Museum sights in Santa Barbara
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Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum
The free Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum is an embarrassment of riches for history nerds, science geeks and music lovers. Filled with historical written artifacts from the private collection of David Karpeles, a Santa Barbara real-estate investor, it's a true SoCal treasure.
One of just eight Karpeles manuscript museums in the country, this branch houses the original proposed draft of the Bill of Rights, an Emancipation Proclamation Amendment signed by Abraham Lincoln, and Einstein's description of the theory of relativity. A recent special exhibit highlighting historic women contained writings from Lucretia Borgia, Catherine the Great and Harriet Beecher Stowe. Lots o…
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B
Museum of Natural History & Gladwin Planetarium
While the permanent exhibits lack the 'hands-on' sparkle of many children's discovery centers, the Museum of Natural History boasts a few noteworthy gems and typically stages excellent special exhibits. Bug buffs should check out the glass wall holding 4,000 mounted Santa Barbara insects, as well as the replica of a pygmy mammoth skeleton unearthed on Santa Rosa Island in 1994. Outside you'll find the complete skeleton of a 72ft blue whale.
Kids especially will like the Gladwin Planetarium , which has intro-to-astronomy shows for children as well as adult programs that explore current scientific theory; call for show times.
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C
Ty Warner Sea Center
The Ty Warner Sea Center is part of the Santa Barbara Natural History Museum. This is a great place for kids: the staff here is so engaging and enthusiastic, your child will be contemplating a career in marine biology in no time. From touch-a-shark water tanks and crawl-through aquariums to whale sing-alongs, it's interactive, educational and plain old fun.
The Sea Center also has opportunities for volunteers - from a few days to a week - so if oceanography's your thing, give 'em a ring before you arrive.
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D
Santa Barbara Maritime Museum
The Santa Barbara Maritime Museum celebrates the town's briny history with memorabilia, hands-on and virtual-reality exhibits, and a movie theater.
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