Over the weekend I took my fiance on a surprise getaway.  We spent a few days in Santa Barbara.  Here’s what we did:

DAY #1 | DROVE TO SANTA BARBARA

I wanted this surprise trip to be a combination of things we like to do together and a few new things added to it.  So, just like any other trip to Santa Barbara we stopped in Ventura to have lunch at Spencer Makenzie’s.

We just happened to stop by during their 5th Annual End of Summer Block Party.  Totally not planned on my part, but it was cool to see what the Cornhole tournament was all about (Check out How to play Cornhole).

After our lunch, we headed to one of our favorite wine tasting rooms called The Ojai Vineyard.  We are wine club members and enjoy our quarterly wine pickups and complementary tastings.  I always end up purchasing a bottle or two of other wines that aren’t included in the wine pickup.  This usually includes their Ice Wine!  I’m in love with their Ice Wine.

We also love the people that work there.  They seem to remember everything about you and are very knowledgeable about their wines.

They recently completed the “new” tasting room and I love the way it looks and how much space it has now, but they kept the old room for private events.  I plan on using this space for my Bachelorette Getaway.  Yay!

After arriving in Santa Barbara, we checked into our hotel and walked down State Street to our destination.  It was a surprise for my fiance, but he figured it out later.  He’s too observant sometimes and noticed a sign that had Celebration Cruises Sunset Cruise information on it.  We spent the rest of the evening on the yacht, Azure Seas, taking in the views and enjoying our time together.

Our final stop of the night, before walking back to the hotel, was to have dinner at the Blue Tavern.  It was on the list of restaurants my fiance wanted to try and a must try for me since the Chef who opened it also owns a restaurant in Downtown LA that I love going to.

As expected, the food was great!  We shared the Beets & Heirloom Tomato Salad, Hanger Steak Anticucho, and the Home Made Papardelle.  Sadly I didn’t take any pictures of the food from Blue Tavern.

DAY #2 | HANGING OUT IN SANTA BARBARA

The next day was an early one.  I wanted my fiance and I to do something we have never done together.  In my case, I had never done it at all.  I signed us up for ocean Kayaking.

I had never experienced the ocean this way and had such a blast.  It’s not very easy to kayak, but it’s not as hard as I thought it would be.  I fully expected to fall out several times, but we never did.  There were a few close calls though.

We booked through the Santa Barbara Adventure Company to give us a beginners course and to guide us through the Harbor and into the ocean.  I would highly recommend them if you’ve never Kayaked before.

We did the Santa Barbara Coastal Kayaking package which included all the gear we would need and lunch.  The guides were great and the group was small, making it more enjoyable.  I think any more than eight people would have been too much for the guides to handle.  Did I mention we got super close to some seals and sea lions!

I loved the kayaking experience so much that I didn’t want it to end!  We plan on kayaking whenever we visit Santa Barbara. Now that we know the basics we can just rent the kayaks ourselves without a guide.

The next thing I want to try is the Channel Islands Kayaking Tour also offered by the Santa Barbara Adventure Company.

The rest of the day was spent walking down State Street and going wine tasting.  We stopped at two wine tasting rooms, Pali Wine Company and Riverbench Winery.  Riverbench had a white wine flight and a flight that included sparkling wines. Score!

Have you ever been to Santa Barbara?  What do you like to do when you’re visiting?  

Let me know if you have any questions about anything.