Santa Barbara

We have search high and low for an airport close to a beach (and close to us) so we could just spend a Saturday at the beach for free.  We found many that are close, but with spotty transportation, we would probably still have to rent a car.  However, after zooming in on google earth, we found that Santa Barbara airport was withing 1/2 mile of the beach . . . WALKING distance!!  So we planned carefully and flew out on Saturday morning.  When we landed there were ominous clouds in the sky and we realized that with all our planning . . .we forgot to check the weather!!  All we had was beach clothing.  Luckily, after our 1/2 mile walk, we were warmed up, the clouds left and it was warm enough to be in a swimsuit.  We spent several hours playing in the sand, running away from the freezing cold water and trying not to be upset that the beach didn't live up to Maui :).   Hallie and Jackson both loved digging and building and burying and just being in the sun and sand.

The most awesome part of the trip was seeing dolphins!  I saw about 5 of them coming up out of the water.  They were so close to us!  I watched them for almost 30 minutes before they were too far out to see anymore.  I have tried to find dolphin so many times on a beach and I did NOT expect to see them on a public beach in Santa Barbara.  As we took the kids on a walk to get Hallie to sleep for naptime, we walked down the long pier and a pair of dolphins were swim along side us the whole way.  So beautiful and amazing!

It was a little awkward to have a carry-on and 2 backpack and a double stroller on the beach with us, but you do what you gotta do- at least I decided not to bring Hallie's carseat!

 
Our camera battery died, so we only got a few photos, but our memories will have to do!

We walked back to the airport around 3:30, and found out that the flight we wanted filled up.  We were disappointed, but hopeful in making the next flight.  We had 3 hours to kill in a very small airport.  There was an observation deck to watch the planes take off.  We also ate at the restaurant which had surprisingly great food and reasonable prices (compared the the fish place on the beach).  The kids were a bit restless by the time we got on the next flight at 7:30.   Jackson played contentedly and fell asleep about half way through the flight.

This was my FIRST time missing a flight and I was sad to break my record, but happy that we at least made it home.  We had tentative plans c,d,e and f, but they all would have been expensive.  All in all, we spent a day on the beach for the $4.50 it cost us to park at the parking spot for 12 hours (plus, the food we hauled in).  Pretty great day!