If you plan to motor West...
...You might find yourself at 5871 Hollister Avenue in front of the Mercury Lounge, the coolest bar in Goleta, California. It's cozy and retro, filled with vintage Midcentury furniture and featuring an extensive beer list and fine local wines. There's a pool table, live music, a new outdoor patio tucked in the back and even a little parking (that much sought-after amenity in Southern California).
The Mercury began its long run in 1957 as Gus' Cocktail Lounge, said to have been a real dive bar. In 1995, new owners transformed it, and it's been a hit with nearby University of California Santa Barbara students and faculty ever since. You're as likely to have a UCSB grad student serving you as an actor would be in Los Angeles. The local residents are still fans, too, as in Gus' day.
Goleta is both a university town and a solidly small business and working class one. Although the cachet and elegance of nearby Santa Barbara are lacking, the town exhibits easy charm and funkiness, epitomized by the Mercury.
You can visit, but you probably can't stay. The median home listing price is around $840,000. How that works for students, cooks and auto parts counter employees, I can't figure. But the area does have good schools (Katy Perry is an alum).
(Geography factoid: Although its name sounds made up (like "Nolita" or " Tribeca") goleta means schooner in Spanish. A ship was wrecked at the mouth of the lagoon in the late 18th century, and was still visible for a long while; it even shows up on an 1840 map.)
Looks like a brothel?
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