TimeOut

I went to school in Los Angeles (Orange County to be exact) and visited an old grade-school friend who went to school at Santa Barbara.  Spend the afternoon on State Street, sampling food and ice cream (although not the ice cream shop you reviewed).  Would have a late lunch at this extremely authentic Mexican restaurant that Dr.No knows about, and an even later dinner in Isla Vista (we were both students at the time) at a salad cafe called "Silvergreens."  

As a student, I didn't stay at the Four-Seasons on the beach or at the nice Canary hotel, I'd bring a sleeping bag, sleep on my friend's sofa and then in the wee hours of the morning take a 40 minute drive along the foggy California coast to Solvang, a small down that is known as "a slice of Denmark."  

We would have a tremendous breakfast at Paula's Pancake house, and a tremendous brunch at another Solvang establishment, and then waddle back to the car like force-fed geese to drive back down to Santa Barbara.  where we'd have another late lunch in Isla Vista before I returned to Los Angeles.  Oh, those were the days.  

Life was good.  Simple.  Yet immensely enjoyable.  Almost innocent, the biggest crime was only the occasional gluttony.  And sadly, I haven't been back to Santa Barbara since.  I certainly remember it and miss it.  I even remember that my friend had an apartment with valuable parking, but didn't keep a car.  But the driveway was shaped in a way that he was concerned my car would run aground.  He arranged to have the car parked at a parking lot at UC Santa Barbara, which was a two minute walk from his apartment.  

Thank you for the memories DRMW.  I haven't visited Santa Barbara for over five years.  Now I know where to go and where to stay when I get back!  

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