We had a wonderful first day in Santa Barbara! We started off strong by visiting the maritime museum and learning about how the city’s history and its unique waterfront allow for oil extraction, commercial fishing, and immense biodiversity along with Santa Barbara’s indigenous people, the Chumash.

After the maritime museum, we headed for lunch at a local bakery. We went to the Santa Barbara mission to learn about the Spanish settlement in California and its negative impact on the Chumash. We admired beautiful landscapes and architecture while learning about Santa Barbara’s Catholic heritage.

After the mission, we headed to the Funk Zone, where we admired art, walked through shops, and spent quality time at Santa Barbara’s beachfront right at sunset. We headed to Carpenteria for a delicious dinner before returning to our hotel in Camarillo to finish out our night.

- Caroline, Rori, and Kathleen