Cambria to Santa Barbara itinerary help

[wanderlust7]

I'm planning a trip for next March driving from San Francisco area to LA to visit relatives and a couple days at Disneyland. I'm thinking we'll stop in Cambria for maybe 3 nights and then 2 nights in Santa Barbara along the way. DH and I have been to Cambria, but the kids have not. We've never been to Santa Barbara. Kids will be 4 and 7 by then. Here's what I have so far:

Day 1: Drive to Cambria, stop to see elephant seals in San Simeon. Not much planned since we always get a late start. Maybe dinner at Sea Chest (my favorite restaurant in the area).

Day 2: Hearst Castle (Tour 1) and Moonstone Beach, hope it won't be too cold for the kids to explore the tide pools and play in the sand.

Day 3: I saw a boat tour on the Seaweed Express out of Avila Beach. I'm a sucker for any boat tour that shows a picture of sea caves. Not sure if it'll be too thrilling for the kids though. They do get sea sick sometimes, but Sea-Bands and a full stomach seems to help. Has anyone been on this?

Day 4: Drive from Cambria to Santa Barbara, stopping in Solvang for lunch. Plus stops at Quicksilver Ranch (miniature horses), OstrichLand, and Sunny Fields Park if we have time. Get to Santa Barbara for dinner.

Day 5: Explore State St, rent a surrey (bike car), maybe take the water taxi (Lil' Toot).

Day 6: Santa Barbara zoo, feed the camels. Drive to LA, I think we probably need to leave after 6 or 7 pm to avoid the traffic?

Am I missing any must-dos with kids? Anything not worth doing? Restaurant suggestions would be great. We like to eat whatever an area is best known for. I think that would be seafood for Cambria, not sure about Santa Barbara.

Thanks!

 

[mr.bungle]

Santa Barbara has a lotnofnfood options. Mexican is good but I don't have an suggestions. I usually eat at Eureka Burger.

 

[usnuzuloose]

When I visit new places , I usually ask the locals what is good. It has been a while since I ate there.

 

[VandVsmama]

My husband grew up in Goleta and I went to college in Santa Barbara. Skip the expensive restaurant on Santa Barbara pier and go to the Beachside Bar-Café on Goleta Beach instead. Typically is only frequented by locals and is really laid back and it's in a great spot. Their website is located at http://www.beachside-barcafe.com/home.

You can also go to the original Hamburger Habit on Hollister Ave in Goleta. 5735 Hollister Ave, Goleta, CA 93117. Outdoor seating only. It has a counter that you order from and then they call out your number. It's been there since either the late 50's or early 60's. Food there is GREAT!

Or you can have dinner at Petrini's Italian Restaurant. My husband ate here all the time growing up and he took me there when we were dating. The food is still really great and it's a local family owned place. Sometimes I can even find their salad dressing on sale at a specialty grocery store here in Arizona. Their website is http://www.petrinis.com/.

 

[GoBears 1980]

In Santa Barbara I'd head over to Lilly's Taqueria or La Super Rica (tacos too) or both. They are just outstanding.

Maybe head to Woodstock's Pizza in Isla Vista (UCSB). A classic college pizza joint.

Lastly, the lone remaining Sambo's Restaurant is in SB. It is a great place for breakfast.

 

[wanderlust7]

Thanks for the restaurant suggestions!

 

[elaine amj]

I am headed out to Cali on Friday! We will be flying into Burbank and driving to Pismo Beach/Avila Beach. I was thinking of Santa Barbara but ended up deciding I LOVED the sound of Avila Beach - sounds like such a laid back, cool beach town. I have a reservation for the Seaweed Express for Saturday morning at 11am and I'll report back. I'm super excited. Plus, it's very affordable - just $25 per person for an hour. I love the idea of a small boat with max 6 passengers. Crossing my fingers we will see whales and dolphins

My DH and DS are also going to rent ATVs on Pismo Beach. I stumbled across it and it sounds rather amazing for them to mess around on the sand dunes.

I also plan to hit the Farmer's Markets in the area. We are only there for a day or so...trying not to pack too many activities in.

 

[wanderlust7]

I am headed out to Cali on Friday! We will be flying into Burbank and driving to Pismo Beach/Avila Beach. I was thinking of Santa Barbara but ended up deciding I LOVED the sound of Avila Beach - sounds like such a laid back, cool beach town. I have a reservation for the Seaweed Express for Saturday morning at 11am and I'll report back. I'm super excited. Plus, it's very affordable - just $25 per person for an hour. I love the idea of a small boat with max 6 passengers. Crossing my fingers we will see whales and dolphins

My DH and DS are also going to rent ATVs on Pismo Beach. I stumbled across it and it sounds rather amazing for them to mess around on the sand dunes.

I also plan to hit the Farmer's Markets in the area. We are only there for a day or so...trying not to pack too many activities in.

Please do report back and have a great trip!

 

[elaine amj]

Please do report back and have a great trip!

We're back

We really enjoyed Avila Beach - such a fun, laid back beach town. We wandered the shops and the beach for a little bit. I liked it much better than Newport Beach (which we visited later). Felt much cleaner and nicer. Newport Beach was more spread out and the town is not so pretty IMO. We had lunch at the Custom House and the clam chowder was delish! Very thick, creamy and clammy (not so good if you prefer a thinner, not so clammy tasting soup). The wait was long for a patio table - 45+ mins (they text u when your table is ready). Kids were hungry so we wandered down to buy them desserts first (frozen cheesecake on a stick - YUM and an ice cream). We got the text just 20 mins later so kids ended up bringing their treats into the restaurant (servers did not say anything). The patio setting was very enjoyable and we were glad we chose to eat here (my plans were for Avila Deli & Grocery but DH decided he didn't want a sandwich).

The Seaweed Express was a lot of fun. He said he typically sees whales in his morning whale-watching cruise (1.5 hr for $50pp) but it is hit or miss with his later 1hr cruises. We asked him to give it a shot for our 11am tour and he went out in the open water for a while but we didn't see anything. He then took us to the sea caves, pointed out otters, sea lions, seals, etc. My husband said he didn't get seasick on this boat. He went fast for some stretches, which was fun - kids said it felt like they were on an inner tube. He does adjust the speeds based on his passengers. DH said his back row seat didn't feel quite as thrilling (which suited him). Nice guy. He has a sign at the top of the stairs but none on the tiny dock where you actually load.

We ended up not doing the ATVs (after DH had spent hours doing some free online course to get his cert so my son could ride by himself without having a guide along). DH got a little freaked out by what he read doing the course and finally said they wouldn't do it until DS is older.

 

[elaine amj]

Forgot to add - we stopped in Solvang for dinner. It was MUCH bigger than I thought. Very cute and quaint tourist town. The bakery treats didn't look all that exciting though (we had already stopped at Porto's Bakery in Burbank that afternoon - YUM YUM!) so we didn't get any danishes like I had planned. We had a "traditional Danish" dinner...and honestly, it was just OK. Pretty much giant meatballs or meatloaf in sauce or sausages. Thankfully, my kids liked the meatballs well enough. Our meal was rather blah.

Oh well, it was fun to stop and stroll there. If I'm ever there again, we'll hunt for Italian food or something

 

[wanderlust7]

Thanks for the great info! The Seaweed Express sounds great, definitely putting it on the list.

 

[elaine amj]

Thanks for the great info! The Seaweed Express sounds great, definitely putting it on the list.

I thought $25 pp was very reasonable for a 1 hour adventure boat tour.

That said, I kinda wish we had sprung the $50 for his 1.5 hour morning whale watching tour. I was surprised when my family ended up being disappointed that we didn't see any whales/dolphins. We ended rearranging our Disneyland itinerary so we could fit in a whale watching tour in Newport Beach. I got a Groupon for Davy's Locker for just $10pp for a 2.5 hr cruise. not as exciting as being in the small boat - but we did end up seeing 2 whales, a LOT of dolphins, and even some seals - all swimming in circles around the same area. It was great