A Wonderful Weekend Getaway

Even though we live in paradise, it's still nice to get away occasionally. My friend Christie has beautiful condo right on the beach in Carpinteria, California. It's a three and a half hour drive from Carlsbad, so I jumped at the chance to spend a few days there with Christie and a few other women. It's a wonderful beach community with a very slow pace. It's just what I needed, and although we were busy every minute I felt so relaxed. No schedule to adhere to, no place to be unless we wanted to be there, no one to cook and clean for. What a wonderful few days.

Carpinteria State Beach is a wide, sandy beach, with small surf, cool water, and lots of sun. We arrived around 11am, unpacked, walked around the main street for an hour or two, had lunch, then hit the beach. The main drag, Linden Avenue, is about four blocks of wonderful restaurants and boutiques. Beyond the Sea is a great antique store with collectable toys, games, old telephones, china, and crystal. Island Outfitters carries clothes, shoes and accessories, many of which you won't find anywhere else. The Cotton Company carries beautiful clothes and accessories for the mature woman, and everything was well priced. Kids World carries hand made childrens toys, bath accessories, unique childrens' clothing, and even some fancy gardening accessories. After a bit of shopping, we stopped at Tony's pizza and pastaria. The lunch of burgers, salads and sub sandwiches was good, but the highlight was the homemade banana cream pie. Chef Michael worked many months developing the recipe. His wife Lucy, was our waitress. She was the guinea pig who had to try each new pie recipe, and in the process gained 15 pounds! The pie was outrageous, we shared one piece and left stuffed and satisfied.

Next, it was off to the beach for the rest of the afternoon. It's a very family friendly beach, as there is an adjacent campground and many families vacation there in the summer. We walked, talked, read, and slept the afternoon away. The many condos, motels and campgrounds offer families and couples a variety of accomodations to choose from.

Dinner (after wine and appetizers at the condo) was at The Palms. Another family friendly place where for $12.95 I had a 10 ounce rib eye steak, cooked to perfection by me, all you can eat salad bar, spicy beans, bread, and baked potato. What a feast. They bring the raw meat to your table, and you go to the grill and cook and season it to your liking. It was lots of fun, and the price was right.

The following day was spent in Santa Barbara, which I will tell you about at a later time, but a few other places of note in Carpinteria are The Spot, a fantastic hamburger stand, messy with lettuce, tomato, mayo and catsup, Reynaldo's, a delicious smelling bakery that I didn't get to try because I could only eat so much, but all the locals said we should go in the morning for coffee and baked goods, and Robataille's, a fantastic candy store. Robataille's makes the official mints for the presidential inagugural, and have for many years. They also have wonderful fudge, and even sugar free candy. Yes, they are related to the famous hockey player Luc Robataille. He is a cousin.

Finally, Carpinteria is known for growing and shipping flowers all over the world, and we had a chance to visit Seacrest Nursery. It was most memorable. The nursery is divided into sections, such as Mediterranean plants, shade plants, succulents, vegetables, etc. I was interested in succlents, and spent most of my time there. What a selection. I saw many plants I had never seen before. So all in all Carpinteria is a wonderful getaway, filled with much to do in a quiet, picturesque setting. Don't forget to visit the Seal Sanctuary overlooking the bluffs of Carpinteria. Lots to enjoy, I hope you do.

Finally, don't forget tomorrow, July 21, if you visit Starbucks and buy a drink you get a free pastry.