Originally Posted by
DJGMaster1
If your wife's pregnancy leads you to skip the Napa/Sonoma winery tours and tastings, might I suggest that you take far less time and just drive through some vineyard areas in the Santa Maria-Santa Ynez area instead - It's at least as scenic as Napa and Sonoma. My recommendation is to get off of the 101 just south of Santa Maria and take Orcutt road to Foxen Canyon Road south toward Los Olivos, IMHO, Foxen Canyon is one of the most scenic wine country drives in California, then continue on the 154 past Lake Cachuma down into Santa Barbara. If you want to stop at a few wineries along this route, Foxen, Zaca Mesa, and Fess Parker are good choices among many. And if you don't actually stop for winetasting, this scenic detour will cost you well under an hour relative to just staying on the 101 all the way to Santa Barbara. Of course, you'll miss Pea Soup Andersen's in Buellton (which is, IMHO, a good thing).
I'll second this idea. If you really wanted to do Anderson's (us locals hate that place, btw
), you could get off the 101 in Buellton instead of Santa Maria, and take a ride on Santa Rosa Rd to Lompoc, and take Hwy 1 to connect back to 101 on your way to Santa Barbara.
Taking 154 to Santa Barbara (on the San Marcos Pass) will offer great views of Santa Barbara (towards the end of the ride), but the 101 is directly on, and offers excellent views of the coast. (also keep in mind that 154 is a mountain pass, and is inherently more dangerous than other roads. If you don't like heights, take the coast).