Tuesday, August 9, 2016

Santa Barbara: tile and runways...

Back to Santa Barbara, CA, for a quick look at the amazing tile work to be found all over the city. This tile fountain was just outside the front door of our hotel...

There was another like it a few feet down the street, both had their water turned off  — no doubt due to the ongoing California drought.

Never has a "smokes and beer" quick-mart looked so fancy!

The decorative touches weren't limited to tile alone...

Although it was what caught my eye over and over again.

Must have been a newsstand at one time?

Tile in the risers of staircases is such a fabulous touch.

And one I saw repeated over and over again. This was the staircase at our hotel.

And this one was at the airport.

Which itself was a nice mix of new and old.

One of the reasons we chose Santa Barbara (and Lotusland) as the destination for this quick getaway was the fact there were direct flights to and from Portland. When you don't have much time who wants to spend it making a connecting flight?

The "joke" was on us though. As we started our descent into the area (the Santa Barbara Airport is actually in Goleta) the pilot announced that we wouldn't be landing because the runway lights were out. We were diverted to the Burbank Airport about a hundred miles away.

The hope was the problem would be quickly fixed and we'd be back on the plane. Sadly that wasn't the case. Our nonstop flight not only ended up with a stop but we got to our final destination via a 2-hour bus trip — a 9 pm arrival time in Santa Barbara ended up being 12:30 am. I was thankful to have booked the afternoon time slot at Lotusland the next day, not the morning one. A nice sleep-in and our "vacation" was back on track the next morning.

And our flight back home 2 days later was a breeze...

All material © 2009-2016 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

19 comments:

  1. I love all the photos of gorgeous tilework! So wonderful the way it pretties up ordinary things.

    Your tale of landing at the wrong airport and needing to take a bus is one of the reasons I hate traveling. I so badly want to be able to go to the Fling next year that I'm already looking at flights to D.C. and obsessing about it.

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    1. As we awaited word of whether or not we'd be flying back to Santa Barbara I did have a few moments of panic..."what if?" Especially remembering reading one Fling attendees story of just giving up when she faced delays and cancellations.

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  2. Amazing the public spaces you can have when frost heave is not a problem.

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  3. Sorry that your trip down took longer than you anticipated but glad that it all worked out in the end.

    I love the tile work and find it interesting how the style links the new world with the old. (Moorish influence in Spain and elsewhere carried to Mexico/South & Central America.) History told through decorative arts. Fascinating stuff. Thanks for the beautiful examples!

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    1. "History told through decorative arts"...you always sound so smart.

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  4. I've always loved photos I've seen of tile on stair risers. I love how it brinks decorative attention to something so mundane and overlooked.
    Sorry about you flight mishap!

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    1. I've seen something similar done with paint, easier for those of us without access to the great tiles!

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    2. And looking at my comment now, I see me no speaking English good-like.....

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  5. I'm so glad you took these photos of the magnificent tile work found all over SB. For years I've wanted to incorporate similar tile work in our own garden but sadly it would out of place here. Maybe a patio table...

    Bummer about your flight being diverted. Fortunately, it happened in the evening so the traffic was probably much better than it would have been in the late afternoon.

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    1. Yes traffic was a non issue, and the bus driver was not afraid of speed. Although he did miss the exit for the airport (our drop off location) and came to a screeching halt on the freeway. It was scary!

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  6. Gadzooks! What I wouldn't give to have the talent to put together a mixed planting as luscious as the one in that last photo. The tile fountains are exceptional, even without water. I like your vacation parameters...and even when things go awry, you get to see beautiful downtown Burbank (if you don't get the joke, you are too young to remember Laugh In.

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    1. And the climate...that's the kind of growth that can only come from time.

      As for beautiful downtown Burbank -- not this trip. Just the airport. Last time though (Christmas) we spent 3 nights in Burbank. It's actually a lovely area with easy freeway access to other parts of Los Angeles. Oh and the reference...I thought it was from The Tonight Show, Johnny Carson. (sorry!)

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  7. Crappy flight stuff Loree ! I can drive there in 6 hours so thank god I don't have to contend with airport issues. I love SB, have since childhood.

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    1. There was another couple on the plane who were extremely upset about the turn of events. The poor flight attendants had to keep explaining it wasn't the airline's fault...but rather the airports and that they were getting us there (eventually) so no, there wouldn't be any vouchers handed out.

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  8. Burbank! Frankly, despite the fact I lived in Santa Barbara (or actually Isla Vista) for 4 years, I didn't even recall that there was an airport serving Santa Barbara. Even so, I'd have expected that they'd have a back-up system to provide runway lighting in the event of an outage. Given what's happened this week with Delta Airlines, I'm a little concerned about the state of airline operations. Still, I'm glad the unexpected detour didn't ruin your b-day trip!

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    1. Talking with the guy running the gift shop at Lotusland he said that living in Santa Barbara sometimes feels like a Third World Country, evidently stuff like this happens all the time. And you're right...the Delta debacle certainly has caused a huge amount of trouble!

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  9. Gosh, this sure is a feast for the eyes! I love colorful tiles. I keep trying to think of ways to add them to the garden. What a great idea for a post theme. You sure had a great trip in California (except for the flight issues). I still haven't gotten around to posting much about my San Diego trip in March--gosh that was fun, too.

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    1. San Diego was on the list of possibilities but having just explored their gardens in 2014 Santa Barbara won!

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