Stay grounded

Because the friendly skies are trying to f*%k you

Everyone’s got a story about the state of travel this summer.

My friends recently flew in to LA from Sydney, Australia. They were meant to land on a Tuesday evening, but due to a 36-hour “delay” they arrived on Thursday evening. Then there are my other friends who booked direct flights for their summer trip to Spain, only to be informed by the airline that their itinerary now had not one but two layovers. I currently have flights booked for October that have already had two schedule changes. (It’s only July.)

This isn’t even to mention the utter chaos of checking a bag.

In short, flying is horrible right now. I, for one, am shifting to make this the summer of the road trip. (Didn’t we already do this early in the pandemic? Yes, we did.)

From my perch in LA, that will look like a drive up the coast to the Santa Ynez Valley, which consists of Los Olivos, Solvang, Los Alamos, and San Luis Obispo. I’m thinking I’ll stop in Santa Barbara on the way up for dinner at Little Dom’s Seafood (above) and a night at Palihouse Santa Barbara. From there, I’ll check in at either Hotel San Luis Obispo or The Landsby.