We stayed at a 50's motel that has been remodeled into a B&B. The Pacific Crest Hotel. http://www.pacificcrestsantabarbara.com/ It is a block from the ocean and it has a nice heated pool. It was not cheap, about $250 a night but the room was nicely redone but small. The owner is a very nice guy and loves to talk with guests. Breakfast was included. It consisted of homemade baked goods that were heavy and not my taste.
The beach at Santa Barbara. The water was cold and the beach pretty empty but it was a weekday.
The main part of Santa Barbara was about a mile away. The town is nice but nothing special. There are a number of restaurants. The place we picked was closed so we went to the Paradise Cafe http://www.paradisecafe.com/across the street. We ate outside. I ordered fish and it was very good. It was a local bass.
Before we ate we walked around the wine tasting area of Santa Barbara near the beach. We went into one of the tasting bars and ordered some wine. Everyone now charges for wine tastings. I think that is how many of these wineries make money. There are some many wine tasting rooms in the towns that we visited that it is almost comical. Most of them serve wine that pretty generic if not downright bad. The place we stopped at was Municipal Winemakers http://www.municipalwinemakers.com/ They make Rhone grape wines and some Pinot Noir. The Central Coast of California has become home to the Rhone Ranger because grapes from the Rhone Syrah, Grenache, Cinsault etc. grow so well in the climate.
The next day we started towards Cambria and St Simeon, home of the Hearst Castle. The 101 freeway is scenic but it goes inland north of Santa Barbara. For lunch we stopped at San Luis Obismo. We used Yelp to help find a place to eat. I have found Yelp to be great when you are in a strange area and want to find a place to eat. Just stick to places 4 stars and over, preferably over and there is definitely rating inflation.
The town is cool and funky. We found a little cafe in a yoga studio, thanks to Yelp, and we salads that were great. My wife insists it was the best salad she ever had. http://www.smilingdogyoga.com/pages/cafe Roxannes' Cafe at the Smiling Dog Yoga Studio.
I had a black rice salad with a fried egg.
Next stop was Daou Vineyards and Winery in Paso Robles. We followed some small roads to the top of a mountain and found Daou. Daou is my new favorite winery. The winery is owned by the Daou brothers, originally from Lebanon and who made their money in tech. One is the winemaker and he does a great job. The make Bordeaux blends and some Rhone grape wines. The wines are great. Daou has recently been discovered by the wine press as both Jeb Dunnock at the Wine Advocate and Josh Raynolds at Vinous have given the wines exceptional reviews. The top wines are not cheap but compared to Napa, they are cheap.
We tasted their estate wines for $45 a tasting, refunded when you buy 2 bottles.. We shared a tasting. The wines were great and we then bought 3 bottles; their Merlot blend, Micho, $65, their Syrah blend, Mayote $85 and their Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, $85. 2014 was their best year according the the critics. They also a make a basic Cabernet from purchased grapes and it is very good. I bought a few bottles in NJ for $23. Shipping make buying wines very expensive. They charged me over $11 a bottle to ship. Many times you can find a wine in a local store much cheaper and with no shipping cost. I find that this is very true with Domaine Drouhin wines. I have found 2 of the 3 bottles that I bought at Daou cheaper in local stores, which does not make me very happy.
We left Daou and went off to Cambria where we were to stay the night. The temperature and weather in California varies widely from town to town. Along the coast the temperature was quite cool 50's and 60's in the evenings. Inland the temperature can be 100. Daou was hot and it is on top of a 3200 foot mountain. The 40 mile drive to Cambria, which is on the ocean, took us through many vineyards with wineries every mile and the temperature dropped from the high 90's to the high 60's and the sun was shining all of the time.
We stayed at the Fogcatcher Inn. http://www.fogcatcherinn.com/ It is across the street from the Pacific. It has a decent amount of rooms. Our room was large and it had a gas fireplace. We were next to the heated pool and we actually took a swim. Bracing! The Inn is not cheap, about $250 a night. Hearst Castle is about 7 miles away and we had reservations there for the next day.
For dinner I used Yelp again and picked a place that seemed good and it was. Madelines http://www.madelinescambria.com/ It is the town of Cambria about a mile from the Inn. The restaurant was homey and quite nice. The menu and prices were good. They have an online coupon which gets you half off any bottle of wine with the purchase of 2 entrees. The wine list was good and we picked a Viognier from Alban Vineyards, Alban is one of the best wineries in California was one of the original Rhone Rangers. We paid about $25 for the wine which is cheaper than retail. The restaurant also sells wine.
I had local fish and it was really good. My wife had Polenta Madeline which had veggies on top of the polenta. It too was very good. I spoke with the owner and chef about wine and he brought another bottle to our table to try. He actually opened a new bottle for us to taste!
The next day we headed to the Hearst Castle. To be continued.
Summer is over and my head is spinning with fall food favorites.
Enjoy.
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