Now more than ever getting unplugged and spending time outdoors with family is so important for mental and physical health. Our family was in need of some travel therapy, and our recent trip to Santa Barbara delivered that not only by reconnecting us with nature, but also by fulfilling our goal to learn a few new things along the way.
To facilitate a safer visit, we read the Santa Barbara Healthy Traveler Guide and stuck to these guidelines during our trip. As a COVID precaution, we kept our windows wide open, wiped down all spaces with sanitizer wipes and declined any housekeeping throughout our stay.
We wanted our trip to be full of time in the great outdoors, so all of our activities were both family-friendly and naturally socially distanced. Santa Barbara Adventure Company’s seaside bike tour was a brilliant way to carefully introduce us to the coastal splendor of this city. Riding along coastal bluffs among eucalyptus groves, I felt immersed in breathtaking natural wonder. We pulled over several times to watch the surf and admire the majestic views of the coastline.
After working up an appetite, we headed over to the Santa Barbara Fish House to indulge in some local cuisine. Getting your seafood fix does feel like an essential activity while visiting Santa Barbara, and this spot provided a bounty of the Central Coast’s premier tastes of the sea along with an impressive selection of creative cocktails.
Our next day was dedicated to making sure we had some fun learning activities on our vacation since school has been digital and isolated. The Santa Barbara Sailing Center’s two-hour private lesson was just the ticket for us to explore unfamiliar educational territory. Out on the water, we dove right into our enriching lessons on proper sail trim, knots, wind, and navigation while fully immersing ourselves in the serenity of the Santa Barbara coastline. It’s hard to find experiences that are educational exercises disguised as fun, but this one really delivered.
