This is a photo of the main street in a beach town called Carpinteria from a couple years ago. It’s 10 miles from Santa Barbara. It’s where our friends live who my husband met when in training a million years ago at Merrill Lynch’s corporate headquarters. He told me he met a nice guy and they invited us to go sailing with them in Santa Barbara. Since then, way before kids, we’ve been fast long-time friends.
The past few years, we’ve noticed changes to their quaint, quiet little town. It was a sleeper and the buildings and mom and pop businesses seemed to be living straight out of the 1950s. But nothing ever stays the same.
Welcome to major freeway and infrastructure changes. A few large tech companies moved in, and our favorite businesses and entire blocks were torn down.
This was a hotel in 1912. We knew it as a family friendly restaurant that was affordable. It featured grills in the middle of the restaurant where you cooked your own steak, halibut or chicken. Dinner came with sides of rolls, salad or soup, baked beans and a few other things. When my son and his girlfriend (now DIL) were at UCSB, we took them to dinner there and they could eat their fill. No limit to the amount of food served.
It’s now closed and it sold. No telling what the next owner will do to it.
Our favorite restaurant in the world closed. Called Sly’s after the chef James Sly, it was our go to special occasion restaurant. Sly was friends with our Carpinteria friends, and he’d often comp us a seafood tower or his famous sundae. Unfortunately, he died a few years ago and his wife did not want to keep the restaurant going. We miss James but have great memories of him and his delicious food.
Rincon Surf Shop was one of our favorites. They had everything from surfboards, boogie boards, really cute beach wear, bathing suits, flip flops and custom designed t-shirts. I learned this trip that the owner said adios and retired. It was a one of a kind shopping experience. My daughter and I made lots of trips to that store to get unique clothes for her high school days and flip flops for me.
This was our alltime favorite spot for Mexican food. In the back was a kitchen with the best breakfast burritos with egg, cheese, sausage and potato. We’d buy them to go (since there’s no tables) and take them to picnic tables to devour at the beach.
Last year, we were shocked to see the building torn down and the entire block under construction. Like I said. Nothing stays the same. However, I was not prepared for what replaced the fun shops on that block:
Linden Square
It’s a food court called the Public Market and has a few other shops like expensive home goods and a yoga studio. The developer has one in downtown Santa Barbara, too. The upscale food court includes a gourmet pizza place offering $25 small pizzas. There’s a $16 a burger restaurant and Mexican stand with $20.50 burritos. All made fresh with the finest ingredients, of course.
I showed my son and daughter the photo of Linden Square and they were not happy. They said it was a glorified food court that could be found in any upscale suburbia. It doesn’t fit the funky but hip vibe of the Carpinteria of old of which they have so many fond memories.
We used to go camping every spring break at Carpinteria State Park in our tent. Sitting around the campfire at night was so much fun. Easter egg hunts in our campsite was a tradition. So many great memories. Of course, those days are gone as well.
What have you noticed lately has changed and will never be the same?
