Today we are driving from Santa Maria to Santa Monica.
Day 13
Today we started in – Santa Maria
We finished in – Santa Monica
Miles travelled today – 170
Miles so far this trip – 1426
Tonight we are staying at – Doubletree Hilton Santa Monica
I am up and on it early. Showered, dressed and half the car loaded by 8.30. I think panic is setting in, that we are approaching the end. The end of our California portion of the holiday.
We still have 4 nights to go in Santa Monica. Indeed we still have 7 nights in New York too, which is a holiday in itself.
But my little mind doesn’t see it that way, so it is up and out as early as possible to make the most of the time left.
Suzanne and Max catch up, and by 9am we are heading to ‘The Pantry on the Park’.
If someone had asked me to describe a typical American Diner, this would be it. Darkish wood. Booths are wherever they can fit. Tables squeezed in where they can’t.
Most of the tables and booths are to the right as you enter. On the left, is a long long bar and the kitchen area.
Typical American diner
3 older gents sit at the long bar, not talking to the staff or to each other. I get the impression they are regulars.
The three of us take a booth, and before we know it, we are tucking into waffles, french toast washed down with lukewarm American / English breakfast tea.
We set of driving from Santa Maria to Santa Monica
It is a decent drive to Santa Monica, and we want to lunch in Santa Barbara, which is a good 90 minutes away. I appreciate we have just finished breakfast, but a 90-minute drive can easily turn into a 3 hour one. Thanks to me and my camera, random stops and Max distractions!
In-between re-programming the archaic sat nav, and battling for wifi on hugely disappointing TEP, we get to where we want to be, via Lompoc.
Our drive south takes us to the coast, and we finally hit a proper coast road around Gaviota. Just before this though, we stop at the Gaviota Southbound Rest area.
There is one main reason for this, although I squeeze another excuse in. Something about stretching my legs. The real reason however, was far more personal.
I have fond memories as a child, on similar trips with my mum and sister of stopping at rest areas. Eating fruit out the back of the car. Picnic tables in the woods. Waving down a sheriff with a petticoat because we’d locked the keys in the boot of the car!
The rattlesnake signs mean Suzanne doesn’t venture too far from the car. We head off after a few photos, before jumping back in the car, without even hearing a rattling sound of the slithery one’s tails. More sights to see when driving from Santa Maria to Santa Monica.
Santa Barbara sightseeing
Within 45 minutes we are parking at Santa Barbara. For old times sake, we use the same car park we did in 2013 when we were here.
Nothing has changed much, but one piece of information we have either forgotten or didn’t know about was the 90 minutes free parking on the pier. Worth doing, particularly if you are spending most of your time ON the pier!
Lots of fellow tourists about with selfie sticks stopping every 5 mins for the next photo.
Homeless people with homemade fairground type amusement. Paper cups to throw in. A sheet with circles in saying what kind of lover you are. We politely declined to take part. These were just off the pier to our right.
To our left as we walk are the coastal hills. Not particularly big hills but the tips of them poke into the dark grey clouds.
The pier has its usual mix of fish restaurants and seaside eateries.
We settle for Clam Chowder for Suzanne and Grilled Cheese sandwiches for me and Max.
Apparently, Suzanne assures us the clam chowder is tastier than the sandwiches. Having only tasted the sandwiches, I am forced to agree.
They were not good.
There is still a way to go, driving from Santa Maria to Santa Monica
There is still have a decent drive to do, and our 7-year-old sat nav with 6-year-old maps does its best to keep us away from the coast and on the main highway 101.
We want to hug the coastline via highway 1 via Malibu.
As we approach Malibu, the traffic thickens, and the average speed drops.
But that’s ok. It gives us a chance to look at the beachside houses that sit to our right.
We wonder who lives on this stretch.
The grubby roadside façades I am sure belies the glamour of the Pacific ocean sunsets they enjoy while sitting out on their decking.
A quick google later and we discover the houses along here are selling for their millions. Which you’d expect. £125,000,000 was the most expensive I can find. $125 million!!!
For a mile or so we get stuck behind a classic VW camper van, with the license plate 73MALBU, this distracts our attention from the never-ending million dollar properties.
Doubletree Hilton. Again
We find our way to the Doubletree Hilton Santa Monica, and again, as per 2013, park in the courthouse car park. $14 dollars for a whole day at the weekend is more than we remember from tour previous trip, but it still beats the $39 day for valet parking at the hotel.
Check in was seamless, we snare our warm cookies from reception (a welcoming gift still in place after 6 years) and before we know it we are walking onto the Santa Monica Pier.
We go from the peace and relative tranquillity of our car to the chaos of the pier.
Santa Monica Pier
Churros sellers are strategically positioned at both the top and bottom of the pier entrance. Dancers showing their skills take money from willing givers, but have a dig at those that watch, and don’t offer.
Max is immediately lured to the arcades, we allocate a few dollars for him to spend, and then that’s it. As a result, his ride on the quad bike I not as animated as he’d like.
We dine at a pier bar called Rusty’s, and a Mango beer mix up results in me getting a free drink.
The sun sets and we have not left the pier all evening. But the time has come.
We head home, not particularly late but darkness has fallen. We pass the same, if not very similar Churros sellers and dancers, making it beyond them without parting with any more money.
I am taking photos of the streets and all that is going on, and we stop at some traffic lights.
Max wants to do the same. So he does. It gives the opportunity for a young girl to say “Really sorry, can I just say your son is so adorable”.
We gratefully, if not a little embarrassedly say thank you.
And on that note, we wander back to the hotel for a decent nights sleep before tomorrows bike ride.
See Full Itinerary of our trip here
