We spent today relaxing in Santa Barbara and around pool at the heavenly Franciscan Inn.

The town was a 20 minute walk from the hotel along the sea front and then up Stearn street so we took a leisurely wander after a light breakfast in the hotel lobby.

The Franciscan Inn began as a Spanish-style house on a beachside ranch in the 1920s and now offers 53 rooms. It is a great little hide a away from the main strip, the rooms were very comfortable and the staff were extremely friendly and helpful.

Santa barbara itself was very typical of a Mediterranean resort with lots of Spanish style red roofed white buildings and loads of bars, cafes and restaurants. We did a little shopping, had a wonderful Mexican lunch and walked back to the hotel to enjoy the spa and pool.

That evening we walked down to the Santa Barbara harbour but it was all fish restaurants (only to be expected really) so we headed back down to the town to have dinner in a nice Italian restaurant. The town seemed to change as it became darker with lots of youth and homeless people on the streets and plenty of “low rider” style cars cruising around and wheel spinning etc. Im pretty sure it was probably just bored youth and the same kind of car cruise scene as in many places in England but with a long walk back through an unlit tunnel it started to feel a little dodgy so we headed back to the hotel earlier than expected. We did however see a rather cool dog in shades and a bandana sitting in the passenger seat of a beat up low rider – every cloud and all that lol

Back at the hotel we grabbed some coffee and spent the rest of the night watching crap American TV and sorting out photos etc.

Santa Barabara has been nice and its been the first time we have really felt like we were on holiday in a resort but tomorrow its back on the road as we head to San Luis Obispo and a couple of nights in the Madonna Inn .