I am truly fortunate to rent an oceanfront house in Santa Barbara. When I say oceanfront, what I really mean is that I live on a bluff overlooking the ocean a couple of hundred feet below. Half a block down my street are a set of stairs that lead down to the beach called The Mesa Lane Steps. When I say set of stairs, what I really mean are 240 steep, rickety, heart attack inducing steps that will kick your butt (at least they kick mine!).
The fact that the view from the Mesa Steps is spectacular does help, I admit. Surfers, beach walkers, dogs and their owners are frequent travelers of the steps. On a clear day, you can see the Channel Islands across Santa Barbara Channel, surfers catching waves and, just last month, whales that were performing like a talent scout 
from the Discovery Channel was watching. Native flowers and shrubs flourish and bloom on either side of the stairs. Pelicans, gulls and hawks swoop and glide above in the bright blue sky.
I don't always notice these things, though, while I'm huffing my way up and down every day. I'm usually wondering whether I'm going to die before or after I get to the top. Oh, and to that surfer who breezed past me running effortlessly up the steps while holding his surfboard over his head? Nice butt! The Mesa Lane Steps - just another reason to love Santa Barbara.
