Los Angeles & Southern California - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [316]
Santa Barbara Museum of Art
With a collection containing 26,500 works of art, this well-regarded art museum (Map; 805-963-4364; www.sbma.net; 1130 State St; adult $9, student, senior & child 6-17 $6, Sun free; 11am-5pm Tue-Sun) displays European and American celebs – Monet, Matisse, Hopper and O’Keeffe – as well as photography and classical sculpture. Spend a few minutes exploring the Asian exhibit on the 2nd floor where displays include an intricate, colorful Tibetan sand mandala and the iron-chainmail armor of a Japanese warrior. There’s also an interactive children’s gallery, a museum shop and a café that makes good sandwiches.
Waterfront
The southern end of State St gives way to Stearns Wharf (Map; ), a rough wooden pier with a few snack and souvenir shops. Built in 1872 by John Peck Stearn, it’s the oldest continuously operating wharf on the West Coast. During the 1940s it was owned by Jimmy Cagney and his two brothers. Partly destroyed by a 1998 fire, it has now been restored. Parking is available for $2 per hour, with the first 90 minutes free with validation. Also on the wharf, look for the Ty Warner Sea Center (Map; 805-962-2526; www.sbnature.org; 211 Stearns Wharf; adult/child 2-12/teen 13-17 & senior $7/4/6; 10am-5pm; ), part of the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. This is a great place for kids: the staff here is so darn engaging and enthusiastic, your child will be contemplating a career in marine biology in no time. From touch-a-shark water tanks and crawl-through aquariums to whale sing-alongs, it’s interactive, educational and plain old fun. The Sea Center also has opportunities for volunteers – from a few days to a week – so if oceanography’s your thing, give ’em a ring before you arrive.
Kids will also get a kick out of the small but worth-a-stop Santa Barbara Maritime Museum (Map; 805-962-8404; www.sbmm.org; 113 Harbor Way; adult/child 1-5/youth 6-17 & senior $7/2/4; 10am-6pm Jun-Aug, 10am-5pm Sep-May, closed Wed; ), located southwest of the wharf on the harbor. The two-level museum celebrates the town’s briny history with memorabilia and hands-on exhibits, including a big-game fishing chair from which you can ‘reel in’ a trophy marlin – who knew a fake fish could tug so hard? Elsewhere you can take a virtual trip through the Santa Barbara Channel and peek through a 45ft-tall US Navy periscope, the latter no longer trained on people’s homes. Admission is free the third Thursday of the month.
Mission Santa Barbara
Called the ‘Queen of the Missions,’ Mission Santa Barbara (Map; 805-682-4713, tour info 805-682-4149; www.sbmission.org; 2201 Laguna St; adult/senior/child 6-15/child under 6 $5/4/1/free; 9am-5pm;) shimmers above the city on a majestic perch half a mile from downtown. It was established on December 4 (the feast day of St Barbara) in 1786, as the 10th California mission. Three adobe structures preceded the current stone version from 1820, the main facade of which integrates neoclassical-style columns. Today the mission still functions as a Franciscan friary as well as a parish church and museum. Behind it is an extensive cemetery – look for the skull carvings over the doorway – with 4000 Chumash graves and the elaborate mausoleums of early California settlers. As you walk through the mission’s exhibits – which include Chumash baskets, a missionary’s bedroom, and fascinating black-and-white mission photos dating from the 1980s – keep in mind that doors lock behind you, so make sure you’re finished before moving on. Closed Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and Easter.
Santa Barbara Botanic Garden
Want the perfect place to stop and smell the redwoods? After visiting the mission, take a soul-satisfying