Downtown Santa Barbara
Continued from: I'm not that cute

The weather was still a bit overcast, but I wasn't going to let a silly thing like weather stop me so I just threw on a tank top under a knit beach dress and than went in search for breakfast. After almost forty minutes of searching for a simple breakfast and finding only gourmet seafood dishes, I opted for coffee café cuisine.


During "breakfast" I chatted with locals learning disappoints of some recent corporate plundering of local panache as well as some local secrets and tourist trap information. By the time we were done, the sun finally came out and provided me with the weather I was hoping for. I spent the next eight plus hours window-shopping, treasure hunting, exploring, rock climbing, sight seeing, locals chatting and drum dancing riding the beach trams (half of the time) from point B (beach) to point T (tourist scenery).

Santa Barbara Courthouse
The Santa Barbara courthouse is a magnificent Spanish-Moor "palace" built in 1929.
The architecture and extremely detailed interior décor of hand-painted ceilings, wrought iron entryways and chandeliers with spiraling stair cases, floor to ceiling murals and imported tiles gives the feel that the courthouse is much older than it's 78 years.

In addition, the courthouse is fully functional where lawyers and judges conduct typical M-F proceedings. Ascent to the tower of the courthouse and you'll be awed by the 360° view of the city, mountains and the ocean; from what I'm told, you can see clear through to the islands on transparent airy days.

After fully exploring the courthouse (and a few areas I accidentally forgot to see the 'Employees Only beyond this rope' signs) I was walking alongside the courthouse seeing the surrounding gardens when Hope literally fell into my hands. Event workers were preparing the grounds for the Easter Ceremony and dozens of flag stands lined the street surrounding the courthouse. As I was walking by, a flagpole tipped over directly in front of me forcing me to catch Hope. Sign from above?

Inspiring Teenagers