Beautiful Santa Barbara

Bike Path along Oceanfront

State Street - Santa Barbara

Church Nave - Mission Santa Barbara

Stone Carvings by Chumash Indians

The Lavanderia made by Chumash Indians

We left San Miguel Island on July 26th and crossed the Santa Barbara Channel, reaching the town of Santa Barbara in the early evening with plans to spend several days at this location.  The town of Santa Barbara is absolutely beautiful with its white adobe style buildings and red roofs that contrast with the green of eucalyptus, sycamore, and shapely palm trees lining the city streets and waterfront walkways.  State Street, the main thoroughfare through town, is a haven for boutiques, coffee shops, and cafes.  Expensive homes tucked in the hillsides have wonderful views of the coastline, and higher still are the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains.  This setting plus the warm climate, miles of sandy beach, and a lovely ocean-side promenade bordered by majestic palms has earned Santa Barbara its nickname, “the American Riviera.”  We bicycled along the oceanfront bike path, visited the wharf, and did a little window shopping on State Street.  Within relatively easy biking distance from downtown is the Santa Barbara Mission, a treasure we didn’t want to miss.  This Spanish mission was founded in 1786 by the Franciscan order as the tenth mission for the religious conversion of the local Chumash people and is the only mission that has remained under the leadership of the Franciscan Friars since its founding.  The Mission fathers began the slow work of converting the native Chumash to Christianity and built a village for them on the Mission grounds.  The most dramatic event of the Spanish period was the powerful 7.1 magnitude earthquake and tsunami in 1812 which destroyed most of the Mission as well as the rest of the town.  Following the earthquake, the Mission fathers chose to rebuild in a grander manner, this rebuilt mission was completed and dedicated in 1820 - it is this construction that survives to the present day, the best preserved of the California Missions.  The Lavanderia (washing basin), still seen on the Mission grounds, was built by the Indians in 1818 and served as the original Mission laundry – the Indians would soap the clothes on the sloping sides of the pool and then rinse them in the center basin.  The Indians also created many stone carvings that decorated the exterior spaces of the Mission; these carvings were done be Chumash artisans who were experienced in fine stone work.  Today, the Mission is open to the public for self-guided tours, including the beautiful nave and church altar, the historic living quarter’s museum, and the sacred gardens and cemetery.  After our tour, we rode our bikes back down State Street and back to the boat, this time it was downhill!  The remainder of our stay in Santa Barbara would be spent on boat maintenance and other business, but that's another story to be told – stay tuned for more details.

Living Quarters

Mission Santa Barbara

Courtyard Gardens