Sunday, November 15, 2009

Sundays In My City #14 - San Ysidro Ranch

Do you know Unknown Mami? She's awesome and she created a fun Sunday theme inviting you to get out and take pictures of your city to share with the rest of us. Click here for details and her logoand click here to see Unknown Mami's City today.

In the Montecito foothills of Santa Barbara, California sits the beautiful San Ysidro Ranch.

It's not a "ranch" with cowboys and cattle, it's actually a gorgeous resort hide away for the rich and famous. John and Jackie Kennedy honeymooned here and Vivien Leigh and Sir Laurence Olivier were married here. The day I strolled around after lunch, Ellen DeGeneres and Portia diRosso were checking in.

It's easy to see why anyone would want to stay in one of their guesthouses, cabanas or villas. You can see the Pacific Ocean from your front door.

Registration is very inviting. They have fresh squeezed lemonade waiting for you as you register. I had some before they realized I wasn't actually checking in.

You can dine at one of the Ranch's restaurants on this. They have a big Chef's Garden that they pull produce from on a daily basis.

Walking the property is lovely and peaceful and no one called security on me.The mountains are stunning too.

And the lavender.... Can you smell it? I could-- ACHOOOOOO!How's your Sunday?
Welcome to The Fifty Factor - Joanna

43 comments:

  1. OMG it's gorgeous there! So glad they did haul you away for trespassing! Have a wonderful Sunday!

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  2. I'll take a Sunday there anytime! My Sunday is not that beautiful.

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  3. It looks and sounds fab - Great for celebrity stalkers too ;0)

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  4. Oh that is where I want to have a holiday - that lavender is beautiful.

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  5. What a fabulous place!

    My Sunday: wet, gray but full of the laughter of my kids, and a great wet walk in the woods with the dog.

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  6. Beautiful!! What a lovely place to spend a weekend! Love your pics too!
    Hugs
    SueAnn

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  7. I was going all Zen until you mentioned Ellen and Portia. I'm such a typical voyeuristic tourist don't ya know... straining and craning to get a glimpse of a couple of American royalty. How dumb am I... I almost missed the lavender.

    But seriously, Joanna... the place looks divine. I love the building (restaurant?) covered in flowers. Looks so story-booky to mee.

    And the day looks like perfection. Did you visit the ranch just to get material for your blog, or were you there for other reasons? Either way... looks like a perfectly well spent day. Thank you so much for sharing!

    XO

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  8. What beautiful photos! And Portia and Ellen!!! How exciting!

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  9. The colors of the flowers are really stunning!

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  10. Such a great tour today, Joanna, especially from the vantage point of the snowstorm that we are in the middle of. I love the Lavendar. Do you thing Portia and Ellen would mind a big group of bloggers staying in the villa next to theirs?

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  11. No wonder they didn't question you Joanna. You look like a rich and famous star.

    It's a beautiful place. Thanks for the tour.

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  12. Idyllic!

    It's on my list of places to go before I, well, go!

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  13. oh wow, the scenery looks beautiful...would love to get away there with the wifey for a weekend. and fresh squeezed lemonade too. smiles.

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  14. FANTASTIC NATURE.....yes, that is a place to go and visit.....!
    Thanks for sharing!
    ciao
    elvira

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  15. Gorgeous- I needed to be reminded why we still live in California even though it's so stinkin expensive :)

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  16. What a gorgeous place!

    Hey, did you get my email?

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  17. Too beautiful! I so miss the gorgeous California landscape!

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  18. Dude - you are making me so homesick.

    Is this guest ranch in the same private "Ranch" just before PCH veers inland?

    If it is, back in the 70's, my then boyfriend and his friends used to put in on a small boat with their surfboards so they could surf the private point.

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  19. Fabulous pics! What a charming and beautiful place! I can understand why they would flock there. And the lavender is just lovely.
    My Sunday? Dancing on the levee, of course!

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  20. Thanks Joanna, just beautiful. all of it. I love the lavender pic. Take care.

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  21. Beautiful pics. The place has a wonderful history!

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  22. Cripes! That looks wonderful.

    Got an award for you at mine. Hope you like it.

    Love RMxx

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  23. Wow I could really use a sunday there for sure! Beautiful place!! Have a wonderful sunday:)

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  24. That is gorgeous. I had never heard of it. Very beautiful. Thanks for sharing all the information about it too. I learned a lot!

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  25. That is just stunning there. One of the last books I read was set in Santa Barbara. They should have had some of these photos in the book. Wow.

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  26. Oh my goodness, how completely beautiful!

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  27. OMG, for a few moments I was swept away into a beautiful land of flowers and the scent of lavender off the Ponderosa. Thanks your better than Calgon!

    Have a super~great week and God bless!!!

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  28. I looked at this lovely place and just say....ahhhhhh.........big, relaxed exhale...... xoxo

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  29. Lavender is my favorite, and that appears to be Spanish lavender...lovely.

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  30. The Chef's garden makes me want to eat what they are making and that last photo is perfection.

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  31. These photos are just lovely. THe lavender looks just amazing. I'll bet it smells heavenly.

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  32. HAHAHA, you are totally my hero for getting away with drinking their lemonade without checking in.
    These are terrific photos, and such great "spy" work.

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  33. What a lovely looking place, and all that lavender is gorgeous.

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  34. I've heard so much about this incredible place, but knew I'd never be able to afford it. Thanks for the "invite" and I agree, great spying!

    Prays for Big Kid.

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  35. I can understand why people would want to stay there.
    Your story shows that if you act like you belong and know what you're doing, you can slip into many places.

    So did you eat there? Good thing they didn't suspect you of being paparazzi

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  36. I feel relaxed just reading your
    post and looking at these photos.

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  37. Oh. My. Lord. Swooning. This is why people brave earthquakes and fires and borderline bankruptcy. California is sublime.

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  38. I wanna pretend to be a guest so I can have fresh squeezed lemonade!

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  39. Oh what a lovely place! I have not been in your area in years..but remember it being so pretty!! wonderful shots!! I do miss all of the kinds of flowers that grow down there... lovely here but different!! Hugs, Sarah

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