We went to Santa Barbara for a day out during summer break 2017. We visited Botanic Garden, Old Mission, State Street, the Pier, and Burro beach. I would say it was a great day. We live in LA, around 1,5 hours driving to go there. If you want to go to Botanic Garden, I would recommend going straight to the Island View, go across the parking lot. You do not need to pay to go there while going inside the Botanic you have to pay $12 for not really good experience 🙁