Patriotic Events 2019

Santa Barbara and Goleta Events

* 4th of July Parade on State Street between Micheltorena Street and Cota Street Free 1pm 

* Elks Lodge of Santa Barbara  Family Fun Fair 11-5 Free Admission 

(Crafts, dime toss, bounce house, rollerball game, and more)

* Girsh Park Fireworks Festival 5pm-9pm $10 entry (kids under 13 free) 

(Concerts, fireworks, and games including water balloon toss, hula hoop contest and sack races)

* Goleta Valley Historical Society at Stow House 11am-4pm $7 entry (kid under 13 free) (Concerts and tours, $5 Kids Fun Pass includes hay rides, face painting, and games)

* Sunken Gardens Concert 5pm Free

* West Beach and the Santa Barbara Waterfront 11am-9pm Free admission, activities may cost

(live music, face painting,  water taxi ride, Sea Center, crafts and food for sale) 

Fireworks

Fireworks take place at the festivals but can viewed in the surrounding neighborhoods

9pm Santa Barbara at West Beach 

9pm Goleta at Girsh Park 

9pm Solvang at Mission Santa Ynez

Other Events Nearby

* Carpinteria Lions Club hosts and Independence Day BBQ 1-4pm.

* Montecito Association hosts events including a pancake breakfast at Firehouse #1 (7:30), parade (11:30 Manning Park) and festival (12:30-2 Manning Park) 

* Solvang Events include a concert (10am Solvang Park), parade (11am), BBQ ($5-7, Solvang Park 12-2) and festival (2pm-9:30pm, Mission Santa Ynez, $10 Entry, kids under 8 free)

South Coast Railway Museum

COVID Update: June 2021

The South Coast Railway Museum is a small museum with an old train car kids can climb through, several depot rooms set up as they would have functioned 100 years ago and a room full of model trains. The building is the original Goleta Train depot built in 1901 and moved to its current location in 1981. There is a small train that gives rides for about 10 people every 15 minutes (or sometimes more often) with the last ride at 3:45. Stay around 4pm to watch the trains put away into their garage (involving disassembly using ropes and pulleys). There is a small picnic area that can be reserved for birthdays.

Favorites: train rides for all (but especially when they were 5 and under)
Hours: 1-4pm Saturday-Sunday, closed Monday-Friday
Time: 30-45 minutes
Price: The museum is free/donation based. The small train rides cost $2.50.
Membership:$25 a year
Parking: There is a small lot of free parking that is enough parking for most days. 
Location: Next to the Stow House on Los Carneros Rd in Goleta.
More Info: http://scrm.goletadepot.org/
Nearby: Stow House, Lake Los Carneros and Stow Grove Park
Special Events: Events Page: Candy Cane Train in December, Easter Bunny Express on Easter weekend, Depot Days second weekend in August

Goleta Depot Building

Entrance

Old Railway Car (Outside)

Old Railway Car (inside)

Old Railway Car (inside)

Model Trains 

Small Ride on Train

Train holds about 10.

Ticket Counter

Book Corner in the old waiting room

Station with memorabilia

Pocket Library designed like the Depot

Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History

The Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History is one of our favorite places for a long visit.  The bird room has stuffed birds, eggs and dioramas of different habitats. The mammal room has the classic stuffed animals with updated signage. A mineral room has various minerals displayed under different kinds of light. The Chumash room has dioramas, examples of boats, pottery and language.  The ocean room has displays on the different kinds of ocean environments. The Curiosity Lab is kid friendly with hands on activities that rotate so there is always a new one to do. The backyard area has a man made creek (with no poison oak!) to explore and buckets, small boats and tools to play with for hours.

Our favorites include the backyard area (for the 5 year old), the Curiosity Lab (for the 8 year old) and the bird room (for mama).

Cost: $12/$7
Family memberships: Start at $99

Hours: 10 am - 5 pm (COVID times only open Wed-Sun 10-5 reservations recommended, masks requested)
Time: 1 hour + (much longer when we go to the backyard)
Location: 2559 Puesta del Sol near the Santa Barbara Mission
Parking: There is a free parking lot next to the museum.
More Information: https://www.sbnature.org/
Nearby: Santa Barbara Mission and Rocky Nook Park (paths at Rocky Nook)

Events and free days: Free days are once a month September-April are listed here. There are special exhibits in summer. Summer 2019 has a prehistoric forest (dinosaur) exhibit and the butterfly pavilion. 

Chumash Artifacts

Chumash Baskets

Prehistoric Times 

Mineral Room

Habitats 

Bird Species

Ocean Environments

Habitats

Neal Taylor Nature Center at Lake Cachuma

The Neal Taylor Nature Center at Lake Cachuma is a fun little museum.  The museum is dedicated to nature of the lake area, Chumash history and daily life and history of the area. Chumash exhibits include a Chumash pantry tools, model of a town and animals the Chumash used. Nature exhibits include birds/eggs, beavers, mammals, and fish. Other exhibits include weather patterns and the watershed map. 

Our favorites include the scavenger hunt, the puppet area (5 year old fav), Chumash section (8 year old fav), animal exhibits (Mom fav) and the wingspan wall. 

There are many short trails around the nature center that can be explored and there is a 2 hour boat trip ($15 adults and $10 kids) that would be good for older children.  

Cost: Free (the day use fee to park at Lake Cachuma is $10)
Membership: None
Hours: Wednesday - Saturday 10am-4pm; Sunday 10am-2pm, Closed Monday and Tuesday
Time: 30-45 minutes
Location: The Neal Taylor Nature Center is located at Lake Cachuma about 20 miles from Santa Barbara (30 minutes) on the 154.
Parking: The day use fee to park at Lake Cachuma is $10.
More Information: https://www.clnaturecenter.org/
Nearby: Knapp's Castle, Solvang and Sunnyfields Park

Events and free days: N/A

Chumash Grinding stones, pantry and tools

Animal Exhibits  

Animal Exhibits

Animal Exhibits

Animal Exhibits

Watershed Map

Weather in the area

Trash Vulture

Puppet Area

Puppet Area

Goleta Mom Giveaway Winners!

Goleta Mom had a giveaway for some fun museums in the Santa Barbara area! And the winners were....

1. Jennifer C. Maritime Museum Pass

2. Dolly C. Art Museum Pass

3. Lynnae O. Natural History Museum Pass

4. Carrie N. Art Museum Pass

5. Tracy M. Art Museum Pass

6. Jessica S. Art Museum Pass

These first few weeks of summer are busy for us, but later in June, I will be posting a new museum on Museum Mondays and a Friday Favorite with a few bonus posts on Wednesdays!

Santa Barbara Maritime Museum

The Maritime Museum is an ocean history and all things sea related museum. Exhibits include ocean exploration (from the Chumash, to the Spanish explorers, whaling ships and beyond), sport fishing, commercial diving, geology and history of oil. There is generally an ocean photography exhibit and a theater showing ocean related science films. There are a few interactive exhibits on tattoos, fishing, steering a ship, periscope as well as an area with crafts, dress up, a fishing activity and sailing activities. It is kid friendly and staff provides a scavenger hunt that when completed can earn a prize from the treasure chest.

Our favorites include the scavenger hunt, the dress up area (5 year old fav), art area (8 year old fav), Chumash section (Mom fav) and the "getting tattoos station."

Cost: Adults $8, Seniors/Kids 5-17/Students $5, kids under 5/military/members free (We got a free family pass from science night at our elementary school).
Membership: Family memberships start at $65 a year.

Hours: 10 am – 5 pm everyday except Saturdays 9 am – 3 pm (closed Wednesdays) Note: Check hours before visiting. The museum often closes early for special events.
Time: 1-1 1/2 hours (more if they get pulled into the movie room)

Location: The Maritime Museum is located at the Santa Barbara Harbor.
Parking: There is a small, free 90 minute lot or the harbor parking is $2 per hour ($12 max).
More Information: https://sbmm.org/
Nearby: East Beach, Ledbetter Beach, Los Baños Pool and Los Baños del Mar Playground

Events and free days: There are no free days but we received free passes at our school science night. World Ocean Day in June

Art Area 

Art Project

Early History of Oil 

Early Shipping

Early Navigation

Whaling

History of Diving

Add caption

Local Shipwreck

Channel Topography

History of Surfing

Early Diving Suit

Tattoo Interpretation

Try a tattoo yourself

Charting History

Navigating a ship Interactive Exhibit