California Gold: The Mission Santa Barbara

A somber reminder inside
the Mission.

Santa Barbara is one of the best beach communities in all of California. It has a beautiful harbor, a pleasant downtown area with a good walking score, a thriving wine scene, and it does well to keep in touch with its history, both Spanish and native. While there is a Chumash Reservation not far from the coast and old native cave paintings can be found atop the hills looking over the sea, one of the best collections of native artifacts can be found at the Santa Barbara Mission.

The Mission, sitting on a hill just north of town, was founded by Padre Fermín Lasuén in December of 1786. It is the tenth mission for the religious conversion of the indigenous local Chumash-Barbareño tribe. Many elements of the Mission's extensive water treatment system, all built by Chumash labor under the direction of the Franciscans (including aqueducts, two reservoirs, a filter house, and a hydro-powered gristmill) remain to this day, as do huts, gardening tools, textiles, and trinkets, all hand-crafted by native hands, much of it centuries ago. The reservoir, which was built in 1806 by the expedient of damming a canyon, had been a functioning component of the city's water system until 1993. The original fountain and lavadero are also intact near the entrance to the Mission.

The interior garden and courtyard.

Mission Santa Barbara's name comes from the legend of Saint Barbara, a girl who was supposedly beheaded by her father for following the Christian Faith. The early missionaries built three different chapels during the first few years, each larger than the previous one.

It was only after the great Santa Barbara Earthquake on December 21, 1812, which destroyed the existing buildings, that the construction on the current Mission was begun. It was completed and then dedicated in 1820.

Walkway around the courtyard.

Like many of the California Missions, Santa Barbara has a chapel, a garden courtyard, rooms for study and sleep. Unlike many of the other Missions, Santa Barbara has a natural beauty that even other places in California are jealous of. The flowers seem bigger, brighter. The air smells sweeter. The breeze feels more gentle.

The Mission grounds occupy a rise between the Pacific Ocean and the Santa Ynez Mountains. They were consecrated by Father Fermín Lasuén, who had taken over the presidency of the California mission chain upon the death of Mission founder Father Presidente Junípero Serra. Mission Santa Barbara is the only mission to remain under the leadership of the Franciscan Friars since its founding, and today is still a parish church of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

The Mission Santa Barbara

Walking through the exhibits and the active portions of the Mission, I thought of the sad irony that now exists. The irony that that the little we know about the native people who lived on this continent prior to European contact is due primarily to the Europeans themselves who wound up running them off.

It seems native artifacts tend to be best preserved and shared with the rest of the world in places where the native people themselves were actually subjugated. Books, movies, and Mission exhibits all give great insight to native life, but the shame is this desire to learn more about the locals arrived a bit too late.

Inside the chapel.

Santa Barbara has a lot to offer visitors coming in either for a long weekend or a long-term vacation. It can be easy to give in to the surf and wine and air of relaxation. But a stop at the Mission is not to be missed. There is a lot of history on this site and the church is a great place to see a piece of it.

The garden in bloom.

Founder Padre Fermín Lasuén

Interior garden.

Various tools used to build and maintain the Mission.

Example of some of the  beautiful artwork inside the Mission.

The front of the Mission.

The visitors' entrance to the Mission.

One last view of the interior courtyard.

California Gold: Sunshine in Sausalito

Watching the boats on the
Richardson Bay.

"I heard Barry Bonds lives here."
"Probably doesn't actually live here. Probably just has a house."
"Must be nice."

I made a day trip to Sausalito with my parents. We were enjoying the scenery of the boats and harbors on our left and the shops and tree-covered hills to our right. Spectacular houses were nestled imperiously among tall pines and firs. We were only a few miles from downtown San Francisco but we might as well have been halfway down the coast.

Vista Point, Marin County

The quiet town is situated near the northern end of the Golden Gate Bridge. Prior to the building of that bridge the town served as a terminus for rail, car, and ferry traffic. Sausalito was once the site of a Coast Miwok Indian settlement known as Liwanelowa. The branch of the Coast Miwok living in the area were known as the Huimen. Early explorers of the area described the natives as friendly and hospitable. According to Juan de Ayala, "To all these advantages must be added the best of all, which is that the heathen Indians of the port are so faithful in their friendship and so docile in their disposition that I was greatly pleased to receive them on board." A few generations later, the Huimen were gone, displaced by the visitors.

Main strip in Sausalito.

We stopped into a small place for lunch called Fish. They specialize in serving sustainably caught seafood. I sat on the sun-drenched deck looking south across Richardson Bay towards San Francisco, sipping a cold Anchor Steam, watching the boats linger by, believing life could never be better.

The first European known to visit the present-day location of Sausalito was Don José de Cañizares. This was on August 5, 1775. He was head of an advance party dispatched by longboat from the ship San Carlos. The crew of the San Carlos came ashore soon after, reporting friendly natives and teeming populations of deer, elk, bear, sea lions, seals and otters. They also reported an abundance of large, mature timber in the hills, a valuable commodity for shipwrights in need of raw materials for masts and planking. Today the place is filled with expensive houses, delicious seafood restaurants, and charming little candy shops. It's also home to some famous celebrities and sports stars like Barry Bonds.

Looking towards Frisco.

Downtown San Francisco can be a high-speed, cutting edge, bundle of energy for locals and visitors alike. Sausalito, just across the bay, is a completely different story. It's a relaxing port and ebbs along much more slowly than its urban counterpart. Any visit to the Bay Area wouldn't be complete without a pit stop in Marin County in the little harbor town of Sausalito.

The Lone Sailor Memorial in Marin County, just south of Sausalito.

 The statue, a replica of the Lone Sailor in DC, represents a sailor's last view of the West Coast as he sails out for duty at sea.

The plaque reads:
The Lone Sailor 
This is a memorial to everyone who ever sailed out the Golden Gate in the service of their Country – in the Navy, the Marine Corps, the Coast Guard, the Merchant Marine.

A ship heading for sea passes directly by this spot at the northern end of the Golden Gate. Here the Sailor feels the first long roll of the sea, the beginning of the endless horizon that leads to the far Pacific.

There is one last chance to look back at the city of San Francisco, shining on its hills, one last chance to look back at the coastline of the United States, one last chance to look back at home.

Thousands and thousands of American seafarers have sailed past this place, in peace and war, to defend this Country and its sea frontiers. Many of them never returned. This monument is dedicated to the ordinary Sailors and Marines who sailed from this place and did their duty.

Base of the Lone Sailor Memorial.

View of the Golden Gate Bridge from the Vista Point at the Lone Sailor Memorial.

Docked in the harbor of Sausalito.

Pops relaxing with a view of Horseshoe Bay in the background.

Lovely flora of Marin County.

One of boardwalks near the Sausalito Yacht Club.

A water fountain near the center of town.

Tourists in the foreground. Beautiful houses in the distance.

The main drag of Sausalito.

The Vina del Mar Park.

A view of the Richardson Bay.

Outside the Barrel House Tavern restaurant.

Wares in the candy store.

California Gold: Sanrio Fest in Santa Monica

Text and photos by Jason McKenney

The Barker Hangar isn't the most impressive structure on the outside. It has the look of a giant aluminum pipe that's been sawed in half and turned over like an oversized bunker. There are rows of chain-link fence stretching around to demarcate parking and security stations. It's right next to the semi-private (and soon to be erased) Santa Monica airport. But inside the hangar on this day was a colorful, adorable, lovable, overdose of Hello Kitty cuteness. Enough to make the most cynical and coldest of individuals feel a little bit warm on the inside...or maybe enough to throw up depending on your preference.

The kids of some of my best friends are obsessed with Hello Kitty. They buy the clothes, the backpacks, the pencils and folders, t-shirts. The freaked when a new store was opened in the Lakewood Mall. They collect the cards and stickers and hats and candy. When I invited several of these kids out to the latest Sanrio Small Gift Fest in Santa Monica they could barely contain their excitement. Hello Kitty is a devastatingly popular character from Japan. The character actually serves as a great outreach program of Japanese culture to the rest of the world. In places like Los Angeles, that outreach is lapped up by American kids (of various cultural backgrounds) like water drops in the desert.

We entered the hangar to be met with a kaleidoscope of colors, caramel smells, j-pop music, and circus rides. Girls were dressed in cosplay of shiny, short skirts and cat makeup. It was a glorious experience for the young tweens I brought. Jennie and TJ rode the Ferris Wheel. KC and Jared wandered through the art hall and ate ice cream. Joah and Christian played games and drank Ramune.

The kids were dizzy with joy when we finally left. They begged me to bring them again next year. The Sanrio Festival is growing in popularity and touring across the nation in major metropolitan areas. If you have kids in your life and one of these events shows up in a town near you, we highly advise you take them. Go for the kids. Stay for the ice cream. Please don't throw up at the cuteness.

Everyone wins at Small Gift. Jennie and TJ with their own small gifts.

The art exhibitions cover a a wide range of Hello Kitty themes. From bright and colorful to dark and gothic.

Enjoying the art walk display.

Jared poses with the Hello Kitty smart car that could probably fit in his pocket.

My traveling band of explorers, crushing all of Sanrio.