Santa Barbara Waterfront, Funk Zone & Wine Country

The most beautiful courthouse in the United States, completed in 1929 in Spanish Colonial Revival style after the 1925 earthquake destroyed the previous structure. The sunken garden, the 60-foot Mural Room documenting California history, and the El Mirador clock tower with 360-degree city views are all free and open to the public during court hours.

California's oldest operational wooden pier, extending 1,500 feet into the Santa Barbara Channel since 1872. The wharf houses seafood restaurants, a marine biology museum, and a bait and tackle shop — the same combination it has offered since the 1880s. The Brown Pelican restaurant at the end of the wharf is the correct midway stop.

An indoor food hall in a converted warehouse on Chapala Street with 10+ artisan vendors — Bokksu Japanese pantry, S.B. Roasting Co. espresso, the Santa Barbara Shellfish Company raw bar, and Helena Avenue Bakery pastries in a single space. The ideal Funk Zone gateway.

A 14-block former industrial district south of State Street that has become California's most concentrated urban wine tasting destination — 20+ tasting rooms within walking distance, including AVA Santa Barbara, Carr Winery (a converted auto shop), and Municipal Winemakers in the old bottling works. The self-guided Urban Wine Trail map covers all producers in the zone.

The 1893 property that became the most storied resort in Southern California — John and Jackie Kennedy honeymooned here in 1953; Winston Churchill painted watercolors from the terrace. The 41 cottages are scattered across 500 acres of chaparral and citrus orchard at the base of the Santa Ynez Mountains. Non-guests can walk the garden paths and use the Stonehouse restaurant for meals.

The 3.5-mile round-trip to the Cold Spring Canyon junction climbs through a dense Montecito canyon of coast live oak and sycamore, crossing the creek six times in the first mile. The trail passes through the Montecito estate properties at the canyon mouth before entering the Los Padres National Forest; the temperature drops 15 degrees in the canyon regardless of season. The canyon scramble involves some creek crossings and boulder hopping — moderate fitness recommended, or consider the shorter Nature Trail (1.5 mi, flat) as a gentler alternative.

The Montecito institution for a proper American steakhouse lunch — the dining room has attracted the resident celebrity community since the restaurant opened in 2002, and the dry-aged New York strip and the Caesar salad (tableside preparation) are the anchors. The bar scene at lunch is Montecito's most authentic social ritual.

A 37-acre botanical garden in Montecito created by Polish opera singer Ganna Walska between 1941 and 1984 — one of the world's most extraordinary private garden estates, now a public institution. The Cactus Garden, the Blue Garden (entirely in blue-toned plants), and the Bromeliad Garden reflect Walska's theatrical design sensibility. Timed entry tickets required; reserve weeks in advance.

A neighborhood Italian restaurant on Coast Village Road that has been the social center of the Montecito community since 1994 — house-made pastas, wood-fired proteins, and a wine list focused on Northern Italy and Santa Barbara County. The patio is the preferred setting; the linguine alle vongole and the wood-roasted chicken are the menu anchors.

A biodynamically farmed 365-acre estate producing Rhône varietals — Syrah, Grenache, Mourvèdre, and Roussanne — on the volcanic clay soils of the Purisima Mountain area. The estate's Syrah is one of the most sought-after wines in the Santa Barbara appellation; the tasting room faces the vineyard and the reserve tasting compares single-block expressions of the same variety.

A lunch restaurant and wine shop in the heart of Los Olivos, serving California farm cuisine alongside an edited selection of Santa Ynez Valley producers not widely distributed elsewhere. The lunch menu changes daily based on what's available from the surrounding farms; the wine merchant section carries library releases and small-production wines.

The Buellton brewery and taproom of one of California's most acclaimed craft breweries, producing the 805 blonde ale, Pivo Pilsner, and the barrel-aged Parabola Imperial Stout from a facility that opened in 2013. The taproom is housed in the original Firestone hop barn; the brewery tour includes the barrel-aging program.

A 30-minute drive north of Los Olivos, Foxen occupies two tasting rooms (old and new barn) on a 2,000-acre ranch on the Foxen Canyon Road. Bill Wathen and Dick Doreen have been producing Santa Maria Valley Pinot Noir and Chardonnay since 1985; the original label depicting the ship Fox has been unchanged since the first vintage.