Santa Barbara - "American Riviera"

Mission Santa Barbara, one of California's original 21 missions, was established in 1786. This mission is considered the Queen of the Missions because of its beauty.
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Great climate, beaches, mountains, Spanish architecture, wonderful restaurants, palm trees, hundreds of years of history – who wouldn’t love Santa Barbara? So when a Santa Barbara conference opportunity presented itself, I signed right up.

My first day provided some free time, so I decided to do a little exploring. The conference venue was the Old Mission of Santa Barbara, nestled up against the mountains with warm afternoons and a cool crisp evening breeze.  From the Mission, I quickly found State Street, Santa Barbara’s Main Street. After a brief walk, I found myself in a shopping district with coffee shops and boutiques.

Wonderful City!!

View of the mountans from the Santa Barbara County Courthouse clock tower
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According to my map, I was not too far from the County Courthouse, which has a clock tower balcony with a great vista of the city and its mountains and water. I managed to get to the top of the tower just ahead of the second grade field trip group, whistling and shouting to their friends still on the sidewalk. The views were grand, and the ocean looked very close from up in the tower. I decided to wander on down State Street to see the water. Yes, the water was there at the end of State Street, but the walk wasn’t quite as quick as I had imagined from the tower.  (Perspective is everything!)  But I did finally reach the waterfront and its long dock called Stearn’s Wharf. I learned that the wharf is 130 years old, and is still built primarily of wood. Apparently, it has weathered earthquake, war, and fire, coming back like the phoenix after each devastation.  I wondered what changes the wharf had witnessed over its years guarding the harbor.  According to the brochure, it is the most visited landmark in Santa Barbara.  And there is certainly plenty to visit here.

Stopping along State street to pay homage to the shopping gods...
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From the wharf the entire city rises behind, and the entire ocean stretches ahead.  In the distance I noticed ships that I later learned were oil platforms.

Walking back up State Street, I noticed that Starbuck's seems to have real competition in the premium coffee market.  Every time I noticed a Starbuck's, there was a "Coffee Beans and Tea Leaves" shop nearby.  El Paseo Nuevo, a shopping arcade mirroring neighboring El Paseo, boasted both a Macy's and a Nordstrom's, as well as a wonderful cheese shop, called, with elegant understatement, The Cheese Shop.  They give out samples, and I ended up buying some great cheese and crackers as a result.  After an hour or so in Nordstrom's resting up from my walk, and another hour in Starbuck's trying to get on the internet, I decided it was time to get back to the Mission.

Rose window in Santa Barbara County Courthouse
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The walk back to the mission definitely took longer than the walk down to the town.  The uphill grade that looked so lovely from the wharf was steeper than it appeared.  But I was still enjoying the newness of wearing shorts in March, so I soldiered on.