It was my mother-in-laws 79th birthday, and it was decided to have the party in Santa Barbara. This way the in laws and the out laws from L.A. and all points east, could have a nice get together at the beach. I'll spare you the birthday cake, volleyball, tennis, hike up in the local mountains, Sundy Mass at the S.B. Mission, etc - Although I do have some pictures of the Santa Barbara Botanical Gardens.
On Saturday, the second day, I was able to sneak out and slip over to The Brewhouse.
This nice little brewpub opened in 2003 and I had visited once before in August of that year. I just had time for a sampler set of four: Pilsner, Oatmeal Stout, IPA and Wit. The middle two were definately my favorites.
This is my idea of a classic brewpub. The brewery is just behind the bar, no glass partition, and you can tell it's not just there for show.
Habanero Pilsner!!! I know why I didn't try that one!
On Monday morning, after most of the relatives had left, we went to the Botanical Gardens. This is a very cool place, just up the hill from the Mission. It's one of those places where they carefully label and number all the different plant species....
And have those wonderful cactus gardens, that make you glad you don't have any little kids in tow anymore....
And even though the morning was still overcast (typical Santa Barbara summer), this place was really very beautiful...
Later in the afternoon we visited the Santa Barbara Winery tasting room. This winery "...pioneered winemaking here way back in 1962". In this shot, we have our oldest, Jennifer, who had flown in from MN (I don't know why her man man, Frank was not in this shot?), Val and her Mom (the birthday girl). This place had great wine, with a generous pour, and you got to keep the glass - All for $5.
A little later in the afternoon Jen, Frank and I walked over to one of my favorite places....
It was a pint of stout....
And one of Brown....
And then I was ready to face the last of the relatives on the last night.
Tuesday morning we played a little tennis and then had breakfast at The Shorline. This is one of those neat places right on the sand, with the glassed in patio looking out at the beach. But, for some reason, this place has really reasonable prices and great food?
We said our goodbyes and headed out, and up 101. This drive goes through a really beautiful part of California. As we rolled into Paso Robles, I timed my question just right.... "does anyone need a bathroom break?" And there we were, at the Firestone Walker Brewery, conveniently located, right off 101!
While everyone took care of business, I had samplers of their P31 Pale Ale, Double Barrel Ale and the Walkers Reserve - All excellent!
Mmmmm, I wish I had time for more...
I snuck around the corner and grabbed some shots of the brewery....
And ran out to the car, before anyone got too upset with me.
