This morning it felt like waking up at a campsite in Nova Scotia. It was cool and damp because the fog was in on the beach. However, it quickly retreated and the sun came out as we finished our breakfast at the beach and headed south.
Our first stop was Solvang, an authentic Danish town town founded by immigrants from Denmark 100 years ago. We had coffee and some great pastry at a local coffee shop/bakery before heading to the Santa Ynez Mission, one of 21 missions, built in the early 1800's by the Spanish. The Priests brought native families to the missions to try to "civilize" them and turn them into Christians. Many of these adobe structures are both museum sites and parish churches.
In Santa Barbara we stopped at the Mission Santa Barbara which overlooks the city and the ocean. It was all but flattened by the 1812 earthquake. A tidal wave in that same year swept away most of the town. Santa Barbara is a very wealthy looking town where most of the buildings reflect a Spanish style.
From Santa Barbara we drove along the coast to Ventura where we stopped at the marina to look at the ocean and the fishing and pleasure boats at the dock. We ate dinner at a small fish restaurant on the dock.
At Oxnard we got to gaze out at the Channel Islands. Although we didn't see any, we were told that whales frequently travel the coast between the shore and the islands. After a trip to the Public Library to get online for a few minutes we stopped at Starbucks for tea and the it was off to bed. Today was a bust day. Tomorrow, LA.
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