I went to St. Anthony's 1953-6. It was a Franciscan seminary with a student population of about 160 high school boys. Beautiful place just behind Santa Barbara Mission, Pueblo and Garden Streets. It was shut down a few years ago when it turned out several of the priests were taking sexual liberties with the boys. Too bad. Religion aside (or included, if you will) it was a great academic experience: Latin, Greek, Spanish, Art, Music, Theatre, Sports, History, Literature, etc. Once a year we hiked up that red road to the top of Mt. LaCumbre for a capture-the-flag game. Several times a year we hiked to Hendry's Beach. Otherwise we stuck pretty close to school (San Roque neighborhood on Saturdays, Natural History museum in the canyon behind school, Botanical Gardens nearby.

Some quotes from Santa Barbara's homepage [defunct at least as of 5/2/98] --

Mission Santa Barbara, called "Queen of the Missions" for its Graceful beauty. Founded in 1786, tenth of 21 Franciscan missions in California. Beautiful setting overlooking city.

Museum of Natural History, exhibits feature mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, plant life, and geology of the Pacific Coast and Channel Islands. Dioramas of prehistoric Native American life. Planetarium.

Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, sixty acres of native trees, shrubs, wildflowers, cacti, in natural setting. Three miles of easy-to-walk nature trails.

Arroyo Burro Beach - Located on Cliff Drive near Hope Ranch, it is accessible from the west end of Las Positas Road. There are 600 feet of sandy beach, picnic facilities, volleyball, tidepools and a very curious home for cats. Nearby bluffs are a good spot for whale watching and hang gliding. Arroyo Burro Beach is also known as Henry's Beach or Hendry's Beach - only a true Santa Barbaran knows which name is correct. Great panorama view of the beach.

Homepage St. Anthony's