Cruising the West Coast — Santa Barbara by the Sea

Well, we’ve looked at Mission Santa Barbara.  We’ve seen Santa Barbara from atop the exquisite Santa Barbara Courthouse.  But, how does Santa Barbara look along the shore?

There are some fun things to see along this stretch of beach: piers loaded with restaurants, yachts plying the waters, volleyball players enjoying the sun, and many more examples of Spanish Colonial Revival architecture.

But one of the neatest sights (if you’re old enough to remember them) is both the first and the last remaining Sambo’s family restuarant in the nation — still at its original location at 216 W. Cabrillo Blvd. right across from the beach.  At their peak, Sambo’s had restaurants in 47 states across the U.S.  Today, they’re down to the original one from 1957.  We were going to drop in after our tour of Santa Barbara and before reboarding the Sapphire Princess but, alas, they had closed for the day at a ridiculously early 2:00 P.M.  So, unfortunately, there will be no pictures of the kitschy interior, the bejeweled and turban-clad Indian boy Sambo, and that cutesy tiger.

On Wednesday we’re going to postpone the remainder of our West Coast cruise for something special — a Halloween Tale of Terror from yours truly.  We’ll pick up again on the West Coast with Catalina Island on Friday.