Based In - Santa Barbara, California
We might have found a home. Well, not a building but possibly a city. And it's got Kate's real first name in which means that even saying the name makes me giggle. She's really called Barbara just in case you think my wife's real name is Santa but goes by her middle name Kate because...well, because she's not 70. I digress. Let me explain why Santa Barbara is current top of the list for the next quantum leap...
1) It's an obvious one but...the Weather. On average it is sunny here for over 300 days a year but it rarely gets above 85F. It rains a total of 15 inches a year and most of
that comes in December and January...months typically spent in the pub anyway.
2) It's by the sea which my Blackpool upbringing seems to approve of. This sea, however, is littered with yachts rather than turds and the palm-tree lined beach is covered in bronze, bikini clad sun worshipers rather than drunk Scots.
3) There's a high street that contains a decent mixture of shops that you can drool at and ones with actual, practical, affordable stuff.
4) The same high street is also littered with busy restaurants that almost all have patios where punters spill onto the street...even on a Monday. That means plenty of e
mployment opportunity for me as it seems like the economic downturn hasn't affected the appetites of the upper crust of California. There's even a chippy on the pier but we haven't had chance to test it on this visit.
5) The very same high street has four pubs within crawling distance of each other and one of them is an English pub which may or may not open up at 7am on the weekends for the 3pm kick-offs back home.
6) The people seem genuinely friendly and it's more likely that you will be accidentally scalded by someone's chai latte than mugged whilst walking down street after the sun had gone down.
7) It's really dog friendly with numerous spot for Fido to play off-leash including one beach which I wouldn't recommend sunbathing on for fear of being urinated on by a Great Dane.
8) It has access to some incredible produce with a ton of local vinyards, incredible seafood and unlimited access to a host of exotic fruits and veg. I munched away on some incredible tasting strawberries yesterday and had my first taste of something called a Cherimoya which has a creamy texture and a hint of citrus...a bit like a soursop if you've had the pleasure of those.
Of course it's not all heaven on earth and there are a few downsides...
1) Good weather attracts bums and Santa Barbara has it's fair share of trolley pushing nutters that insist on wearing all four clothing outfits that they own at the same time despite the blazing sun.
2) The houses are damned expensive so if we were to settle here then we'd be se
ttling for something way more modest than we could afford in somewhere less picture perfect and we'd be a good drive away from town. In fact we've done a good reckie of all 31 houses in SB currently for sale in our price range and concluded that we would probably be about 5 miles to the west. On the plus side, our unbelievably friendly neighbour has just passed us a competition entry form that costs $150 to enter but the to two prizes are $1m houses in the heart of town. Keep your fingers crossed...
I think the clincher was the Zoltar fortune telling machine on the pier which, I'm sure you don't need telling, features in the movie Big. Nostalgia does funny things to an ordinarily rational mind.
So we leave here tomorrow, begrudgingly, to continue the trip north along the coast to see if anything can match or beat Santa Barbara but it's going to be tough. Still, there's plenty to see and I've got to keep an open mind but I can see myself uttering the sentence "it's not as nice as Santa Kate" plenty of times in the coming weeks...
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