7) 3:30 p.m. Wine country, itself

Pence Vineyards and Winery, on Route 246, is a working cattle ranch that grows Burgundian varietals, mostly pinots and Chardonnays, on a creatively landscaped vineyard with a pond, trails and an appointment-only tasting room. If you’re not a drinker, or traveling with children, head instead to Solvang’s Ostrichland ($5 admission), where you can buy a pan of bird feed ($1) for the farm’s 100 or so ostriches and emus. The gift shop sells the bird’s oversize eggs. Then, hop over to Los Olivos, an impossibly cute town that overflows with tourists on weekends, and stop into Story of Soil, a tasting room manned by the husband of the winemaker, Jessica Gasca, who focuses on single vineyard, single varietal wines, including a standout Gamay, that have a cult following.

8) 6 p.m. Dine Outside

Drive down Route 154 from Los Olivos, past Cachuma Lake, to Cold Spring Tavern. This former creekside stagecoach stop at the top of the San Marcos Pass has been a staple of California road trip culture since 1865, before the automobile was invented. A wooden shack draped in ivy and filled with Old Western charm and tchotchkes, from taxidermy to wagon wheel chandeliers, serves the region’s famed tri-tip grilled over red oak and has live music in its backyard, where picnic tables offer extra seating. Or, for a more cosmopolitan dining experience in the city of Santa Barbara, sit beneath the strung lights on Loquita’s side patio, where quintessentially Spanish dishes like pan con tomate (pan de cristal — a ciabatta-like Spanish bread — with grated tomato, garlic and herbs, $9) and pulpo (Spanish-style octopus with black garlic aioli, lemon vinaigrette, potato purée and pickled red onion, $22) mix with the gauzy atmosphere in ways both intoxicating and magical. The restaurant, which is one of the restaurateur Sherry Villanueva’s many hits (including popular local spots like Helena Avenue Bakery, The Lark and Tyger Tyger) also offers a drink list heavy on Spanish wines, sherries, vermouths and gin and tonics. Don’t miss the Loquita Martini with an El Bulli olive ($15).