My sister Susan and I, along with her dog Blackberry, visited Santa Barbara during our West Coast road trip, and the highlight for me was seeing the mission there, which is located on a hill overlooking the town and the sea. The original mission was built in 1786, although the current building dates from 1815, which is still quite old. It is considered the most beautiful of all the missions. I personally can't verify this, since I haven't seen all the missions, but it is still, in my opinion, pretty damn nice.
The 21 California Spanish missions were built between 1769 and 1833, each a day's walk from the other, and their purpose was to convert the Native Americans to Christianity. Many of the settlements that sprang up around them became the state's major cities. I understand that there was a movement to stop teaching the history of the Spanish missions in California schools due to political correctness issues, but I am not sure if this was ever done. Since the Spanish missions are such an important part of the settlement of California, I certainly hope not.
The best part of Mission Santa Barbara is the view from it's front steps of the city and the ocean beyond, as seen in the photograph on the left. After admiring the view, we headed to downtown Santa Barbara and walked around a bit, admiring some of the remaining Spanish era structures, such as the Presidio, and peering into the windows of the upscale shops along State Street. Santa Barbara also has a wonderful beach and pier, which we checked out too, before heading through traffic clogged L.A. and Orange County to San Diego. We were originally planning to stop at Santa Monica, Venice Beach, and Newport Beach, but since traffic was so bad, we ran out of time, and decided to head on to our final California destination. I guess that is just L.A.'s loss.
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