I've been living in Santa Barbara for nearly 10 years now and like to consider myself a bit of a local at this point. Yet still, sometimes it's fun to do seemingly "touristy" things. So, my friends (locals too) and I recently decided to go on the Eat This, Shoot That! food and photography tour. It was a blast!
The tour starts with a couple stops on the pier -- Santa Barbara Shellfish Co. and Deep Sea Tasting Room. We got to taste a few wines overlooking the ocean, and the ceviche at SB Shellfish Co. was delicious.
The bulk of the tour goes through The Funk Zone, Santa Barbara's new, up-and-coming hotspot, which is filled with fun shops, unique restaurants, tasting rooms, etc. It's a bit of a local's secret still, so it was fun to get off the beaten path a bit (and we even went to a couple spots that I'd never heard of before!). We went to Seven Bar and Kitchen and had chicken and waffles, Figueroa Mountain Brewery Tasting Room for some craft beers, Cutler's Artisan to sip some family-distilled spirits, and Riverbench for some wine and unreal handmade salted caramels from Koval Confections.
One of the really fun things about the Eat This, Shoot That! tour is that along the way, your tour guide teaches you how to take better photos with your DSLR, point and shoot digital camera, and smart phone -- so you're getting more than just good food and drink on this tour. We had all levels of "photographers" on our tour -- professional photographers and your everyday instagram enthusiast -- and the photography element was great for everyone.
By the end, we were totally stuffed (a little buzzed!) and had snapped a bunch of awesome photos of our food, the scenery, and each other along the way.
Bottom line, we had so much fun on this tour!!! Awesome tour guide (she was hilarious!), great stops, amazing food, wine, and spirits, and we picked up a few photography tricks too. I highly recommend it for visitors and locals alike!