more to see what that was).


So after we changed our room, we started exploring Santa Barbara.  The weather was gorgeous and the town is a pretty pedestrian friendly city so we set out on foot.  We ended up at their outdoor mall and had a quick bite to eat.  After that, I was on a mission to find "iconic" buildings featured in one of my favorite shows "psych".  It's based on Santa Barbara but I did know going into our walk that they shoot most of their show in Canada but I figured they'd still use actual Santa Barbara locations for those shots of buildings that they use when transitioning scenes.  All that to say that we were on the hunt for the police department; when we finally found it (and it was a bit off the beaten path), I had Jimbo snap a picture.

Are you jealous of my awesomeness?  Don't be, I was pretty sure this building looked different than the one on the show... that's because it totally was, the building on the show is in a different town - possibly a different country.  Oh well, we were able to burn off some calories and see some other neat buildings.

After our exciting non-discovery, Clay and I were worn out so Jim escorted us back to the hotel for a nap.  He went out and explored a bit more and came back saying that he had a surprise... a self-guided bike/trolley tour of Santa Barbara!  Clay wasn't a huge fan of the helmet he was required to wear but he was a total trooper.  

Before we left for the our tour, several people returning their buggies warned me to pace myself and said it was hard work (and said all of this drenched in sweat).  So when we embarked on this adventure, I heeded their advice thinking I won't start off over-zealous and then when we get to a rough patch, I'll adjust as needed.  Well, I really enjoyed the first 30 minutes and then Jim was saying how tired he was.  I soooo didn't get it, because I had well, paced myself.  Come to find out, not so much, I hadn't been having to pedal hard because Jim was doing all of the work (and he wasn't terribly amused) although it was really terribly amusing.  So, that little adventure was pretty short lived.


We returned our buggy and set off for dinner.  I remembered a place that I'd seen the night before that seemed to have several kids so we headed there.  When we got there, I quickly realized that it was a bar and was trying to leave when a waiter assured me that it wasn't inappropriate to have a baby there, that they were a restaurant, and that they had an ample supply of highchairs.  We ended up staying and were taken to an outdoor patio that was beautifully casual and enjoyed dinner.  So much for the highchair since Clay just crawled all over the furniture and danced to the music; regardless it was fun!  (Side note, I entered a raffle before we left and a few weeks after we got home from our trip, I got a call saying that I'd won all inclusive party for me and 12 of my friends there.  I told them I'd love to use it but since I live in Dallas, didn't think it was possible - go figure!)


Anywho, after dinner, we headed back (and within a minute of leaving the restaurant, we passed the restaurant that I must have been remembering).  We went and got some awesome frozen yogurt (or "froyo" to those hipsters out there) and went back to the hotel for the evening.  We stripped Clay down for the night and let him take advantage of looking out of the awesome windows in our room (while Mommy tried to take some pictures).  Good thing I had my camera out, because our little naked j-bird decided at that very moment to take his first steps!!!!


We were just sitting there, he was looking out the window (snap! the first picture), then he turned around, and he took his first step (Jim and I freak), and he just kept walking (snap! the second picture), and walking some more like it was no big deal! (snap!, the third picture).  The only reason he stopped, is there was no more room, so he just walked straight into my arms and Jim and I could NOT have been more proud!!!

Thanks to Grand Bop for the addition of the "shorts" - teenage Clay and getting married Clay thanks you profusely!

After that, we had more fun with our walker and got video of it!  Then we got ready for our next day and headed off to bed!  What a fantastically special day for our family!!!