Santa Barbara is very much like a dream - you sort of can't believe it exists. The approach on Highway 101 from the south is magical (if you squint out the ever-present traffic that exists at all times in all of southern Cal). Nestled between sea and mountains, it could easily be called "La Jolla" (the jewel) itself. The University sits out on a little peninsula called Isla Vista, north of town. Founded in 1944, the architecture is modern-ish and very nice. Everything seems peaceful. On the other hand, there's ample evidence of an intense intellectual experience there. From my count, six Nobel laureates in the past 20 or so years, cool seminars, theater and art all over campus. They seem particularly strong in Maddy's interest, history.
As usual, I'm blown away by California, this time in education. Just doing a very scientific Google search on best public universities, according to the US News page UCSB is ranked #8 nationally. This makes it in THIRD place amongst University of California schools (Berkeley being #1 in the country, and UCLA #2). UCSB is closely followed by UC-Irvine and UCSD (tied for 9th), and UC-Davis (#11). Since Maddy is a California resident, she'll pay about 40% of what it would cost at a private university, and will actually receive pretty nice aid for that. Unbelievable. This is amongst lots of press saying the UC system is broke and dysfunctional. And the choices don't stop there, because there's the Cal State University system too, with some pretty nice choices (like SDSU, which is a pretty good place). Maddy also got into Berkeley, but chose UCSB because she liked the feel and the options in history.
I realize that I'm viewing things very much from a glass half full perspective, and many of the dream aspects of California can be somewhat illusory. Life's not always good, and the sun's not always shining. But, it's shining a lot here, and it always feels hopeful. We've certainly taken full advantage of the educational diversity.
One thing that takes some getting used to in California is the prevalence of cars/strips/malls as somewhat a way of life. Coming from Seattle to live here in the late 90s, I was continually looking for the quaint coffee shop, restaurant or book store in a sort of ye-olde setting. One can find those things in CA, but would miss a lot by over-looking the possibility that something really cool could exist in a pretty seedy looking location.
Take, for example, our dining experiences on the Santa Barbara trip. We ate in a great little place in basically a strip mall in SB (Kyle's Kitchen). We had another nice, low-key experience at Lilly's Taqueria in SB, in another strip mall right next to a liquor store. Lilly's is very much a Mexican taco shop, bare-bones with only tacos on the menu, that you dress yourself. If you're looking for cheese to put on your taco, you will find none. Not a component of a mexican taco, I suppose. Outstanding stuff, and a telling advertisement was that Maddy and I were very much in the minority.
Then, on the way back we stopped in at Moria's Texas BBQ in Venice Beach, a fast-growing favorite of ours. Morphia's is right smack dab on Lincoln Boulevard, between a car wash and an Irish bar, which is nobody's idea of a bucolic scene. You can sit outside the place, basically 2 feet from Lincoln Blvd, cars streaming by, enjoying some awesome BBQ. We were warming up for the real deal in Dixie!
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