We think you'll have the best luck finding flights at kayak.com (click the luggage to go there!)Because of the time change, you'll get three 'extra' hours in California if you are flying from the East coast. From North Carolina, you will most likely stop in LAX or PHX and board a smaller plane to Santa Barbara. Even with the stop-over, you can leave the East coast at 11:30am on Friday, Sept 25th and be in Santa Barbara by 3:20pm - plenty of time to settle in and join us for the welcome BBQ party Friday night!
Another option is to fly into LAX, rent a car and drive up to Santa Barbara. Santa Barbara is about 90 miles from LAX but traffic is usually heavy getting out of LA and the drive can take 3+ hours.
There are non-stop flights from SFO, or it is about a 5 1/2 hour drive down to coast. If you drive, you could always make a day of it and stop at some wineries along the way.
