A LONG WEEKEND IN SANTA BARBARA AND SOLVANG
I’ve covered a lot of ground in California over the years, but one destination I hadn’t hit yet was the Santa Barbara area. I had the opportunity to go for Labor Day weekend to celebrate my friend Jessica’s bachelorette and birthday, and it was SO much fun! This part of California is absolutely beautiful… sweeping ocean views with a magnificent mountainous backdrop? Sign. Me Up. We spent two days bopping around in Santa Barbara, Montecito and Summerland, then drove inland to Solvang for wine country! If you’re looking for a quick rundown on my recs from this trip, don’t miss this new city guide I just added to the travel section. Keep reading for a breakdown on my holiday weekend away, and a bit more of an in-depth review to what we did, where we ate & drank, etc!
NIGHT ONE: SAN YSIDRO RANCH
We had the great fortune of having a free place to stay for the first half of the trip, but if I were to go back again I would LOVE to stay at San Ysidro Ranch! We had dinner there our first night and it was such a magical experience. The lush grounds with the majestic California mountains directly behind it made for a breathtaking, heavenly oasis! The Speakeasy is their small, cozy bar featuring a piano player, animal print accents and a warm fire inviting you in. Stonehouse is their restaurant, which offers both indoor and outdoor seating. If the weather is on point, sitting on the patio is the right move! The tables are cocooned by trees, twinkly lights and in one area there’s an outdoor fireplace. They also have a beautiful private room off the patio if you’ve got a group and are celebrating a special occasion! Everything we ate was divine. The steak Diane is what they’re known for, which boasts a perfectly cooked filet topped with a brandy mushroom sauce prepared table side. I wish I could’ve gone another night, because I also was dying to try the Duck a l’Orange!
DAY TWO: EXPLORING SUMMERLAND & SANTA BARBARA
The next morning we walked about 10 minutes over from the house to Lillie Avenue, which is the Main Street in Summerland featuring several cute boutiques and a delicious coffee spot called Red Kettle Coffee. We grabbed coffees and empanadas (don’t sleep on the bacon, egg, potato and cheddar!!!) and then popped into a few of the home and decor shops on the way back. My favorite of the stores we stopped in were The Porch and The Well. Both had a solid selection of gift-y items like candles, notebooks, tabletop + entertaining items, etc in addition to furniture, rugs, art and other home decor finds. I ended up buying a couple of gifts for my mom + sister at The Porch, which I’m saving to give them at Christmas! There was a fabulous shearling sofa at The Well I now have on my wish list, but tbh not sure I need to be spending $12,000 on a couch right now.
After our little jaunt in town, we got ready for the day and drove over to the Rosewood Miramar Beach to have lunch and cocktails at the Miramar Beach Bar. The Rosewood is another very popular hotel in the area and features some ritzy designer boutiques on the property, like The Webster, Bottega Veneta, Brunello Cucinelli and more. We ordered shrimp cocktails + tuna tostadas for the table, then a selection of tacos + salads. Everything was delicious! We stayed for a few cocktails and the view, then headed back to the house to get ready for our evening.
We started off the night with a sunset cruise on this boat! We brought our own drinks and a cheese platter and sailed around Santa Barbara for a couple of hours taking in the sights. In addition to a vibrant sunset, we saw dolphins and seals on our journey – so much fun! After the cruise we grabbed a late dinner at Loquito in town and enjoyed some amazing tapas. My favorite dishes were the heirloom tomato salad, the broccolini, the gambas al ajillo and the patatas bravas! We popped in for one final drink at Test Pilot, a cocktail bar around the corner then headed home for the night.
DAY THREE
I woke up about an hour and a half earlier than everyone else (story of my life!), so I went ahead and grabbed coffee + another empanada down in Summerland. When I was back and showering, the rest of the group went and grabbed theirs! I realized I had some time to kill and wanted to check out Montecito before our scheduled drive to Solvang at 1:30pm, so I ordered an Uber and did a little shopping. The majority of shopping and restaurants in Montecito are along Coast Village road, so I started at the Montecito Country Mart where Clic, Doen, and some cute cafes + restaurants are located. I was SO impressed with Clic – it’s such a chic boutique featuring a variety of clothes, cute accessories, colorful tabletop items and unique gifts. I ended up buying a t-shirt, but wanted to buy so much more! after a short walk down Coast Village road, I popped into Whiskey & Leather, Angel and K. Frank – all of which had a nice selection of clothing and accessories. After I made it all the way down the street, I ordered another Uber and headed back to Summerland!
Our drive to Solvang was just under an hour, and we made ourselves at home at our rental which Jess had found on AirBnB. It was such a dream! A sprawling home with amazing interior design details, a gorgeous view and all the amenities you could hope for in an AirBnB. Plus, there’s even some entertainment on the property – the ranch has horses and goats, which we got to watch trot around and eat each morning!
After throwing our stuff in the rooms and freshening up, we were off to Sunstone Winery for a tour and wine tasting. It was certainly the biggest and busiest of the wineries we visited last weekend!
After our wine tasting, we headed back to the house and enjoyed apps and a gourmet meal prepared by a private chef! We found out he is actually the private chef for Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes… that is if he wasn’t blowing smoke. We enjoyed a refreshing citrus and gem lettuce salad, steak with chimichurri, broccolini with romesco, garlic smashed potatoes and the most incredible cake featuring a rosemary buttercream frosting. I’m dying to get my hands on his romesco recipe – it was insanely good! The night then turned into a pajama party with the game left, right, center, lots of drinking, dancing and singing.
Needless to say I felt a little rough the next morning! We had a driver pick us up in a party bus (a converted school bus – it was hilarious), then grabbed brunch at The Inn at Mattei’s Tavern. It’s an Auberge property, so of course it was stunning and the food was awesome. Because I was on the literal struggle bus that morning, I opted for a greasy cheeseburger + fries which did not disappoint!
After brunch we stopped by Stolpman Vineyard’s tasting room in Los Olivos, and honestly I wouldn’t recommend it. They weren’t very accommodating and it was also SO hot – it just wasn’t the vibe! When we were done there, we went to Demetria Estate for our second tasting, which we ended up staying at the rest of the day because we were having such a wonderful time! The setting was beautiful, the wine was delicious and the service was SO much better. A much more sophisticated establishment, if you ask me. I ended up ordering eight bottles to be shipped home! After a rowdy ride home on the party bus, we had a pizza party for dinner, played a few more games and then off to bed we went.
It was such an incredible weekend and I’m already itching to plan a longer trip back to explore more of that area of California!
