Happy 4th of July everyone!

Last Saturday I visited Santa Barbara and Solvang with my family. We left for Santa Barbara around 10 a.m., and it took us almost 4 hours to get there because of the heavy traffic.

The weather there was cool and sunny, and the air smelled like the ocean. We first ate lunch at a vegetarian restaurant called Mesa Verde. My parents each ordered a brunch bowl (which they didn't like too much), and I ordered a burger made from mushrooms and had butternut cheese. It tasted pretty good, but I made a mess while eating it because it was so tall.

After lunch we drove to a nearby park and walked around for a bit, enjoying the ocean view. Then we went to the Santa Barbara Public Library to browse around. Afterwards we went to the County Courthouse, which is very decorated very beautifully. We climbed up the observation tower and were able to see the town and ocean.

Next we visited the Santa Barbara Mission Church. When we got there mass was in session, but we waited around for a couple of minutes and were able to enter. We were planning to visit UC Santa Barbara but we ran out of time because of all the traffic on the freeway.

Our last stop was Solvang, Little Denmark. We rented a multi-person bike and rode around the town for about an hour (it was tiring but really fun). Afterwards we ate at the Bit O' Denmark restaurant; I ordered the vegetarian primavera with no cheese, which was very oily. Finally we headed back home ( thankfully not too much traffic).

I was really thankful to be able to spend time with my family although we got annoyed with each other after spending hours locked in the car together, haha. I wish we had taken Gremlin with us, but she gets carsick very easily so we decided not to take her.

If you plan to visit Santa Barbara I definitely recommend checking out these places. Thanks for reading!