I dropped my luggage and drove down shady, working-class Milpas Street, bypassing the famed cult favorite La Super-Rica Taquería (gushed over by bloggers, and, years before, by Julia Child), in favor of El Bajío. Local friends raved to me about this under-the-radar taquería. I had a cheery reunion with them and some members of my family at a picnic table on the sun-splashed patio and filed inside to order at the counter.

El Bajíio is a tidy, brightly lighted hole-in-the-wall, but its sensational seafood soups, fresh moles and well-seasoned, slow-roasted meats belie its modest trappings. The quesadilla adobada ($8.55), a flour tortilla filled with shredded pork, Monterey Jack and cheddar cheese, onions and cilantro, radiated heat and juicy sweetness. I wish I hadn’t felt compelled to eat so much of it (sharing is highly advised) because I could barely muster more than a few spoonfuls of the delicious caldo de camaron ($11.49), a spicy, tomato-hued soup bobbing with shrimp and avocado.

I walked it off on State Street, the city’s main drag, lined with clothing and book shops, restaurants, bars and vintage movie theaters. Bougainvillea scrambles over the golden adobe buildings and Spanish Colonial Revival archways. On the street was a mix of sun-kissed beauties and sun-beaten characters playing guitar.

It is certainly possible to roam Santa Barbara and savor its broad, sandy beaches without a car. But parking never posed much of a problem. Several garages offer free parking for the first 75 minutes. I parked free in front of the gorgeous, lushly landscaped Santa Barbara County Courthouse, and in a garage across the street from the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. The small, wonderful collection of antiquities and American, European and Asian art merits inspecting (and on Sundays, admission is free).

I also enjoyed driving around lovely Spanish-Mediterranean neighborhoods profuse with flowers and greenery. Another scenic route I relished wound past the majestic, pink sandstone Mission Santa Barbara and up the foothills to the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden. Every day, a docent leads an hourlong tour (2 p.m. on weekdays, 11 am on weekends) that is included in the $8 admission.

The public is welcome to picnic or wander through the gardens all day, but it was worth timing my visit for the tour to learn about the native American plants and wildflowers ablaze in a meadow, a dream of what the Central Valley looked like before farming took hold. We examined jojoba, Joshua and redwood trees, and the California fan palm, fatly draped in dried fronds. Tooling back down the hillside for dinner, I beheld the ocean and the Channel Islands in the distance. My appetite for seafood was amply met at the nautical-themed Enterprise Fish Company, a couple of blocks from the wood-planked Stearns Wharf. During a noisy, crowded happy hour, my friends and I had to use some muscle to capture a table. And why wouldn’t it be popular, with $1 oysters and $3.25 gin and tonics? We also snacked on crisp lobster chicken taquitos ($3.95), meaty crab cakes ($3.95) and Cajun popcorn shrimp ($4.95).