![coastal highway map the long dark coastal highway map the long dark](https://hips.hearstapps.com/pop.h-cdn.co/assets/cm/15/05/54ca6700f0639_-_roads-01-0711-xln.jpg)
![coastal highway map the long dark coastal highway map the long dark](https://64.media.tumblr.com/17fd34cce070364d038fbad2bfe18d4a/tumblr_ocn4lrFsTZ1utaxego1_1280.jpg)
Santa Barbara has perhaps the south coast’s best variety of places to eat.
![coastal highway map the long dark coastal highway map the long dark](https://cdn.guidestash.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/18163900/ash-canyon-map-the-long-dark.png)
Coastal highway map the long dark full#
Trips take a half day or a full day, and some head out to the Channel Islands call for details or reservations. Santa Barbara is one of many great places along the coast to go on a whale-watching cruise (805/822-0088 or 888/779-4253), on the Condor Express or other boats, to see migrating gray whales in winter and jumping humpbacks in summer. Called the “Queen of the Missions” by the local tourist scribes, Mission Santa Barbara is undeniably lovely to look at, its rose-hued stone facade perfectly complemented by the roses and bougainvillea that frame the well-maintained gardens and lawns. Santa Barbara’s reigning attraction, Old Mission Santa Barbara (805/682-4713, daily, $12 self-guided tours), stands atop a shallow hill that is a well-posted mile up from State Street, looking out over the city and shoreline below. 10am-5pm, free) giving a fine view over the red-tiled cityscape. A block east on Anacapa Street, the County Courthouse is one of the finest public buildings in the state, a handcrafted Spanish Revival monument set in lush semitropical gardens, with an observation tower (Mon.-Fri. At the north end of downtown is the excellent Santa Barbara Museum of Art (1130 State St., 805/963-4364, Tues.-Sun., $10 adults). From the wharf area, follow State Street away from the sands to the downtown district, where Santa Barbarans parade among the numerous cafés, bars, and boutiques. The resulting architectural consistency gives Santa Barbara an un-American charm it looks more like a Mediterranean village than the modern city it is beneath the surface.įor a good first look at the city, head down to the water, where Stearns Wharf sticks out into the bay, bordered by palm tree-lined beaches populated by joggers, in-line skaters, and volleyball players. Much of its character comes from the fact that, following a sizable earthquake in 1925, the town leaders-caught up in the contemporary craze for anything Spanish Revival-required that all buildings in the downtown area exude a mission-era feel, mandating red-tile roofs, adobe-colored stucco, and rounded arcades wherever practicable. Around 100 miles north of Los Angeles, Santa Barbara has grown threefold in the last 60 years, but for the moment, at least, it manages to retain its sleepy seaside charm. The geographical midpoint of California may well be somewhere near San Francisco, but the Southern California of popular imagination-golden beaches washed by waves and peopled by blond-haired surfer gods-has its start, and perhaps best expression, in Santa Barbara (pop.