Ringing in the New Year in Santa Barbara

I am a fan of the idea that the way one spends the first hours of the new year sets the tone for the rest of the year altogether. I will be pleased if 2012 echoes my first couple of days. We spent the eve with friends in Santa Barbara, and stayed through the second enjoying the city and the sunny weather. On the first, I slept in late, played tennis and ate seafood at Brophy Brothers in the marina. On the second, went for a long run through the downtown shopping district, stopping often to take snaps and ogle the architecture. As a harbinger, I'll take it.

State and De La Guerra.

Love the Moorish lettering spelling out street names on the corners.

I started my run along the "red tile walking tour" published in a tourist magazine. Ultimately, it was an advertisement because it only took the walker past shops and not past city hall, Casa de la Guerra, Rafael Gonzalez house, the Historical Museum, etc. As soon as I realized, I tossed the map and set out on my own, meandering down back and side streets off State.

Casa de la Guerra in the perfect morning light.

El porche.

I love the old Greyhound signs...

The exact same signs are still up at the downtown Greyhound station in Sacramento, but the station itself in Sacramento is more than a bit grittier.

La dolce vita, indeed.