I decided to go to Santa Barbara over Father’s Day weekend mainly because I wanted to go see the Flower Fields of Lompoc Valley. Even since I was researching the Carlsbad Flower Fields, I realized that there were more flower fields not too far away! Score!
And so it went, I looked for an open weekend in my calendar (a terribly difficult thing to do), and found that the only semi available wkd was father’s day wkd, which we had already had plans of going to the Pasadena Chalk Festival. So we add the two and invite Dave C. Done.
What else can we do, we can go biking, we can play tennis, of course we’re gonna go shopping, and needless to say we have to EAT!! I found a few yummy looking vegan-friendly restaurants and drooled over their online menus from that moment on!
Since the guys work on Fridays, we left on Saturday morning deciding to grab breakfast along the way up in LA at M Cafe. It was a nice start to the weekend and to the beginning of filling of our tummy tanks for this trip! I remember telling Dave C. what the weekend schedule was, and he commented that it sounds like we’re just going to be eating the whole time! Hey they’ll be trips when I have no vegan options and only eat fruits and berries and then there are the others where we totally pig out and I want to try everything available to me!
And so it went, I looked for an open weekend in my calendar (a terribly difficult thing to do), and found that the only semi available wkd was father’s day wkd, which we had already had plans of going to the Pasadena Chalk Festival. So we add the two and invite Dave C. Done.
What else can we do, we can go biking, we can play tennis, of course we’re gonna go shopping, and needless to say we have to EAT!! I found a few yummy looking vegan-friendly restaurants and drooled over their online menus from that moment on!
Since the guys work on Fridays, we left on Saturday morning deciding to grab breakfast along the way up in LA at M Cafe. It was a nice start to the weekend and to the beginning of filling of our tummy tanks for this trip! I remember telling Dave C. what the weekend schedule was, and he commented that it sounds like we’re just going to be eating the whole time! Hey they’ll be trips when I have no vegan options and only eat fruits and berries and then there are the others where we totally pig out and I want to try everything available to me!
After breakfast we continued our journey toward Santa Barbara in a huge mess of traffic! UGH
When we finally arrived, some 2 plus hours later, we went straight to Sterns Wharf. Parked, changed into our riding clothes, unloaded the bikes, did some people watching, and set off to find Dave C. a bike rental shop. Kitty corner to the pier we found Wheel Fun Rentals and off we went. I followed the path toward East Beach, occasionally looking ack behind me to see if the next person (Dominic) was there (being that my sunglasses rear view mirror had broke). Then I decided to pull over, Dominic pulled next time me and then no one else… I looked at my phone and had a message that Dave C’s derailer broke and that both Dave’s were heading back to the bike shop for a new bike.
We waited and eventually they caught up with us and we continued. We rode out to the Four Seasons and past the Ty Warner Mansion. The back and past Sterns Wharf, to the Harbor, and finally finished our ride. Now we were hungry for sure, time for a late lunch!
Once we were all loaded up again, we headed to Pizza Guru to chow down. When we arrived it took us a while to order because of all the many choices on the menu (even the vegan choices were over whelming). Throughly enjoying our meal, we became stuffed!
Driving to the shopping district of Old Town to walk around and shop I found this lovely Italian Pottery Outlet! Browsing in this store brought me back to Italy. Ahhhhhh Italy! MUST. GO. BACK. SOON.
Driving to the shopping district of Old Town to walk around and shop I found this lovely Italian Pottery Outlet! Browsing in this store brought me back to Italy. Ahhhhhh Italy! MUST. GO. BACK. SOON.
In and out of other shops along State street and then time to fit in some tennis before we eat again!!
So tennis it was, then arriving at Adama for dinner at exactly the time for our 8:30p reservations.
Finally sitting, unwinding, and having a very satisfying meal the day was catching up to us, and we still had a 1hr drive to Lompoc (where we were staying for the night). Luckily Dave B wasn’t as sleepy as the rest of us, because Dave C. and I dozed off on him. I occasionally would awaken for a second here and there to mumble some directions to him, so we didn’t get lost. We arrived safe and sound, and were more than ready for bed!
Sunday morning I excitedly get up because I know this morning we are going to see the Lompoc Valley Flower Fields! So after a quick breakfast, we pull out our maps and search the routes for the expectedly gorgeous fields full of blooming Sweet Peas. There appears to be 3 separate locations where these fields can be found. We start with the nearest one, and are soon very disappointed to find fields of dirt.
So tennis it was, then arriving at Adama for dinner at exactly the time for our 8:30p reservations.
Finally sitting, unwinding, and having a very satisfying meal the day was catching up to us, and we still had a 1hr drive to Lompoc (where we were staying for the night). Luckily Dave B wasn’t as sleepy as the rest of us, because Dave C. and I dozed off on him. I occasionally would awaken for a second here and there to mumble some directions to him, so we didn’t get lost. We arrived safe and sound, and were more than ready for bed!
Sunday morning I excitedly get up because I know this morning we are going to see the Lompoc Valley Flower Fields! So after a quick breakfast, we pull out our maps and search the routes for the expectedly gorgeous fields full of blooming Sweet Peas. There appears to be 3 separate locations where these fields can be found. We start with the nearest one, and are soon very disappointed to find fields of dirt.
Not a good sign. Okay Lompoc, you have 2 more chances to wow me! Onward to the second field. We aren’t seeing any color whatsoever. As we pull up I’m not thrilled, but I am laughing hysterically about the fact that all we’ve found is more dirt! What the heck?! Lompoc is scheduled to have their annual Flower Festival & Parade June 25-29, 2014 and yet not a single flower in sight???
We are in the ‘Valley of Flowers” we were expecting (hoping) to see all that was advertised! Where are the Sweet Peas, Larkspur, Stocks, Alyssum, Delphinium, Marigolds, and others???
We continue driving down these farm roads and eventually find some of these beauties! The colorful crops are quite beautiful! The only downside this morning is that it’s rather windy, so my hair is blowing into my face and the skies are cloudy, not the pretty and picturesque fluffy white clouds, but the grayish unattractive backdrop to the loveliness of botanics that are right before me. But cool and moist climate is what these adorable Sweet Peas happen to require.
We are in the ‘Valley of Flowers” we were expecting (hoping) to see all that was advertised! Where are the Sweet Peas, Larkspur, Stocks, Alyssum, Delphinium, Marigolds, and others???
We continue driving down these farm roads and eventually find some of these beauties! The colorful crops are quite beautiful! The only downside this morning is that it’s rather windy, so my hair is blowing into my face and the skies are cloudy, not the pretty and picturesque fluffy white clouds, but the grayish unattractive backdrop to the loveliness of botanics that are right before me. But cool and moist climate is what these adorable Sweet Peas happen to require.
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We happened to be the only tourists around and had the place to ourselves, which was rather nice. We frolic around, take plenty of pictures, and throughly enjoy these difficult to find flower fields! We hop back in the truck in attempt to located the third set of fields, which we do. We again wander through the fields for as long as I can deal with the frustration of my hair blowing into my eyes - causing issues with my picture taking!
A brief note on the Lompoc Valley Flower Fields: The flower industry in the Lompoc Valley dates to the early 1900s when mustard was harvested for seed. Fragrant sweet peas, one of the valley’s first flower seed crops, were introduced for export to England.
And one fun little fact: The sunflowers that were presented to the Olympic medalists at the 1996 Summer games in Atlanta came chiefly from the Lompoc Valley.
We had the pleasure of seeing a number of these large yellow and vividly striking beauties. Pretty cool stuff!
Next on our list was heading back to Los Angeles county for lunch and the Pasadena Chalk Festival. With a couple of pit stops along the way & mucho mucho traffic. We were so happy to finally arrive at the cafe for lunch only to find out that they were closed during business hours! Oh noooo! We are terribly bummed, as we are a bunch of foodies, with me leading the pack and all of us having already been looking forward to our chosen lunch choices. Now what?!
Since the day is getting away from us, we collectively decide to head straight to the Chalk Festival and hold off on eating for a bit.
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The chalk festival was a lovely surprise, as I was comparing it to one that we went to last month in Mission Viejo. Here in Pasadena there were so many talented artists, using Over 25,000 sticks of pastel chalk over the weekend to create the brilliant street art, along with music from a live band that altogether provided a wonderful experience that I will be eager to attend again next year, and highly suggest that you do too!
The very first Pasadena Chalk Festival was in 1993 and now 22 festivals later, they’ve become the world’s largest public art event of its kind!
The very first Pasadena Chalk Festival was in 1993 and now 22 festivals later, they’ve become the world’s largest public art event of its kind!
  BEST RENDITION OF A MASTERPIECE  BEST IN FESTIVAL -1ST PLACE & PASEO COLORADO'S PEOPLE'S CHOICE |   BEST 3D EFFECT  |
Finally we got to eat and then hit up the last place on our wkd tour - Donut Friend, which was an experience onto itself, so much so that I think I might just feature them on this weeks Foodie Friday! Stay tuned!
-T
UPDATE - Read all about Donut Friend HERE
FOR YOUR FURTHER INFORMATION:
lompocvalleyfestivals.com
pasadenachalkfestival.com
-T
UPDATE - Read all about Donut Friend HERE
FOR YOUR FURTHER INFORMATION:
lompocvalleyfestivals.com
pasadenachalkfestival.com
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