Social+Activities

Going for dinner and looking for somebody to join? Planning some sports activity? Feel free to post it here! MC for social activities: Jennifer (room 2406)

** Next Group Dinner: Wednesday June 1 **
**Time**: 6:30 pm  **Place:** [|Pastavino], 6920 Marketplace Drive, Goleta **Transport:** bus (e.g. 24x going to Marketplace), bike (only 3 mi from KITP), or car (very good parking possibilities)

Wine Tasting?
Is anyone interested in wine tasting? A couple of wineries can be found [|here]. If you have some recommendations or are interested in coming, please post here or contact me directly.

=__ Miscellaneous local information: __=

Information about Santa Barbara
WikiTravel has a page about [|Santa Barbara] and another one for [|Goleta].

Biking Information
[|Bici Centro] is a pro-bicycle not-for-profit located in downtown Santa Barbara. They have used bikes for sale (subject to availability; might be good to call) and shop space where you can use their tools to repair a bike for $3/hour. They sell basic commuter parts as well. People have rented bikes here in Isla Vista near campus.

Santa Barbara Public Tranport
Bus schedules can be found here.

==Santa Barbara Airbus ( **[|link]) ** == Walking from KITP to the Goleta stop [|took me] about 40 min. You walk past the SB airport and turn right into the UPS court yard, and then right again where you will see signs for the Airbus. It helps to be sure about the way, so you might want to check out the way beforehand by bike.

First Thursday
On the first Thursday of each month, participating galleries and art-related venues offer free access to visual and performing art in a fun and social environment from 5-8 p.m. 1st Thursday venues feature attractions, such as art openings, live music, artists' receptions, lectures, wine tastings and hands-on activities. In addition, State Street comes alive on 1st Thursday with performances and interactive exhibits. Look for previews of forthcoming plays, symphony performances, concerts and dance productions, as well as local up-and-coming performers. See []

Restaurants
Among the relatively cheap and crowd-friendly places, we liked Brewhouse (steak, American), Spice Avenue (Indian) and Plaza Azul (mexican) - see below. Personal impressions: Indian has a buffet which is cheaper, menu items are more expensive, American is noisier but cheaper and have good steaks and various draft beer. Mexican is intermediate in terms of price, only bottled beer but food is really good.

Sport Activities

 * Looking for a partner to play tennis at an intermediate level - Grisha Falkovich
 * Bouldering: there is nice climbing and bouldering in the nearby mountains, I will keep you posted on our experience. the university has a [|climbing club], where we can get more information.
 * [|kayak] is an option. Interested people should announce their interest here
 * Hiking: [|SantaBarbaraHikes.com] (general info) and ** information collected by x-ray group **

= =

Jazz & Folk music
SB has but one place that features jazz and folk: SOhO Restaurant & Music Club. They have decent food if you want to eat before/during a performance.

Days out: KITP is sitting on the Pacific plate!
A drive from Santa Margarita (north of San Luis Obispo - last gas station for many miles!) on US 58 brings you over to the Carrizo Plain where the road crosses the San Andreas fault line which can be seen very well there - in fact, your car jumps across it if you don't drive carefully. See **[|sanandreasfault.org]** for information including a map showing where one enters the American plate. On the way back to Santa Barbara, from Maricopa on US 33 towards Ojai (resp. US 133 towards Santa Maria) a road turns off to the right, just before you reach the first pass, where you can enter Carrizo plain from the opposite side and can have further views on the fault. Around Taft, on the American plate, you can see zillions of oil pumps scattered across a few square miles and living from the tectonics.

**__ Recent past events: __ (see also older versions of this website) **

** Group Dinner: Thursday May 26 **

 * Time**: 6:30 pm
 * Place:** [|Brewhouse], 229 W. Montecito Street, Santa Barbara (Beer and large variety of food)
 * Transport:** bus, bike, or car

** Group Dinner: Wednesday May 18 **

 * Time**: 7 pm
 * Place:** Spice Avenue, 1027 State Street, Santa Barbara (Indian food)
 * Transport:** bus (e.g. 24x at 5:59 pm), bike, or car

==Group Dinner: Wednesday May 11 == **Time**: 7 pm **Place:** [|Paradise Cafe], 702 Anacapa Street (near State Street), Santa Barbara (oak wood grill, burgers, seafood) **Transport:** bus (e.g. 24x at 5:59 pm), bike, or car

Group Dinner: Thursday May 5
**Time**: 6:30 pm  **Place:** [|Opal Restaurant and Bar], 1325 State St., Santa Barbara (Californian cuisine) **Transport:** bus (e.g. 24x at 5:50pm), bike, or car

=
The chosen date coincides with [|an evening of art and culture in downtown Santa Barbara]. =====

Group Dinner: Wednesday April 27
Time: 7:00 pm Place: beachside bar & restaurant, 5905 Sandspit Rd., Goleta Beach Transport: the restaurant is within walking distance from KITP.

Group Dinner: Thursday April 21
Time: 7:30 pm Place: [|Blue Agave], 20 E. Cota St., Santa Barbara [|(map)] Transport: bus, bike or car

KITP Whale Watching Tuesday April 19
For those who haven't checked their mail/email yet: KITP is offering a whale watching tour on Tuesday, April 19 12:00:14:30 at really good rate. See Viena Zeitler in room 1508 for more detailed information.

Public Launch Viewing at Vandenberg Air Force Base Thursday April 14
There will be a rocket launch at Vandenberg Air Force Base on Thursday April 14 at 9:24 pm. As there will probably a cloud above the AFB area,we have decided to stay here and watch the launch from the roof top of the physics building. Prior to that, we will have dinner somewhere around here at 7 pm. If you would like to join, see Michael or Szymon in mission control office 2115. If you wish to join only for the launch, we will meet 9pm sharp at the main entrance in front of KITP. More information on the launch can be found on the web: [|SoCal Sky Lights] [|California Space Authority]

Group Dinner: Thursday April 7
Time: 7 pm Place: Plaza Azul Cafe, 914 Santa Barbara St., downtown Santa Barbara Transport: bus, bike or car

You might want to combine your visit to downtown Santa Barbara with the First Thursday Event, here is the KITP information about it: On the first Thursday of each month, participating galleries and art-related venues offer free access to visual and performing art in a fun and social environment from 5-8 p.m. 1st Thursday venues feature attractions, such as art openings, live music, artists' receptions, lectures, wine tastings and hands-on activities. In addition, State Street comes alive on 1st Thursday with performances and interactive exhibits. Look for previews of forthcoming plays, symphony performances, concerts and dance productions, as well as local up-and-coming performers. The Downtown Organization also partners with Santa Barbara cultural groups for one-time 1st Thursday attractions. http://www. santabarbaradowntown.com/go. asp

Group Dinner: Thursday March 31
Time: 7:00 pm Place: beachside bar & restaurant, 5905 Sandspit Rd., Goleta Beach Transport: the restaurant is within walking distance from KITP

Group Dinner: Thursday March 24
Time: 6:30 pm Place: jane, 1311 State Street, downtown Santa Barbara Transport: bus, bike or car

Group Dinner: Wednesday March 16
Time: 8:30 pm Place: beachside bar & restaurant, 5905 Sandspit Rd., Goleta Beach Transport: the restaurant is within walking distance from KITP

Group Dinner March 11
Time: 6 pm Place: Spice Avenue at 1027 State Street, downtown Santa Barbara Transport: bus, bike or car

**Dinner Sat. March 5**
Time: 8 pm Place:[]

Group Dinner March3
Time: 7 pm Place: The Brewhouse-Santa Barbara [|229 W. Montecito Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101] <span style="display: block; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px;">Transport: car, bus or bicycle
 * Next group dinner: Thursday March 3**

**Dinner Wed. March 2**
Time: 7 pm Place:[| http://www.santabarbara.com/dining/review_read.asp?pk_restaurant=913] at 290 Storke Road in Goleta. Please mail Bernhard if you want to come along. Reservation necessary. We leave the KITP at 6:45 by bike.

Hedonism
Wine tasting was a nice trip, we went first to Solvang, a pittoresque danish style town with windmill and danish shopping possibilities (in fact slightly surrealistic). The for tasting to Lincourt with mixed impressions about the wines. We agreed that the Chardonnay was the best one.