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It’s officially Fall! It definitely doesn’t fe It’s officially Fall! It definitely doesn’t feel like it in Miami, it really never does but that just gives us a reason to explore other states. West Virginia is one of them, fun fact I actually lived here between undergrad and grad school! Here are Things to do in West Virginia (SAVE + SHARE): 

1. Enjoy New River Gorge National Park & Preserve, or visit any of the states 35 state parks as West Virginia has 1.5 million acres of parks and public land. We personally walked the Shavers Lake Trail and canoed on the lake. 

2. Enjoy some serious adventures! We’re always trying something new and West Virginia offers a lot of options from whitewater rafting, to 1,000+ miles of off-road ATV trails, to rock climbing, caving and mountain biking . 

3. Take a train ride on the Cass Scenic Railroad which stops at the Whittaker Camp where those who worked in the lumber and coal industry lived during the work season. 

4. Explore Cranberry Glades Botanical Area where you might just get to see some black bears! 

5. Walk the Falls of Hills Creak trail to get up close to some gorgeous waterfalls! 

This week I’ll be sharing various cities and states you can experience a beautiful Fall getaway. What are some of your favorite places to enjoy autumn?

Tap the link in my bio for my West Virginia blog post and a blog post of the best places to experience Fall in the US!
Still not over our day exploring the waters of For Still not over our day exploring the waters of Fort Pierce. We danced, snorkeled, fished and went tubing. Definitely want more days like this and still pinch myself that this is what a day of work looks like for me sometimes. Thank you @seadoo for the opportunity.
If you know my husband you know water activities a If you know my husband you know water activities are his favorite! Fishing, jet skiing, just being on a boat on the ocean relaxing, name it, he’s there. So we couldn’t be more excited than to not only get the chance to test out the new @seadoo Switch but be the stars of a whole commercial for it. We had entirely too much fun filming this. Of course now he wants to buy one!

Do you like getting out on the water? Favorite activity?
Our 3 Day London Itinerary (SAVE + SHARE): 

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Day 1: Walked across the Tower Bridge (you can take a tour of London of Tower as well), walked along the River Thames and took a make a fascination hat class with @create_your_own_hat! 

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Day 2: Harry Potter walking tour, checked out Borough Market and went on a night ghost bus tour. 

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Day 3: Morning Tea at Peggy Porschen, Buckingham Palace for Changing of the Guards, and explore Westminster for the infamous red telephone booths, Big Ben and Westminster Abbey.

If you have more time on previous visits to London we have taken a day trip to check out Stonehenge, Bath and Windsor Castle, rode the London Eye, took a ferry ride down the Thames River, checked out Warner Brother Studios, and did a graffiti/street art tour.

Is London on your list? If you’ve been what did you do that you think is a must for visitors?

Things to do in London, London with kids, family travel
Then vs Now (swipe left)!🥹🥰 My babies are no Then vs Now (swipe left)!🥹🥰 My babies are not babies anymore. Where has the time gone? Excuse me while I go cry in the corner 😭😭😭😭. 

Too in my feelings to provide an informational post, I’ll be back tomorrow.
Why is this man always trying to stop my fun? List Why is this man always trying to stop my fun? Listen replace husband with whoever you need to but why these ppl keep acting like we can take our money when we’re gone?!? Y’all feel me or nah? 😅😬😩
Morning Tea in London! Afternoon or High Tea is us Morning Tea in London! Afternoon or High Tea is usually on everyone’s things to do in London list but since the girls and I don’t eat beef or pork the menus for most places didn’t make sense for us as they are filled with ham sandwiches and other things we don’t eat. I ended up finding Morning Tea at Peggy Porschen instead which offers a tea menu with breakfast items, while not traditional it worked best for us! It cost £35 pp.

For a traditional Afternoon or High Tea Try:

🫖Palm Court at The Ritz
🫖The Diamond Jubilee Tea Salon at Fortnum & Mason
🫖Theatre Royal Drury Lane
🫖The Grill Room Hotel Cafe Royal (has vegetarian an vegan options)
🫖Coronation Afternoon Tea at Cellarium, Westminster Abbey
🫖The Rosebery Coronation Afternoon Tea at Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park
🫖The Goring Hotel

Afternoon Teas Geared Towards Families:

☕️Peter Pan Afternoon Tea at Aqua at The Shard
☕️Jurassic Afternoon Tea at the Ampersand Hotel
☕️Jungle Book Afternoon Tea at Brown’s Hotel
☕️Secret Garden Afternoon Tea at Taj 51
☕️The Buzzy Bees Afternoon Tea at St. Ermin’s Hotel
☕️Grover’s Children’s Tea at Grosvenor House Hotel
☕️The Peppa Pig Afternoon Tea Bus Tour
☕️Sherlock Holmes Inspired Afternoon Tea at the Mind Palace
☕️Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Tea at One Aldwych
☕️Mad Hatter Afternoon Tea at The Sanderson
☕️Wizard of Oz Afternoon Tea at The Soho Hotel

Have you done a proper Afternoon or High Tea in London before? Was the one you did on this list, if so what did you think of it? If you have additional recommendations please do leave a comment!

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Your Guide to Planning a Santa Barbara Vacation

April 6, 2019      California, Destinations, North America

This post contains affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small commission at no cost to you. Please see our disclosure policy for more information. All opinions are my own.

My husband and I had an amazing time on our Santa Barbara vacation. While we used to live in Oakland and have visited Lake Tahoe, Oceanside, Anza Borrego Park, and Huntington we weren’t familiar with Santa Barbara. We had no idea the city had so many things to offer but are happy we got to find out. Here’s the ultimate guide to planning a Santa Barbara vacation.

You May Be Interested in Reading: Tips for Taking Family Vacation Photos

How to Get to Santa Barbara

When planning your Santa Barbara vacation it’s important to know Santa Barbara only has a small regional airport. This means you most likely won’t be able to find a direct flight if your coming from Miami like we did or anywhere else on the East Coast. An alternative is to get a direct flight into LAX and then make the 2-hour drive. 

You May Be Interested in Reading: The Ultimate Guide to Planning a California Road Trip

How to Get Around on Your Santa Barbara Vacation

We made the mistake of not renting a car in Santa Barbara and ended up with a huge Lyft bill. While our hotel was a short drive from Santa Barbara airport it was a $25 Lyft ride to go pretty much everywhere else. Since we left the hotel quite often these added up quickly. The hotel also offered bicycles to rent as there was a nearby park.

Where to Stay on Your Santa Barbara Vacation

My husband and I were celebrating our 6-year wedding anniversary so we were looking for a really nice hotel. We couldn’t have made a better choice than The Ritz Carlton Bacara. Just ten minutes from the airport and on the coast we were blessed with beautiful ocean views. The Bacara Spa was the best spa experience I’ve had and brunch and dinner at Angel Oak was to die for. If you’re looking for a luxury hotel on your Santa Barbara vacation there isn’t a better option. Read my full review here.

Santa Barbara Vacation at the Ritz Carlton Bacara

You May Be Interested in Reading: Travel Safety Tips You Don’t Want to Skip

What to Do on Your Santa Barbara Vacation

Go Horseback Riding on the Beach

Santa Barbara is the perfect place to go horseback riding on the beach. We went with Los Padres Outfitters for a sunset ride. If you’re into celebrity sightings this beach is lined with celebrity homes like Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis. While we didn’t see them our guide said they often do on these tours and they are both very friendly.

Los Padres Outfitters

Go Whale Watching on Your Santa Barbara Vacation

Did you know you can go whale watching in Santa Barbara? Not only can you go but there are seven different types of whales that migrate through Santa Barbara. We booked a trip through Condor Express where you can also spot dolphins, sea lions and seals. Unfortunately the day we were scheduled for our tour there was extremely poor weather and our tour was cancelled. They immediately offered us a tour on a different day but it was our last day in Santa Barbara. I recommend booking your whale watching tour on your first day so you have the opportunity for a second day if cancelled for weather.

Visit the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden

We really enjoyed our visit to the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden. Here you can see a ton of California native plants. We especially loved the California poppies and redwoods section of the gardens. You can also visit the cactus display or be entranced by the sounds of the various running streams. We were able to see tons of wildlife as well including gorgeous butterflies and a few rabbits!

Santa Barbara Vacation Guide Santa Barbara Botanic Garden (1)

Enjoy a Picnic by Santa Barbara Picnic Co

If you’re planning your Santa Barbara vacation with your significant other you must enjoy a picnic by Santa Barbara Picnic Co. We had the most romantic picnic in the Island View Garden at the Botanic Garden overlooking the Channel Islands. Santa Barbara Picnic Co has a list of pre-approved locations they can set up but you can also request additional locations or have them set-up at a private event.

Santa Barbara Picnic Co

You May Be Interested in Reading: Tips for Taking Family Vacation Photos

Go Wine Tasting

If you’re into wine you’ll have plenty of options for wine tasting on your Santa Barbara vacation. Enjoy the Urban Wine Trail which has over 27 wineries and is a self-guided trail. We chose to explore the tasting rooms in the Santa Barbara Funk Zone which has 15 of the 27 tasting rooms. Our favorite was Santa Barbara winery but Sea Deep Wines had the best view!

Santa Barbara Vacation Deep Sea Winery

Santa Barbara Courthouse

Why would you want to visit the courthouse on your Santa Barbara vacation? The courthouse in Santa Barbara is gorgeous! While it’s still an active courthouse with trials going on in it’s definitely a tourist attraction as well. There are even free daily tours put on by the courthouse where you can learn about its history. If you’re looking for a beautiful courthouse to tie the knot this is definitely it! Not only is the courthouse beautiful but so are the views you can get of Santa Barbara from the rooftop.

Santa Barbara Vacation Courthouse

Experience a Salt Cave Session

If you’re looking to relax on your Santa Barbara vacation you can obviously check out one of the many spas. However, if you’re looking for a unique experience enjoy a session at the Salt Caves. The salt caves is a meditation cave made completely out of salt. I mean every wall, the ceiling and the floor is just salt. In the room there reclining chairs that you can lay on with blankets to cover yourself. You can also sit or lay in the salt to get even better benefits.

Rent a Moke

If you want a unique way to get around Santa Barbara for a few hours, rent a Moke. We rented one and drove up and down the coast enjoying the breeze.

santa barbara vacation rent a moke

Considering Other Domestic Trips: Check Out Our Itineraries for: Nashville, Panama City Beach,  Door County, Wisconsin, Las Vegas, Tampa, Key West, Orlando, and Arizona.

Where to Eat on Your Santa Barbara Vacation

Did you know that the Egg McMuffin and ranch were both created in Santa Barbara? You can try the sophisticated version of both at Barbanero. We’ve literally never eaten so much on vacation but we quickly learned Santa Barbara has some of the best restaurants in the world. Not only was the food beyond delicious we had amazing service all around. Check out my list of the best restaurants in Santa Barbara.

Ritz Carlton Bacara Angel Oak Abalone

We absolutely loved our time in Santa Barbara and hope to return with our kids. Cheers to planning your own Santa Barbara vacation! If you found this article helpful please share it!

 

The Traveling Child is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca. Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.

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Hi! We’re The Hambricks

Hi! We’re The Hambricks

If kids live there, kids can visit! That's our motto and you'll often find us exploring destinations most don't find "kid friendly". We've traveled to 35 countries on 6 continents with our children since they were 10 weeks old and share tips to make it easier and affordable. But mom and dad are people too so we also write about solo travel, baecations and girlfriend getaways.

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