La Cumbre Mall

La Cumbre Mall is an outdoor mall with lots of colorful flowerpots. The greenery, tropical flowers, umbrellas and benches are beautiful. The view of the mountains here is often stunning and on rare days when the mountains are covered in snow this is a good place to watch the snow melt before your eyes! You can park on the second level at Sears and enjoy a panoramic view! If there are forest fires in the mountains you can often see them from here too.

Giant sized games are found throughout this mall! There's a ping pong table, Connect Four, and chess board!
This mall has many snooty stores, the kind where you pay $12 to buy a wooden spoon that's worth 50 cents. It's a shame. But there are also some great stores for kids- Claire's Accessories, Go! Games and Toys (a huge store with some great toys) and Toys R Us Express. There is also an indoor playplace for kids aged six and under called Rockin' Kids Play Center. A nice addition to the mall is a Papyrus store for gifts and cards. For kid's clothes, check out Gymboree Kids Clothing,  and Janie and Jack Clothing.
Macy's and Sears have much cheaper kid's clothing on Fri-Sun, so save your shopping for then.
Kids love to stand beside the large Spanish fountain planters and check out the colorful tiles. The security guard is friendly and hands out golden badge stickers to kids.
If you're hungry, sit at the sunny breezy outdoor seating at The Habit, a burger joint across the parking lot from the main mall. There is also a Starbucks at this mall, with nice outdoor seating.
My favorite place to eat in Santa Barbara is across Hitchcock way from the southeast end of the mall: Natural Cafe. The salads are delicious, with crunchy jicama. The best thing to order is a Baja Burrito, which comes with a salad. You can sit outside on a nice patio or inside enjoying the pretty wood and stained glass decor. They also have delicious desserts that are much better than most restaurants (no refrigerator taste)- try the lemon bar or carrot cake.
Across La Cumbre Rd from La Cumbre Mall is the 5 Points Shopping Center, which has a Ross store, Starbucks with patio, and best of all, Luna Grill, a delicious Mediterranean counter-service restaurant.
For a nearby park and playground that is lush and green, head north to Willowglen Park, or for a romantic drive through an old oak forest to the ocean, drive south through Hope Ranch.
Or for more shopping, cross La Cumbre Rd to Five Points Mall, where there's a Ross Dress for Less, Big 5 Sports, Starbucks, and more. There's also amazing views of the mountains from there.

Directions

La Cumbre Mall is located at 121 South Hope Ave, Santa Barbara CA 93105, call (805) 687-6458.
From Highway 101 southbound, exit at La Cumbre Rd and turn left. Go through a traffic light and the upstairs parking lot for Sears will be on your right.
From Highway 101 northbound, exit at La Cumbre/Hope. Turn left at the exit. Go up the hill and take the second entrance on your right, which will lead you to the upstairs Sears parking lot.
You can get back on the freeway southbound from La Cumbre Rd. You can get back on the freeway northbound from Hope Ave.
There are restrooms on the bottom level of Sears.
The Habit, 3890 La Cumbre Plaza Ln, (805) 687-5200.
Natural Cafe, 361 Hitchcock Way, call (805) 563-1163.
Luna Grill, 3925 State St Unit A, Santa Barbara, CA 93105.

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