Santa Barbara makes such an excellent road trip!  My husband planned the whole thing, partially because we had been binge-watching Psych, which is set in Santa Barbara. If you haven't seen that show, for shame. Two best friends solve crimes — it's totally formulaic and totally awesome. Anyway, my husband insisted we make a stop at the Santa Barbara Police Department and then was immediately disappointed because it's definitely not the same building that's on the show.

Luckily there was plenty to cushion the blow. The area is incredibly stunning — (much) greener than San Diego, with beautiful mountains and forests surrounding the city. There's a happening food and drink scene that we discovered through modern Indonesian cuisine, the local farmers market, Handlebar lattes and the best braised octopus I've ever eaten in my life. Also, did I just use the word "happening?" Blegh.

We barely scratched the surface, honestly. There were so many restaurants on my list that it would've been impossible to eat at them all in one weekend without physically dying. And we didn't even do any beach things.

I'd love to go back.

Snaps below include our Airbnb,  the Santa Barbara Farmers Market, Handlebar Coffee Roasters, Sama Sama Kitchen, the Santa Barbara Police Station (LOL), a taqueria whose name escapes me now,  The Hungry Cat (get the braised octopus, of course) and Los Padres National Forest.

P.S. We spent one afternoon hopping around wine tasting rooms in Los Olivos that weekend, so I'll share that in another post!

P.P.S. For $25 off your next Airbnb stay, use this link. :)

The photo from Sama Sama is the only one that isn't mine here (it is from C Magazine). I didn't take any decent pictures during my dinner, but it was just such an awesome restaurant (with a killer patio) so I wanted to include it.