Summertime travelers on the Central Coast measuring how much they can take on

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The flood gates have opened with summertime travelers loading up their cars or suitcases and heading out to areas they have been longing for throughout the pandemic.

Brisk business is being reported now that schools are out for the summer and the clamp of coronavirus rules has been eased off in California, in most cases.

In the last week, many hotel owners in Santa Barbara have seen a spike in reservations and some of them had mid-week bookings at over 80 percent of their capacity.

Traffic on Highway 101 on the Central Coast has been thick with a combination of local travelers and those moving up and down one of the most scenic drives in the state.

Last weekend popular stops including Stearns Wharf, the Funk Zone and Santa Ynez Valley wineries were all bustling with business.

Some people have not ventured out much and were ready to go.

"I haven't gone on a road trip in a while," said Heidi Galassi from the Bay area. She was with a friend from Chicago who flew to the west coast and then they headed down Highway 101.

"Very excited to finally be out in public not wearing a mask I feel comfortable with it," said Laura Morgan.                         
Plans were in place the moment they checked into their hotel.

"We're going to go to the beach, we're going to rent some bikes, we are going wine tasting, maybe a hike," said Galassi.

Those travel and gas deals six months ago however are long gone. Galassi said, "I drove down here five hours and gas was almost $5 bucks a gallon, that's crazy!"

During the coronavirus and immediately after the Covid crisis started easing up, most of the travelers were from the Los Angeles area but now there are many from out of state.

"If I got the ticket to come here earlier (from Chicago) I would have been in that Covid zone but prices started to rise very very quickly. I think they are still rising," said Morgan.

One family from Atlanta compared Penniscola, Florida to the California coast and came out west.

Jill Stickland-Luse said, "It was more affordable to come here actually to get a nice vacation package with a car and hotel and a nice room and do bike riding in an incredible place like this."

Friday afternoon there were indicators everywhere that it is going to be a very busy summer. Stearns Wharf had a line of cars from the kiosk to nearly the Harbor restaurant. 

It is one of the busiest spots to visit in Santa Barbara and sees an estimated two million people a year.

Many hotels are reporting occupancy rates at or near capacity with the summer surge.

Some visitors said they budgeted for their getaway and were living it up.

"We've been sneaking away a little bit for the last 15 months," said Strickland-Luse. "But this is the big family vacation we have been here for a whole week and this is  'Okay, we gotta go somewhere and let's make it big.'"

Travel experts say if your first plan runs into trouble with too many crowds or other travel snags, be ready with plan B and keep masks with you in case you are in a business or location that is so crowded you are protected if you have COVID concerns about the unvaccinated.

Public gatherings under 10,000 are taking place at some fairs, festivals and musical concerts outside.

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