One of the joys of Santa Barbara and Carpinteria are the farmers markets. This is our favorite fruit stand. The pluots in the bin above the plums are called Dapple Dandy. Outside the tent filled with delicious fruit, a woman stands with slices of fruit samples calling out “Dapple Dandy, tastes like candy!” It really does. It’s my all time favorite and I’ve been eating them every day on vacation.
You can see how popular and large this fruit stand is. It has a line that goes outside the tent and once inside, lines on both sides of the fruit. The same farm is at the Santa Barbara Farmers Market on Saturdays and in Carpinteria on Thursdays.
Our favorite spot for fish tacos and chowder is called On the Alley. It’s in the Santa Barbara Harbor next to the Marina. It’s a casual place where you order inside, grab a table outside and a server brings your food.
Clam chowder with crusty warm sourdough!
The best fish taco I’ve ever had! On the Alley is owned by Brophy Bros which is a longtime favorite seafood restaurant at the Marina. Brophy’s is upstairs of On the Alley.
Sitting at a table devouring my fish taco, I had to take a photo of the shop next door.
The other day, we visited friends in Ventura. They took us in their Duffy electric boat for a harbor cruise (where we saw the sea lions). We ended up at the second location of Brophy’s.
Here’s a view from their boat.
This is called the Ventura Keys, where people dock their boats in their backyards. The boat we cruised in was like the blue topped boats across the key.
This is Ventura’s Brophy Bros with On the Alley below.
On one of our last nights we met our longtime friends, along with their friends we met a few summers ago for dinner at this local beach cafe. The seating is outside next to the beach. I love the location and having dinner outside. It’s casual with salads, burger and fish and chips.
Here are a few photos:
What are your favorite tastes of summer?
This all looks wonderful and perfect vacation territory.
Sourdough bread with chowder?
Yes please!
It’s so good! I’ll miss it until our next vacation here. Driving home today.
I’m with Rivergirl- the chowder and bread look amazing! I think it would be hard to ever get tired of living in a place like this.
If we had lived here instead of Palm Springs, I doubt we would have moved to Arizona.
Everything looks beautiful, and the fruit must be such a nice summer treat. Yum!
Yes, the fruit is such a treat. We went to the farmer’s market last night to get grapes for the drive home.
The fruit and the soup and bread sound so delicious! I want to visit there someday!
You should! It’s gorgeous!
Love these pictures Elizabeth. I can imagine how much fun you had.
It was a nice break from the desert. I had fun but it was busier than I’m used to.
That happens.
We have more friends in Santa Barbara than at home. Because we’re there for just a few weeks they all want to get together.
I think you’ll have more time to relax after the vacation
Yes, for a few weeks until I take care of my daughter after her shoulder surgery.
Hugs to you both.
Oh so much fun. The fruit and the fish tacos look amazing. Wow, making me hungry. Ha ha. Cool times on vacation … always the best.
I will miss the fabulous food. The fish for the tacos are fresh off the boats in the marina. We have nothing like that in Arizona.
Beautiful photos. Plums look delicious! Doesn’t look too crowded. Good timing. I enjoy fresh tomatoes and good ripe plums, avocados for tastes of summer.
Thank you! I like all of those too.
Incredible eating, Elizabeth! Wow, looks and sounds delicious!
My kids love watermelon so that’s the taste of summer to me in this phase of life!
The food is fabulous in Santa Barbara. I’ll miss it. Watermelon is definitely a summer treat.
Very nice, I certainly miss fresh fruits/vegetables, we don’t have them here in Midwest. Well, apples, blueberries and corn… a few other things, but that’s about it.
We don’t have a great selection of fresh fruits in Arizona either. That’s why the farmers markets are such a treat during vacation.
Looks like an absolutely diving afternoon. I’d eat fresh fruits and veggies all day, every day is someone else would please wash and cut them up for me!
They are so good! They also have the best crunchy sweet grapes I’ve ever had. We bought a huge bag to take home to Arizona.
There is nothing like time away by the beach! That farmers market looks fabulous.
We’re back in the desert and it’s so hot and humid! I needed that beach break with perfect weather and an ocean breeze! Plus the treats from the farmer’s market and marina.
Beautiful! Down in southern FL I’ve seen places like the Ventura Keys, where people dock their boats in their backyards. It seems practical yet amazing to me. As for the farmers’ market, looks great but no credit cards? Don’t know about that.
Our friends have lived in their house in the keys for decades. They have a few boats, big and little, but added the Duffy a couple years ago to cruise the harbor. What a treat for us desert rats! I don’t know if the farmer’s market doesn’t take credit cards or if it’s just a few stands. You can buy tokens with credit cards at the governing body’s stand of the farmer’s market, so you can use a credit card if you must. It’s caught me by surprise a few times because I don’t carry much cash.
What great places to dine! I made my first-ever batch of gazpacho recently. It’s quite tasty and refreshing.
That’s a great idea to make gazpacho while it’s still hot. I’ll keep that in mind. I will miss the fish coming right off the boats in the marina and fruit off the vine at the farmers market. We’re home and it was on the sad side grocery shopping.
What a lovely area! I love fish tacos, and yours look so good. It’s great to be in a place where you can enjoy fresh fruit and seafood.
Now I’m wondering where your Bleuwater blog name came from. I’d never thought of it before.
I wrote years ago on how I named my blog Bleuwater. It came from my mom who passed away in 2023 from COVID. Her favorite color was blue, which is also mine. Her favorite restaurant was the Bleu Dolphin in Bellevue, Washington, near where I grew up. It had the spelling of Bleu, which my mom called “highbrow.” She often categorized things she liked as highbrow and lowbrow were things she didn’t like. I was a busy swim mom and always around water, whether it was pools or the ocean on vacation. So that’s where the blog name came from. I was surprised to find the shop next to my favorite fish taco place a couple years ago, called Bluewater Hunter. I did buy a t-shirt from them. 😊
I love that you added the Highbrow Bleu in honor of your mom. That is very sweet.
Thanks! I did that 15 years ago while she was alive. It’s a good memory for me now that makes me smile since she’s passed.
Oddly, the photos didn’t show up on mine….😆 as to summer…peaches…cherries….
I wonder what happened to the photos? We love the farmer’s market and all the fresh fruit on our summer vacation. It’s such a treat.
It’s not only your post. It was on Sherri’s as well. Oh WordPress …
There’s always something new…
When I saw I had an update today I groaned
😅