Visit to Santa Barbara Mission

5 December 2012

Today we drove 30 miles north to Santa Barbara a very pleasant town with much history and the famous Sterns Wharf.

The Mission was the tenth of the California missions established by the Spanish Franciscans in 1786. Some of the first buildings in 1790 still exist today in spite of several earthquakes in 1812 and 1925.

Santa Barbara Mission

Friary and Church

Passageway

Courtyard

Fig Tree dating to 1890

Cemetery

Kitchen Area

Stone Carvings by Chumash

Altar

As with most of the missions, the original purpose was the Christianization of the Chumash Indians. Economic incentives and curiosity were some of the factors that led them to joining the missions.

After the Mexican government in 1834 secularized the Mission, the Chumash were placed under civil jurisdiction. leading to the deterioration of the buildings and culture. In 1839 the Mission was returned to the Franciscans only be confiscated and sold. After California became a state, Lincoln returned the Mission to the Catholic Church in 1865. The Mission continues to thrive under the direction of the Franciscan Friars.

After leaving the Mission, we drove down to the harbor and walked with Destiny the famous Sterns Wharf built in 1872 . The pier has been on several occasions destroyed by fire with the last one in 1998. There are several restaurants, shops and good views of Santa Barbara. It was built to serve cargo and passenger ships. In the 1930's gamblers boarded floating casinos and during WW II it was turned into a Naval installation. It is Santa Barbara's number 1 tourist attraction with 5M visitors a year.

Posing Seagull

View of Santa Barbara

Partial View of Sterns Wharf

Destiny Enjoying Ice Cream

Another view of Wharf

We enjoyed Ice Cream also

We plan to return so we can  visit the Presidio and explore more of the town.