On our second day in LA we were up early and on the road by 8am to avoid some of the crazy traffic. We were heading up to Santa Barbara to do a little (meaning a lot) of wine tasting.
The 2 hour drive north along the coast is really pretty! Winding roads along the ocean, I think I like that view. We arrived around 10:30 and wandered around until the first tasting rooms in downtown Santa Barbara opened at 11. Nothing like drinking wine before noon;)
The Urban Wine Trail, also known as the Funk Zone, features around 15 tasting rooms right downtown. You can wander from room to room and stroll through streets. Santa Barbara is a really charming town. We started at Santa Barbara Winery, with their vineyard about 40 minutes way and on over 150 acres. This was great wine, Sauvignon Blanc, typical California style Chardonnay, Grenache, Pinot Noir and a few other treats they poured us when they found out we were on our honeymoon.
The next stop was Corks and Crowns which was a cute wine bar (that actually does reserve beer as well). The owner was featured on Cupcake Wars and actually won! Because of her love of cupcakes she features a pairing on Sundays with bubbly. So much fun! I enjoyed every crumb and ounce of that treat. I had Belgium Waffle, cinnamon streusel and maple bacon. All paired with a glass of champagne, a rose and moscato. Cupcakes and bubbles = happy girl!
We headed out of downtown Santa Barbara and up the pass to the Santa Ynez wine trail. A beautiful and butterfly inducing curvy and sometimes scary road. Scott navigated very well in our big rental SUV.
We hit up a few wineries, had lunch in Santa Ynez, toured the Dutch town of Solvang and just enjoyed every second of our day. We had amazing food, really delicious wine and just soaked up the day. It was almost 9 by the time we were back at the hotel. Almost 12 hours of wine tasting, sight seeing and a lot of time spent sitting in traffic. To all the people in LA who sit for hours in traffic on the 405 you must have incredible patience. Scott was ready to hurt someone by the end of the day and all that driving!
