We discovered that the Santa Barbara Trolley Tour was the perfect way to move around the city while on our Car Free mini vacation.  The tour bus has an hourly schedule and allows pickup and drop off at any of the twelve locations it visits.  So if the visitor wants to investigate further one of the destinations, like the Old Mission for example, he does so and then catches  a later bus to complete the tour.
We wanted to see the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum since we had heard how outstanding it was in depicting the marine history of the city.  So we left the tour bus at the harbor-Museum drop off.
Besides it was time for lunch and we discovered Chuck's Waterfront Grill located adjacent to the Museum.
Here we enjoyed an excellent lunch on the outdoor patio with long views of the small boat harbor and beyond, the hillsides that are known as the City's Riviera.
There was much to see in the museum.  It covers marine history from the discovery of the channel islands and shoreline by Cabrillo to the surfing sport that has flourished in Santa Barbara for more than a century.
The story of the Channel Islands is told from first being settled by the Chumash Native Americans, then by local ranchers and finally to its present status as a National Park.
Other exhibits tell of the early hunters and fishermen who dominated the marine scene in earlier eras.
One new exhibit describes how important tattoos and Scrimshaw have traditionally been with  seamen. And how it is an art form that has once again become popular.
After our Museum visit we once again got aboard the Trolley  bus to complete our tour.
On a visit to the Maritime Museum allow plenty of time since there is much to admire and learn.