I know you’ve all been on the edge of your seats wondering (okay, maybe not, but let’s just pretend), so prepare yourselves for way too many pictures of the day!
I started the day off with a gigantic GM.
I also made some for the roommates 🙂
My friends and I hopped in the car and headed up north to Carpinteria for the day! Our first stop was Chamomile Cafe for some organic breakfast.
We got the best seat in the house – seriously, the waitress told us that people wait in line for this booth.
We got there around 11am. The regulars had already left. No waiting here!
I got the pumpkin-pecan pancakes. Holy Heavens, these were amazing! Crunchy granola, sweetened pecans and a light-as-air pancake filled with lush pumpkin flavor: all organic ingredients and those strawberries on the side melted in my mouth!
My friend got the quiche – organic eggs, broccoli, tomatoes and cheese floating on a flaky crust, with an applesauce-covered potato pancake on the side. I may have stolen half of her quiche…
The day was spent perusing through different shops. First was Porch, a whimsical little store with lots of driftwood.
An artist was dropping of her driftwood mirrors when we stopped by.
We wandered down the main road to check out the campground (I told you there’d be tents! I’m wishing we’d gotten a site there now, but it was really packed for the 4th of July weekend).
They ended up having an outdoor movie screen there for all the vacationers. What an awesome way to spend a weekend! Not that I’m jealous: I’m glad to be working Saturday and Sunday :P.
Have you stopped to visit your local museum lately? We did! Well, it’s not quite local, but we found the Carpinteria History Museum, and stopped in to check it out.
This is a record player from one of the first houses EVER in Carpinteria. The gentleman who worked there turned the crank and showed us that it actually works! It was absolutely amazing to listen to the music while looking at the school room:
Everything in here was donated from an actual schoolhouse in the 1940’s!
The kitchen was stocked full with old cans and furniture that were taken from that first house which was sadly torn down to make way for new construction.
This is a dollhouse that was made by a high school class as a group project in 1936 (forgive me if the dates are a little off). It was so intricate and beautiful! Of course it was updated with a little electricity so museum-goers could enjoy all the minute details.
This place has no government funding, so we all chipped in a little cash to help keep it alive. I’ve always been a sucker for museums. I find it fascinating to look at things from the past and envision the people that used, cared for, and enjoyed them – like this carriage that probably carried entire families through the town, up on the cliffs that overlook the beautiful Pacific.
We let the history soak into us a bit, wandered around, and found a really cool little art gallery on a side street: Anderson Art Collective. My favorite pieces there were the Sexy Skulls <– You’ll want to click there :). One of the artists was there in the studio working, and happens to be incredibly gorgeous. Ladies, beware, his smile can melt you, AND the wax. Here’s some of his work.
Before we headed to the main attraction, we hit up Siam Thai for some fuel.
Pad Kee Mao with beef (I’m really failing on this Flexitarian thing…).
Pad Thai with chicken.
Next comes the main event of the day: Something I’ve been wanting to do for a looooong time!
Island Brewing Company in Carpinteria!!!
We all started off with a sampler. Paradise Pale Ale – not a fan: too bland and bitter. Island Pale Ale: much smoother and a little more depth. Jubilee: Love in a glass – sweet and silky and smooth, with a nice caramel aftertaste. Blackbird Porter: smelled a little nail-polishy, but tasted good! And finally, the Holiday Cask Ale: Smelled strongly of molasses and was very rich, and the roommates thought it smelled and tasted a bit like brandy (I wouldn’t know, never having tried brandy), but definitely was an unexpected punch to the face (9% ABV).
We went with the Jubilee and the Weiss (the brewery’s Hefeweisen, in case you didn’t get that 🙂 ).
After spilling half of the Jubilee (I was a total idiot and spilled the glass all over my friends while telling a story with excessive hand motions – did that after only having the sampler, thank you very much), we finished the dregs of the glass and I apologized to the staff excessively while hiding my face behind my hands. My friend kindly and generously bought me an Islands Brewery sweatshirt to make me feel better :). Okay, all better!
Dinner was next! We stopped at Giovanni’s and split a mini pizza between the three of us.
This pizza was delicious, and REAL! The sauce had tons of oregano and rosemary sprinkled throughout. I had two slices with ham, pepperoni, mushrooms (which I picked off), olives (which I picked off), green peppers and sausage. I was serious when I said I was failing the Flexitarianism!
After wandering around the town, we stopped at the beach to watch the waves and the sunset.
A beautiful ending to an amazing day!
Now it’s only 10pm, and I have to go crash because I’ve got a full day of work starting at 8:30am. Woohoo. Can’t wait. Oh! And I get to watch the LBM (Little Blurry Monster for all you new readers) again, so my post tomorrey will be a little late, or it might have to wait until Sunday – my bike has been calling me from its stand in the garage. I can’t ignore it for too much longer!
All you normal people, enjoy your weekends and be blessed!!!