Santa Ynez, California

Santa Ynez is one of the many high-quality small towns in the vineyard area of the Santa Ynez Valley. The town's historical museum and adjacent Parks-Janeway Carriage house contains one of the largest horse-drawn carriage and stagecoach collections in the U.S. President Ronald Reagan used to frequent Santa Ynez, since his ranch was midway between this town and Santa Barbara. I recommend spending at least one mealtime in this small town, as it affords some wonderful outside seating environs. The town celebrates its western heritage with Old Santa Ynez Day each June including a street fair, a parade and country-western entertainment. The Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians operates the Chumash Casino just outside town. This small town is named after Saint Agnes, Ynez being the former Spanish language spelling.