Mission Santa Barbara (https://www.santabarbaramission.org/) is one of the most iconic landmarks in all of Santa Barbara. Standing since 1786, this grand lady (commonly referred to as "The Queen of the Missions") is the tenth of twenty-one Missions founded by the Spanish Franciscans.

Situated on thirteen picturesque acres and overlooking the Pacific Ocean, the view is amazing! The grounds include the Mission church, Historic Cemetery and Mausoleum, a nine-room museum of historical artwork and artifacts, and multiple lush gardens, including La Huerta Historical Garden, which features authentic and ancient Mission-era plants and trees.

In addition to hosting regular masses throughout the week, the Santa Barbara Mission also features self-guided tours, docent-guided public tours, and docent-guided private tours. There are several other wonderful tours to take advantage of.

There are also two very large and important yearly events at the Santa Barbara Mission. The first event is I Madonnari (https://ccp.sbceo.org/i-madonnari/welcome), which is an Italian street painting festival that takes place over Memorial Day weekend. This is a wonderful event that showcases local groups and artists and raises money for the Children's Creative Project, a local non-profit arts education program of the Santa Barbara County Education Office.

The second is Old Spanish Days (https://www.sbfiesta.org/) (locally referred to as "Fiesta"), which unofficially starts at the Mission. The Old Spanish Days events here are beautiful.

No matter the reason, the Santa Barbara Mission is a wonderful place to visit. Even if it is to pack a picnic lunch and sit on the lawn across the street from the Mission.