adventure day: santa barbara

One of my favorite places in California is Santa Barbara. I first paid Santa Barbara a visit in 2010 and I was hooked the moment we first met. I love how laid back this city is and not to mention the views are gorgeous. Oh, and there's always a nice little spot to hit up for wine tasting (if you're into that sort of thing). The boyfriend and I decided to take a trip up to Santa Barbara and visit the zoo. The Santa Barbara Zoo is probably one of the most beautiful zoos I have ever been to. It's not huge and it only takes an hour or so to walk through but it's gorgeous! I'm hoping next time Charlie is out here that I can take him. He'd love it!

this alligator is named Mary Lou but I named her "Aligangsta" back in 2010 and is where I got the idea to
name Charlie's alligator the same thing. 

you can kinda see Polly Pocket's wedding to the left of the photo

Every single time I have visited Santa Barbara in the past, I've always been told to visit the Santa Barbara County Courthouse because apparently it's beautiful or something. Well this time it happened and well, it's actually beautiful. Really beautiful to be exact. I normally don't fall in love with buildings and who would really want to fall in love with a county courthouse but the grounds were dreamy and I loved all the little details the building had to offer. Oh, and bonus points for it not having a weird odor! After climbing what felt like stairs for days, we reached the viewing tower (oh, thank god. those stairs were torture) and got to admire the view. Oh, we also saw a wedding going on down below outside the courthouse. It looked like Polly Pocket's wedding (it was that small from our view). I found myself all day Monday dreaming of being up in that viewing tower again taking in the view (& the nice Santa Barbara breeze).

We managed to hit up a few random tastings (beer, sparking wine & a distillery) before eating at one of my favorite places in Santa Barbara. The Palace is a Cajun restaurant. Every time I visit Santa Barbara I have to eat here. They have these little corn breads that I'm obsessed with. I love how their drinks are served in mason jars and how delicious the food is. I wish I took more photos while we were in there but I was starving, exhausted and in a "poop" mood (to quote the boyfriend). Missing a FaceTime session with your little one can do that to ya. Bottom line - If you're in Santa Barbara eat at The Palace. All in all it was a great little day get away and I can't wait to return.