The City responsible for the creation of EARTH DAY
By Eileen Ogintz
SANTA BARBARA, CA — Ready to flip a log and find out what’s beneath? You might even meet the bugs and other critters who live in the dark.
Welcome to the Backcountry at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, a four-acre area designed for kids (and grownups) to explore and play complete with secret trails, casita installations and more.
This 78-acre Botanic Garden, dating back to 1926, was the first in the country to focus on native plants that can thrive in coastal California’s drought-prone summers and mild, moist winters. Check out the Meadow where 90 percent of the state’s rare plant species live, the Garden’s Redwood Section with towering trees nearly a century old and more.
We’re spending a couple of days in Santa Barbara as we make our way up the California Coast, from Orange County south of Los Angeles, to San Francisco. This city of 90,000 has long been an iconic stop for those making this trek famous for Stearns Wharf, the West Coast’s oldest working wooden wharves and perhaps the city’s most iconic landmark with views of the coastline and the Santa Ynez Mountains, and the evolving ARTS District, between downtown State Stret’s 1100 to 1300 blocks.
People come for the culinary scene (Julia Child was known to frequent the big Saturday Farmer’s Market when she lived here) and the wineries (some 300!)
We spent a happy few hours at Loubud Wines tasting room where we sampled five different sparkling and other wines as we completed a wooden jigsaw puzzle hand-cut by co-owner Paul Hughes, who can custom make a puzzle for you. “We do a lot of puzzles of dogs,” he joked. His wife Laura is the winemaker—and also mom to a new baby. I thought it was one of the few wine tastings where kids would be happily entertained with the puzzle (they aren’t easy) while parents sip and savor.
Kudos to the kid and dog friendly Kimpton Canary Hotel (renovated two years ago) in the heart of the ARTS District and walkable to many sites, including shops owned by locals like Jack and Jones for children’s clothes, Ace Rivington for individually tailored men’s jeans and Catherine Gee, a favorite of celebs for her slip dresses. Check out the rooftop pool and complimentary bikes and wine hour! I love the hotel’s four-poster beds. Check out Third Night Free lodging promotion at select hotels in Santa Barbara.
The hotel’s restaurant, Finch & Fork, is popular with locals for its locally-sourced ingredients. The huge Saturday Santa Barbara Certified Farmers Market is now located just in front of the hotel.
The State Street Promenade, incidentally, is a nine-block stretch that is closed to car traffic (lots of bikes, dogs and strollers!) with outdoor restaurants. It’s also increasingly easy to fly here with daily service from Atlanta, Salt Lake City and more.
Let’s not forget the plethora of locally owned coffee shops like Handlebar Coffee Roasters, founded by Aaron Olson and Kim Anderson who met on the professional cycling circuit, became a couple, and moved to Santa Barbara and started roasting beans in 2011. There was a line outside the door when we visited.
Happy Earth Day! An oil spill here in 1969 from an out-of-control offshore oil platform in Santa Barbara Channel was the largest spill in US waters at the time, spewing more than four million gallons of oil, killing thousands of seabirds, dolphins, seals, and sea lions. Even today, it is the third largest after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon and 1989 Exxon Valdez spills.
As a reaction, activists created organizations and lobbied for regulations that are the foundation of environmental protection, President Richard Nixon established the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1970; Congress passed the Clean Water Act and Coastal Zone Management Act in 1972, and Endangered Species Act in 1973.
Viewing the 800-mile spill from the air, Sen. Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin ratified a national day for environmental education he called Earth Day which continues today with celebrations and calls to action around the world. Here it is celebrated with an annual Santa Barbara Earth Day Festival.
This is also a good place to see the whales as they migrate north in the spring and then south in the fall. The Santa Barbara Channel is a designated Whale Heritage Area which indicated responsible watching — one of only two such areas in the United States. From late November through April, thousands of Pacific Gray Whales migrate through the channel first heading south and then they return with newborn calves in tow to Alaska. Take a hike along the bluffs where you can watch them! Late spring through early fall you might also see humpback whales and even the colossal blue whale.
The University of California Santa Barbara is known for marine biology, its sciences and especially environmental science programs. Look for rental e-bikes around town and electric shuttles, among the environmental initiatives here.
We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention the burgeoning culinary scene here. We had an excellent dinner at Olio Pizzeria (loved the Umbra pizza with cremini mushrooms and Umbrian black truffles, the Pancheri Bolognese, the fish and Tiramisu and much more!) and another at Opal Restaurant & Bar that is also a locals’ favorite for their use of local ingredients with a bow to Asian cuisine. (Think prawns with a coconut curry dipping sauce, lemon grass crusted sustainably farmed salmon and homemade basil fettucine, among the choices.
Foodies will appreciate that 15 local restaurants are now included in the Michelin Guide California. Coming May 12-18, the Santa Barbara Culinary Experience with wine and food events across Santa Barbara County in partnership with the Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts. For the first time, there will be children’s programming.
Bon Appetit!