I did a post previously with some of older anniversary adventures, so here are some updated adventures.

2020

I mean, this year doesn’t really count, right? Our anniversary is in September, so things were not as awful as they were in early 2020, but it was still hard to find things to do locally. We tried to walk around at a local outdoor mall, but there were SO many people and we weren’t quite ready for it, so we ran away.

We decided to go to Irvine Regional Park, thinking it’s a nice, big open space, and we can just hang out and enjoy each others company. But, bees had other plans, so we ran away from there as well.

We ended up having a beer at Chapman Crafted brewery and some food truck snacks and calling it a day. Although not glamorous, we got to spend time together sans kids and honestly, that’s the main point of our getaways. Not that we don’t love our kids, but we rarely get to focus on each other in between the mundane tasks of keeping the kids alive. So, just being able to joke around with each other without interruptions was pretty great.

2021

Oh man, I want to go back to this anniversary get-away every year. After 2020, we decided to splurge on our Air BnB and found this gem in Carpinteria and holy cow, it was amazing (and maybe a little haunted?). The house was AMAZING, as was the location. We noticed right away that this house was incredibly unique. Even my untrained eye could tell, but Jeff, as a wood-worker and general MacGuiver, could really tell by the way the house was built that this was a passion-project house, not a contractor job.

We were so intrigued by this that I decided to message the hosts and see if they’d be willing to join us for an early evening happy hour. I didn’t tell Jeff I was doing this because I knew his immediate reaction would be to tell me not to do it. I figured if they responded with “um, no thank you, weirdo,” I just wouldn’t tell Jeff and that was that. But they said yes, and it was such a lovely conversation with this couple, that it was one of our highlights (including Jeff’s). We found out that the two aging mules on the property had been used by them when their children were little to literally pack up the mules with all of their camping gear so they could hike out to campsites. So cool! Moral of the story: it doesn’t hurt to ask!

We spent most of our time hanging out at the house, but we loved these places:

Carpinteria Bluffs Nature Preserve – We arrived in Carpinteria a slightly before our check-in time, so we checked this area out. Took some pictures along the bluffs and walked a little of the trail.

Lucky Llama Coffee House – This was a great little coffee house. I also ordered a yogurt parfait and we discovered honey is a magic ingredient. This has actually become a family favorite snack for everyone but Jake (because he’s super picky about EVERYTHING).

A couple other places to check out if you go to Lucky Llama:

• Wardholme Torrey Pine – It’s right across from Lucky Llama and it’s 134 years old! It’s definitely a quick photo-op, but worth it if you’re already there. Jeff had a cool picture of me here, but then he dropped his phone in Havasu last Summer and all those pictures are gone….gah! Here’s some interesting info on it from the World Wide Web:

IT STARTED AS A SEEDLING in 1888, planted by local Carpinteria resident Judge Thomas Ward as part of a contest to see who could grow the largest Torrey pine tree. The Wardholme Torrey Pine now stands a proud 126 feet tall, with a 130 feet branch spread and a more than 20-foot circumference, making it the largest known example of its kind.

The Torrey pine is a rare tree, only found in San Diego County and certain parts of the southern California coast. In 1968 the towering Wardholme tree was designated as the First Official Landmark of Carpinteria, a quaint beachside community located a few miles south of Santa Barbara. The celebrity tree later marked its 100th birthday in 1988 with a local celebration. 

AtlasObscura.com

• Heritage Goods and Supply – If I remember correctly, this was in the same building and just next to Lucky Llama. It’s a great little shop! Not cheap, but ethically made items rarely are. They have household items and cute items for everyone in the family if you need to bring something home (or if you want to buy yourself a cool t-shirt as a memento of your trip!).

Rincon Brewery – We had dinner here and it was great. We sat on the patio and enjoyed a good beer while people watching. It was funny because Jeff was looking at the building and said “this building looks like an old bank from the 70s,” and sure enough, we looked around inside and they still have a giant safe door!

Visiting UCSB – It had been a while since I’d visited my college stomping grounds, probably at least 10 years. It was great to walk around campus, my old dorm, walk past buildings I vividly remembered taking classes in. But I wasn’t ready for how strange it would be to walk around Isla Vista. I had originally thought we’d grab lunch at Freebirds, but I felt SO uncomfortable walking around all those BABIES. Obviously the reality was that it made realize how much OLDER I was, and it was not a feeling I was comfortable with. So we did a pee and coffee stop at Starbucks (where I had applied but never been hired, despite my years of experience as a Starbucks barista, whatever, no hard feelings), and high tailed it outta there. We ended up grabbing sandwiches at a new fancy deli in an area that I did NOT recognize. But so it goes…

We walked State Street for a bit and it was eerie how many places were closed or empty. I hope many of those places have recovered at this point.

Then I had a surprise in store for Jeff:

Float Luxury Spa – I had made a reservation for a couples massage here. They have a cool waiting area and had set up an outdoor area since COVID regulations were still pretty strict. It was still pretty sweet!

One final note about this anniversary that was pretty funny, is that I was totally off on the math and kept thinking it was our 13th anniversary when in fact it was our 12th. We were married on September 12th, so this should have been our golden anniversary which we totally wasted by lying to anyone that asked and telling them we were celebrating 13 years….I don’t think I realized it until the Facebook memory popped on on Facebook with “12 years ago…” ha!

2022

This year, our anniversary was sandwiched between our trip to Portland to visit family, and camping in Bishop with Jeff’s parents. SO, we had a day out instead of a weekend away. My cousin came to stay with the boys and they had an entire nerf defense castle set up in our living room, ha!

We hit the beach, did some ax throwing for the first time, grabbed a coffee at Tierra Mia, and rounded out our evening with book shopping sans children at Barnes & Noble (heavenly, but realized later I’m pretty sure I’d already read the book I bough, doh!) and drinks and dinner at Habana (equally heavenly). We sat next to the giant palms/ferns and it was so magical as it started raining. I loved having a Cuba Libre with Guatemalan rum while listening and watching the rain.

Oh I should also say I had planned a day trip to Catalina Island, but there was a possible storm brewing and we were already a little weary of the boat ride out. Maybe another time!

Up Next?!

I’m not exactly sure what we’ll do this year. We’re doing a pretty big family trip to Guatemala for Spring break that is going to take a big chunk of money. I’d love to do a trip a bit further away with Jeff, something like Tennessee, New Orleans, Austin…so many cities I want to explore! But flights and longer trips cost more money, so who knows.

Do you have any favorite anniversary destinations?