Our first port, and it’s a tender port, so we don’t really know what to expect. Priority disembarkation is too early for us – we have nothing really to do until a 2 o’clock walking tour, so we figure we’ll go ashore after the open tendering is called. We have a slow (very slow) breakfast, then hang out in the cabin waiting for open tenders. They are still calling numbers when we want to leave, so we go up to get tickets, only to find that they’ve given out all the tickets and we have to wait until they are through – which will be about an hour. Oops! We didn’t time that right!
Ah well, live and learn. Since we have to be on deck 7 to get to the tender stairs anyway, we head down there where I grab a couple of maps and info from the Santa Barbara tourist info guys onboard. One guy tells me its free museum day in the county, so we’ve lucked out and can go to the maritime museum for free. Well, that’s a bonus. As we are waiting, Gian comes by and chats with Ed. When he finds out that we are waiting to go ashore with no tender ticket, he says “follow me.” And off we go through the crew areas, down the stairs and elevators to I95 right outside the tender dock. He calls someone who says they can fit us – and we jump right in at the end of the line for the next tender. Lovely perk – if not mildly embarrassing! But, we are on our way – so we aren’t complaining.
On shore, we walk the 10 minutes around the fishing boat harbor to the museum, which, btw, is not free today! All the other museums are, but the staff there says their director didn’t “get the memo” and they are still charging. Not an issue since we were expecting to pay anyway. It’s a sweet little museum with some interesting displays describing the local offshore rigs and aquaculture projects they have started. The rigs act like giant reefs giving life to all sorts sea creatures, which is a pretty cool way of making something controversial more sustainable, if not acceptable. There is also the lens from the point Conception Lighthouse which is really cool. We’ve never seen an actual lens before- just the entire lighthouse with the light in the glass tower, so its fascinating to see all the glass and the refractories up close.
Because abalone used to be the main commercial fishing base here, until it became overfished and extinct only to be found now in farms, there is a large display on the abalone itself, plus the different dive suits created to fish for the abalone. To be honest, we never knew you had to dive for it – we always just assumed it was a net fish – but no – SCUBA all the way it appears. There are nautical displays (of course), a torpedo periscope that Ed really enjoys (it gives you a 360 degree view of the area around the museum) and a fascinating section that details the “Honda Disaster,” a US Navy exercise with 17 ships that went really wrong when they turned into a cove thinking it was the Santa Barbara channel. 14 ships ran aground, 1 sank, 6 had to be scuttled and 21 sailors died. Crazy!
There is also a 4th floor observation deck that we visit to get some birds-eye pictures, so all in all, it’s a nice way to learn a little history about the area and spend some time before heading into the main area of town.
It’s a nice, sunny day, only slightly chilly, and the walk to town only takes about 15 minutes along a nice seaside promenade. We’ve timed our walk so that we can go to Brass Bear brewery for a drink and maybe a light snack before our Funk Zone walking tour at 2 and it works perfectly. The brewery is adorable, small with a little open kitchen and bear stickers all over. You know I’m in heaven! We order a couple of beers, some chipotle rosemary shrimp (which are excellent – a combo we’d never think of doing) and spend our time reading the wall placards under huge metal photos that describe the owners’ trek through Australia which is where they decided to create the brewery. It’s pretty interesting reading – and makes us like this place even more! Upon leaving, I ask for – and receive – a bear sticker I can’t wait to put on the computer (but – alas – I don’t have enough space left for a big sticker – We have to give the prime real estate to Cursus Keme!).
The meeting point for our walking tour isn’t more than 5 minutes away, so we are of course early, but another couple from the cruise is there waiting too and then 4 more show up so when John, our guide arrives, we are all ready. John was born here, moved away during his younger years, but came back as an adult, with his wife, and have lived here ever since. He started these tours after he took one in Europe, loved the information, and thought, “why don’t we have this in Santa Barbara?” Well, now they do!
The tour covers a roughly 6 block area of what is called the “Funk zone” because as the story goes at some point in the early 1900’s county commissioners were doing an inspection of the area and there was some malodorous smell, so they commented on the “funk” and the name stuck. Now it is a center of artists, wine tasting bars, breweries and eateries as well as the main commercial buildings and hotels. John takes us all around, providing great historical references like how the Hotel Californian was renovated (the façade was protected as historical, so when the building had to be renovated after an earthquake, they had to keep the façade and rebuild from the inside out) and the building where the brothers Lockheed started their famed airplane company (later to merge with Martin Company). Had no idea!
We stop for tastings at the Santa Barbara Winery which is festooned with tons of great art and murals, pass through the old warehouse district for more murals and visit one of John’s favorite artists where we all ooh and ah over her work, but none of us partake in any retail therapy.
John walks us back the square where the tour began, explaining the different ways to get around the city – and for us cruisers, how to hop the bus to get back to the pier. We’re walking, but the other couple is all freaked out about timing (they’ve already reminded John when they need to be back), so they peel off and run for the bus as it cruises down the street. Whatever. We’ve got plenty of time, and its an absolutely gorgeous day, so why not enjoy a little exercise back to the ship?
Which is what we did, strolling along the seaside promenade, stopping to snap pictures of the bicycle carriages (that my parents tried to use one year when they visited), then back to the pier for the tender ride back to the ship. Good first day adventure.
Andiamo 