I had originally planned a for a week-long trip through Pacific Coast Highway but ended up driving the northern tip to portion of the central coast on a spontaneous getaway! You can read part 1 of this series here as we explore from San Francisco to Big Sur and Cambria.

A few weeks after our spontaneous PCH trip, Marlon and I headed south to pick up from where we left of. Only this time, instead of driving the entirety of PCH, coming from Sacramento, we took the faster route on US 101. Arriving in Santa Barbara, we spent 2 days exploring this beautiful Spanish-colonial-inspired town and another 2 days in Malibu. This PCH Series will end with part 3 (another blog post) as we explore the rest of the southern tip.

Day 1 Sacramento to Santa Barbara

Leaving Sacramento at around 10 AM, this road trip was planned at a leisurely pace. While driving on Interstate 5 may be faster by a few minutes, we opted for US 101 since we haven’t driven this route before. Hardly making stops except for a gas refill and lunch, we made it to Santa Barbara at around 4 PM and settled right on the first beach we found for a quick stretch and to search for an excellent overnight camping spot.

After a quick stretch and short stroll on the sand, the next stop is East Beach to make dinner, wait for sunset and camp for the night. On the menu for dinner is a store-bought pre-marinated Chipotle ribs with some veggies and rice.

Tired from all the miles covered this day, we easily seattled in and got comfortable for bedtime. And what lovely camping spot we had! The waves crashing was loud enough that we can hear it inside the van as we were dozing off.

Hubby thought he could hide behind the wheel for the picture! : P

Day 2 Santa Barbara

Good morning from our beautiful backyard in Santa Barbara! We woke up early to fuel up with donuts from Hook and Press before our excursion-filled day! On the itinerary are visits to the famous Moreton Bay Fig Tree, Stearns Wharf, tour of the Courthouse, Bisno Schall Clock and lastly, tour of El Presidio and Casa de la Guerra Museum. We skipped visiting the Old Mission since we have already toured it in 2016.

Woke up and opened our curtain to this sight!

The brown butter donuts (right) is one of the highlights of this trip! Can you tell my obsession with brown butter? If not, check out my recipes and you’ll find multiple brown butter sweets!

After donuts, our first stop was a visit to Moreton Bay Fig Tree on Chapala St. This massive tree was first planted in 1876 in a different location but was later transferred and was officially designated a historical landmark in 1970. From Chapala St., our next stop was at the Stearns Wharf situated between the 2 most popular beaches in the city - the East and West Beach. Stearns Wharf is reminiscent of the many wooden pier attractions typical in coastal towns filled with restaurants and souvenir shops. We didn’t do much here aside from taking a few snaps and letting time pass by for our next excursion. Outside the wharf are the iconic lined palm trees spanning the entirety of Cabrillo Boulevard.

Moreton Bay Fig Tree is believed to be the largest of it's kind in the country!

The Santa Barbara County Courthouse offers free tours throughout the day. The first tour is scheduled at 10:30 AM on weekdays with an assigned docent (tour guide) that starts the tour at the intricately-designed Mural Room. From there, the docent takes the group throughout the courthouse giving an overview of the building’s Spanish-Colonial style architecture, share entertaining stories from its history and point out most fascinating details (www.santabarbaraca.com).

Exterior of the Santa Barbara Courthouse

After the tour, right accross the Mural Room is the Bisno Schall Clock Gallery with access stairs to the roof. And on the roof top is a 360-degree panoramic view of Santa Barbara. This is perhaps the best place to see the beautiful city! Following the devastating earthquake in 1925, Pearl Chase convinced the city planners to rebuild in a unified Spanish Colonial Revival Style inspired by the Old Mission (www.santabarbara.com). In so doing, just about every turn in Santa Barbara is post-card worthy! The city’s unified architectural style is a mere icing on the cake, geographically speaking, SB is truly spectacular with the vast Santa Ynes hills on the east and the view of the ocean on the west.

After close to 2 hours of exploring the courthouse, we drove back to East Beach to prepare a quick lunch before our next activity. On the lunch menu is a simple spam and egg sandwich with chips!

The rest of the afternoon was spent exploring between El Presidio de Santa Barbara State Historic Park and Casa de la Guerra. Both gave us an in-depth perspective of the history of the city. Located in downtown Santa Barbara, El Presidio de Santa Bárbara State Historic Park (El Presidio SHP) is a 5 1/2-acre park that preserves the site of the last Spanish fortress, or presidio, founded in Alta (Upper) California in 1782. Two of the fort‘s original adobe buildings still exist and are open to the public—El Cuartel and the Cañedo Adobe (Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation).

A block away from El Presidio de Santa Barbara is Casa de la Guerra. This adobe residence was constructed between 1818 and 1828 by José de la Guerra, the fifth comandante of the Presidio. In addition to his military post, de la Guerra acquired four large ranchos, ran an active commercial trade enterprise and served as the patriarch for the local community. His home was the social, political, and cultural center of Santa Barbara during the Mexican period (Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation).

After visiting the museums, we took Santa Barbara on foot and explore some more. Then our visit was sadly over! I can see us coming back here in the future to stay just a bit longer! At around 3 PM, we drove a little over an hour south to Malibu!

Stumbled on this beautiful courtyard while strolling downtown Santa Barbara.

Hello Malibu! We arrived after 4 PM and starving from the long museum day and drive. Right off PCH are parking spots next to the beaches where many other camper vans and RV’s park for the day. We snag one of the spots closest to the water, took stretches and got started on dinner. On the menu is salad and left-over ribs from the day before. With our pantry storage small, I try to buy pre-marinted meat so I don’t have to stock up on marinating ingredients.

We pulled up to this parking site for dinner!

Sadly, sunset is on a bend behind us! We were too lazy to drive back to view sunset and it was cloudy anyway. After dinner, I took a stroll down the beach then hung out with my husband beach side with the side door open. I also found a great overnight parking spot right off PCH on a small pocket far enough from the road. To find free overnight parking spots, I use either iOverlander or www.freecampingsites.net.

Parked with our slide door open and a dashful of the Pacific Ocean in Malibu.

This ocean view for the night is free and can easily beat expensive ocean view hotel rooms!

Day 3 Malibu

Good morning from our beachfront accommodation last night! Day 3 was cloudy so we made it into another museum day! Can you tell I love museums?! And I made it a mission on this trip to spend as little as possible. In Santa Barbara, the courthouse tour was free while both El Presidio de Santa Barbara and Casa de la Guerra totaled to $7 per person. On this day, we visited Getty Villa (free with a $20 parking fee) and Adamson House ($7 per person). Along PCH South are many signs that says beach access in between homes. Since we were early for Getty Villa, our early morning was spent at the beach where big fancy homes are lined. We were wondering if any of these homes are owned by Hollywood Star we know!

First sight of the morning! Not bad to start a day!

One of the lovely homes on Carbon Beach.

Getty Villa opens at 10 AM. If you can carve out a few hours while in Malibu, Getty Villa is worth your time! This museum was founded by J Paul Getty showcasing various ancient Roman, Greek and Etruscan art pieces. There is a self-guided tour and a few scheduled tours with a guide that you have to reserve once there. We took both the self-guided tour and the architectural tour. Aside from the extensive collection of art pieces, Getty Villa in itself is beautiful. As explained by our tour guide, the architectural design was inspired by a noble man’s home in the ancient Rome. Outside is a long and picturesque pool. Our guide detailed the typical daily life of the Romans as reflected on Getty Villa’s architecture. There are a lot more free tours and we can easily spend an entire day exploring this museum but we planned on visiting the Adamson House as well.

We left Getty Villa in a hurry to make it to the last tour at the Adamson House about 7 miles away. The Adamson House is a mix of Spanish Colonial and Mediterranean Revival Style. This stunning property was built by the Rindge Family for their daughter Rhoda Adamson who was married to Merritt Adamson (www.adamsonhouse.org). The Rindge Family were tile makers as heavily reflected on the house’s design. Often, clients are brought in the Adamson House as a showroom showcasing many different patterns and designs.

As fun as it is to visit museums, it is also incredibly tiring! After a full day of exploring, we drove back to the same spot the day before to cook a quick dinner and rest for the night! But of course… what day in Malibu is without another beach stroll? Also, I spotted pods of dolphins swimming along the coast throughout the afternoon!

Excitedly pointing out to a pod of dolphins!

Day 4 Malibu

Our last day in Malibu was spent hiking Point Dume State Beach and El Matador State Beach with a lunch stop at Neptune’s Net. Unlike the day before, we were lucky to have a sunny day for hike day. Our first stop is Point Dume State Beach which features headlands, cliffs, rocky coves and vast beach access (www.parks.ca.gov).

This long and steep wooden stairs takes you down to the rocky beach.

Watching the models pose for a photoshoot!

After hiking Point Dume, we headed to El Matador State Beach. According to California Through My Lense, El Matador State Beach is Malibu’s Best Kept Secret with long stretches of sand, sea caves and massive rocks. There is a short walk to get to the steep stairs to get down to the beach. During our visit, we were lucky to take one of the only 20 parking spots for $8. There were film crew for a Korean movie occupying most of the parking lot!

Following a tiring hiking morning, we had late lunch at Neptune’s Net. When in Malibu, Neptune’s Net is our must-stop in ode to the late Paul Walker. This was one of the locations for the The Fast and The Furious! Coincidentally, my husband just received his “Tuna No Crust” shirt quoting Brian (Paul Walker) in the film. After lunch, we spent some time watching surfers catch the waves across the restaurant.

Marlon sporting his “Tuna No Crust” shirt quoting Brian (Paul Walker) in The Fast and The Furious on one of the set locations for the movie!

Across the restaurant is a popular surfing spot!

Spent from the heat and the hike, after a shower at the gym, we parked beach side and lounged! While I read a few chapters from my new book, my husband was on his phone and soon after, we both kicked our feet up with our pillows to watch the ocean in front of us! What a great day we’ve had!

Day 5 Sacramento Bound

Our PCH Trip has come to an end and it’s time to head back north home! But first… Porto’s Bakery! We took an hour detour to visit the famous Porto’s Bakery! A few of our friends and family brought us some pastries in the past! And though they’re delicious, we’ve never made an effort to visit one of their locations. Upon entering, we were greeted with a long line as expected but was surprised at the level of efficiency the staff showed. Despite the crowd, we were helped within 5 minutes and walked away with 3 boxes of baked goods and a guava smoothie! I can tell you that Porto’s Bakery more than lived up to the hype. As a baker, I was thoroughly impressed with their pastries and flavors to top with excellent customer service and inexpensive menu. Needless to say, we were prepared to take the long road back north loaded with sweets to munch on! And the rest of the loot were for some of our friends and family!

Loot bag from Porto’s Bakery in Burbank!

What an incredible 4 days we’ve had exploring Santa Barbara and Malibu in PCH! If you haven’t yet, check out part 1 (of 3) of this series here as we explore the northern tip of PCH from San Francisco to Big Sur and Cambria! Part 3 will be posted soon! California is such a beautiful state and a road trip to PCH is one of the best trips you can take in the state! Cheers!

Sights and Sounds: Pacific Coast Highway Central Coast

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