I know, I know, it’s been a while since I last posted, and I’m sure all 3.5 of my readers have been devastated by my lack of insightful words flowing into the universe. The truth is, I was busy getting another year older and wiser whilst enjoying my fabulous birthday present from the universe–the flu!
As it was my birthday last week, I probably should have done some kind of reflective post… “26 Things I’ve Learned So Far in Life”… or idealistic post on the “26 Ways I’m going to Save the World”… or a self encouraging narrative on “26 Reasons Why I Love the 26 Freckles on my 26 Year Old Face”.
But… I didn’t.
Instead, I was busy convincing my friends to do silly things with me and then we did them and did, indeed, look quite silly and we laughed our faces off. Oh, and I ate a shit ton of cupcakes. THAT, my friends, is how you celebrate getting older.
I am happy to report that I knocked an important item off of my Santa Barbara Bucket List last weekend, and chipped away at my mission to find SB’s best cupcake (more on that later). Here’s how I did it, and how I suggest you do it as well:
Bucket list item completed: Rent and ride a surrey (4-6 person bike thingie) around the waterfront
We started the morning with brunch at the Harbor Restaurant on Stearns Wharf. We had a beautiful view of the boats sailing in and out of the harbor, and our table itself was a boat! It had a sail and everything! So cool. But the key element of the brunch that prepared us for a successful day? Bottomless mimosas. I really have to give our waitress credit because even with 10 thirsty girls downing the champagne like classy pirates for two hours straight she always kept our glasses full.
Afterward we posed for a photo op on the wharf.
And then… dun dun dun… we rented surreys! We walked across the street from the wharf to Wheel Fun and rented a single and a double. It was quite cheap and came out to about $10 per person. No price tag can be placed on the ensuing amount of fun, though.
We raced… we played bumper surreys… we crashed… I rang the bell obnoxiously at every person we passed… then we went to a winery, parked our “vehicles”, drank more wine, and found a man wearing a unique pair of shorts before another round of it all. I don’t endorse drinking and driving, but drinking and surrey-ing? Greatest idea ever.
Overall, it was an absolute success. Some of my friends were afraid of embarrassing themselves and being “those” people–but that wasn’t anything a little wine couldn’t make them forget. The moral of this story is that just because something in your town is considered a tourist activity doesn’t mean you, as a “local”, couldn’t or shouldn’t do it. Activities like renting a surrey may seem stupid–and they totally are–but they are fun! It was a great way to spend time outside on the waterfront and provided many laughs for me and my friends.
So go on– round up your friends, loosen them up with a little morning mimosa and go out and do something stupidly fun! Because life is too short to worry about keeping your pride.
To find out more about my Santa Barbara Bucket List project, click here.