Santa Barbara

Sunday, January 7, 2024 - We had a great day in Santa Barbara, which was our first time with “land days” two days in a row. It was very windy, and therefore the sea was quite rough, which made it concerning whether we would actually make it to land. There isn’t a pier for large ships in Santa Barbara so it required anchoring in the harbor and using tender boats to go ashore. It was announced early in the morning that tender operations were delayed and that ‘IF’ it could be done safely they expected the process to start 45 minutes late. There was a lot of finger crossing and prayers for calming swells —given we heard that Santa Barbara is often missed as a port stop for this very reason. Thankfully we were able to get ashore and we had a fabulous day with Colleen McGowan and Cathy Leahy (our sister-in-law Ellen’s cousins). We walked around the old wooden pier in Stearn’s Wharf and then walked around downtown Santa Barbara (State Street) and had a wonderful brunch at an outdoor cafe. As we walked along the streets, every other person seemed to be from our ship, so Viking guests definitely boosted the economy! After eating and shopping we drove to Carpenteria, where Cathy and her husband Rob live. We toured their house, and then drove to the beach - where we could see our ship in the distance. It was an absolutely ideal day - for weather, scenery and our private tour guides. After having a beer / hard seltzer at Island Brewing, which was a block away from the beach (a must Ellen, right?), we were driven back to our ship in time for one of the last tenders at 4 PM. It truly was a spectacular day —- thank you Colleen and Cathy. We will now have 5 full days at sea as our next port will be Hawaii on Saturday, January 13th.