"WHY LIE? NEED BEER"

DAY 6: Santa Barbara

After a couple of hours researching the next few days, we headed down to the beach again, just in case the sun did a disappearing act on us. It's been great to just chill in the sun as there was a danger of not relaxing with so much to pack into our three weeks in the US.

California has the most honest tramps I've ever seen. I went for a walk on the pier and some homeless guy had laid out his blanket with some coins on and a sign saying; 'Why Lie? Need beer.' The thing is I felt like giving him some money for being so honest.

We headed back to the Natural Cafe for lunch to try and at least attempt to get some of our five a day - five a week is more realistic at the moment. There was a guy playing his guitar in the street while we sat outside in the shade, which was lovely.

The temperature had really increased today and we were starting to feel it. So after lunch we went for a stroll around the shops and came across Yogurt Land. Unbelievable!!! Take a pot, have as many types of frozen yogurt as you want, add some toppings (fresh fruit if you're good, nuts and sweets if you're not) then pay by the weight of your pot. We opted for coconut, New York cheese cake, cookies and cream and vanilla. Very, very tasty.

We then headed back down the front in search of some shade as we were feeling a bit crisp from the last day and a half of sun.

Afternoon came and went (again) and after a latte we went to check in at another room in the Santa Barbara Hostel. It's really expensive for a hostel (about £65) and you don't get a lot in return, but then Santa Barbara is quite pricey all round.

As has happened on a few occasions now, we set out in the evening with good intentions of exploring the full length of State Street but got easily distracted with a swing band in an old spit and sawdust joint, so we dived in (after getting ID'd of course). The band were old but brilliant so we had a quick drink and then headed off for some food as we were starving.

In search of a cheap dinner, we set off to find our new favourite fast food establishment - Taco Bell. We were sure we'd seen one but we hunted high and low for it and were disappointed not to find it. Subway stood up to the challenge though - a foot long meatball marinara for me, Jen went healthy on me and had a tuna salad sub.

Bar sign of the day:
'No w***ers' on the front door of a bar.