| Escape for the day and travel up the coast to Santa Barbara, the fabulous beach city known as “America’s Riviera.” Enjoy time at leisure in downtown Santa Barbara with lunch on your own at a variety of restaurants offering outdoor dining along State Street and at the Mediterranean-style shopping district, Paseo Nuevo. This afternoon, we’ll travel into the Montecito hills above Santa Barbara to explore Lotusland, the incredible 37-acre botanic garden. The garden features an enormous diversity of exotic plants (more than 3,000 in fact) from around the globe, arranged into 25 themed gardens – each distinctive in design but beautifully transitioned to provide a seamless passage between the elaborate themes. Enjoy approximately 3 hours at Lotusland with docents available to showcase these gardens which were created by opera singer and socialite, Madame Ganna Walska – she owned the property from 1941 until her death in 1984. While she owned it, she improved upon existing gardens and created new landscapes that comprise the present exotic collections which include rare cycads, cacti, palms and euphorbias along with ferns, aloes, lotuses, water lilies, bromeliads, the palmetum and insectary garden. The recently renovated Japanese Garden was the largest and most complex project ever undertaken at Lotusland and offers a tranquil escape from the hectic world to help restore your body and soul. This tour involves extensive walking over hilly, uneven garden walkways. |