A Day in Santa Barbara

Our first port of call was Santa Barbara, known locally as the "California Riviera."

We work up anchored off Santa Barbara. After breakfast, I took the tender to shore for a 2.5-hour bus tour of the “highlights of Santa Barbara,” which included the old Mission and the 95-year-old courthouse built following a devastating 1925 earthquake. Rita stayed on the ship and napped for 2 hours.

Returning to the ship I attended a couple lectures in the theater. In the evening, the ship’s captain and department heads were introduced, along with the 14 members of the “enrichment team” — the lecturers. Here’s a photo montage of our day in Santa Barbara.

Now begins five days at sea heading to Hawaii. The highlights will be the super delicious food in multiple restaurants plus free room service (great menu, any time of day or night), two or three lectures a day (some about the ocean, others prepping us for Hawaii), workouts in the gym, walking the 1/4-mile track on Deck 2, visiting the Scandinavian spa (steam room, sauna, ice/snow room, etc.), and making new friends.

Bye for now.