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Santa Barbara
"The Town Where It All Began"
Santa Barbara holds special meaning for me as it was the town where I met and married my husband, Paul.
He was a professor at UCSB and a mutual friend of ours set us up on a blind date and the rest, as it is said, is history.
We were married at El Presidio de Santa Barbara, a restored Catholic chapel (no longer sanctified by the church) but run by the state.
Our wedding pictures were taken in the Dorothy Keck Memorial Gardens which are some of the most beautiful gardens you'll ever see.
We went back to the gardens 11 years later and had a hard time recognizing the tree in our wedding portrait as it had grown even larger.
Santa Barbara is one of the prettiest places to get married.
AND...
My husband reminded me, has great shopping too!
If you are getting married in SB a great place for cake is Henning's Cake on Figueroa.
El Paseo Nuevo is the big shopping plaza on State Street that houses Nordstrom, Macys, April Cornell, and California Pizza Kitchen. There is Coldwater Creek, Pierre La Fond's and Aveda too.
Shop for antiques in Summerland and Montecito.
La Arcada is a shopping courtyard with interesting sculptures, a great photo opportunity.
Accommodations: A Secret Garden Inn and Cottages, The Glenborough Inn, Prufrock's, Cheshire Cat, the Four Season's Biltmore and the El Encanto are some just to name a few. Then for those of you who may enjoy a pampered camping experience take a look at the El Capitan Canyon accomodation tip where you can rent a Safari tent for the night.
And there are some restaurants that we as former "locals" like to go to.
Check out the tip for the I Madonnari Festival in May
