Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History Sea Center

 The Sea Center has two floors of exhibits including touch tanks with sharks, rays, sea stars, sea urchins, and sea anemones. Aquarium tanks house jelly fish, a small octopus, seahorses and other marine animals. Most exhibits focus on the animals that live in the unique habitats of the Santa Barbara Channel but there's also a polar bear, one of the animals that is losing sea habitat due to climate change. The admission price is high for this small museum so we were glad that we had a pass.

The Sea Center is located on Sterns Wharf which was built in 1872. It's billed as  the oldest working wooden wharf in California but after reading about the tornado, storms, fires, and boats crashing into it, I wonder if any of it is original. There are 17 businesses on the wharf and free 90 minute parking. 

The Sea Center is accessible. The touch tanks are low so it's easy to reach into the water. The wharf has a wide walkway . Some of the planks are old and worn which makes for a bumpy roll.  

RVs cannot be parked on the streets in Santa Barbara or on the wharf so we parked in the designated RV spaces in the Garden Street lot. From there it's a short walk/roll to the wharf along the paved path that follows the beach. Center  34.41041, -119.68571

 

Santa Barbara Museum of Art

The museum's initial collection was donated in the 1940s by Wright S. Ludington, a resident of Santa Barbara who inherited a large fortune from his father and dedicated his life to collecting art, entertaining, and philanthropy. The collection is broad in scope and includes Etruscan bronzes, Greek and Roman sculpture, Gothic carvings, and 20th-century paintings by Braque, Picasso and Matisse. 

The museum building and art collection have grown significantly since the 1940s and now houses a wide variety of art spanning 5,000 years. The galleries feature changing, ongoing, and traveling exhibits. 

A ramp accesses the museum entrance. The second floor is accessed by an elevator. A short set of steps goes to a few of the galleries. A small lift is located behind the wall on the right side of the steps.

RVs cannot be parked on the streets in Santa Barbara so we parked in the designated RV spaces in the Garden Street lot and walked/rolled to the museum on State Street. State Street is an entertainment and retail district with 10 blocks closed to traffic. All of the curb cuts are very good and the business have accessible entrances.  Museum  34.42361, -119.70409

 

El Presidio de Santa Bárbara State Historic Park

 The Presidio, built in the 1780s, was one four Spanish military outposts the along the coast of Alta California. Its role was to protect the missions and settlers, provided a seat of government, and guarded the country against foreign invasion. The presidio was built by the local Chumash tribe - not completely willingly - of abode bricks on a sandstone foundation. 

 Mexico gained independence from Spain in 1821 and the presidio was abandoned. After the Mexican American War in the 1840s, the US took over  vast amounts of western land in what is now California, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah. In the decades that followed, the growth of Santa Barbara and earthquakes destroyed most of the presidio. By the twentieth century only two portions of the original structure remained.  

 In 1963 the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation was formed to protect what was left of the presidio. Archeologists and volunteers began excavations and reconstructions which are ongoing. The site is managed jointly by the Trust and the state. 

 We were surprised by the amount of work that appeared to be left uncompleted for months or even years. The reconstructed chapel is well done as are the commander's quarters and the exhibits in the family quarters on the east side of Santa Barbara Street. The rest is a bit of shambles.

A ramp leads the visitor center but due to construction and the unevenness of the ground, nothing is really accessible. The family quarters contain most of the artifacts and information about life in the presidio and are not accessible due to steps. 

RVs cannot be parked on the streets in Santa Barbara so we parked in the designated RV spaces in the Garden Street lot and walked/rolled to the presidio on State Street. State Street is a entertainment and retail district with 10 blocks closed to traffic. All of the curb cuts are very good and the business have accessible entrances. Once off State Street the curb cuts are steep. Since the presidio is a couple of blocks east of State Street, wheelchair uses may need assistance.  Presidio   34.42248, -119.69865

Santa Barbara - Camping and City Parking

We wanted to spend a few days in Santa Barbara which is not an easy thing to do with just an RV and no tow car but the city is so pretty, the spring weather is excellent, and there are plenty of things to do. We decided it was worth the extra work and money. 

The first obstacle are the city parking regulations which rule out parking on the city streets for most vans and RVs. There are five lots in the city that allow oversized vehicles. Each of the lots has five spaces marked with yellow lines where RVs are permitted to be parked. These spaces are also used by the Safe Parking program so they may be filled. We parked in the Garden Street Lot and two of the spaces were being used for Safe Parking. Fortunately May is not busy tourist season and the other spaces were open.  Parking   34.41453, -119.68771

The next obstacle is the price for parking. We're used to free parking or paying just a few dollars so $40 for the day is high. 

         

The third obstacle is the lack of places to camp. The city has a choice of a crowded RV park next to the freeway or the RV park at the fairgrounds which is basically a parking lot with hookups.  We decided the trip up the mountain to the national forest campgrounds was a better choice. This is a 20 mile trip along good but curvy, steep, and heavily traveled roads.

There are four campgrounds along Paradise Road. We tried the first, Fremont, and found it too hilly with small, unlevel sites. We ended up at the next one, Paradise, which is flat with large oak trees. Campgrounds like everything else in southern California are expensive - $40 for a site without hookups. None of the sites are accessible but most are usable. Campground  34.54243, -119.81132

 We enjoyed visiting Santa Barbara and wouldn't hesitate to visit again even with the high prices and complicated planning that is necessary. More Santa Barbara posts coming up!

Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History

The museum, built in 1923 in the Spanish Colonial Revival style, features collections found in many older institutions such as mounted animals, birds, and pinned butterflies plus new and changing exhibits on earth, sea, and space sciences. There are also outdoor areas with live birds, a butterfly pavilion, and a native garden with very realistic animatronic dinosaurs.

The museum is accessible except for two dangerously steep ramps. The museum backyard trail was under construction during our visit and the alternate trail was not accessible so we missed that. The trail to the animatronic dinosaurs is accessible with assistance. Stay on the bricked and boardwalk paths for the most accessible routes. 

The accessible parking spaces near the entrance are too short for RVs but they can be parked across the regular spaces. There are accessible spaces at the west end of the lot where RVs can be parked without interfering with the traffic flow but it's a push uphill to the museum entrance. The dirt trails starting the west end of the lot are not accessible. Museum  34.44118, -119.71522

 

Kenney Grove Park

The large, beautiful trees have been left in place in this Ventura County park and 60 campsites are wedged in wherever they would fit. The campground doesn't have direction signs and many times it looks like the road is heading into a dead end but we eventually found the row of primitive sites and settled in for the night.

Many of the sites on the reservation page are marked as 30' and under. There are a few longer sites but it may be tricky maneuvering through  the campground and backing a long RV into a site.

The primitive sites are not accessible due to the ground cover of loose gravel. Campground   34.40749, -118.94927

 

Museum of Ventura County Agriculture Museum

Bob Pfeiler and other local residents donated the vintage farm equipment and tools that form the nucleus of this small museum. We saw little of the collection on our visit because a special exhibit of large, beautiful photos of Mexican Indigenous group who live in Ventura County filled the main gallery. The museum is only open on Sundays so a little planning is necessary. 

 

The museum is accessible. 

 

The parking lot is large enough for any vehicle. Parking is also available on the street.  Museum  34.35588, -119.06276