Skip to main content

W is for Wedding and Watching the Clock (Tower): A Free to See #AtoZ Challenge Post

 

The white Spanish-style Santa Barbara courthouse, with clock tower
I'm living in southern California this year, and decided to use my exploration of the area as my focus for the #AtoZChallenge. I'm concentrating on free to see places, though I will include locations that require a parking fee. This is the twenty-third post in the series.

Although a county courthouse doesn't seem like a likely tourist destination, in Santa Barbara, California, it is one of the most popular places to visit. The nearly 100-year-old building boasts beautiful Spanish architecture, colorful tile accents, and detailed murals. Visitors to the open rooms are welcome--even during weddings. 

An interior room in the courthouse features tiles on the stairwell and walls, a round window with floral decor around it, and a large painting

A wedding takes place inside the courtroom
A highlight of the courthouse is the clock tower. Visitors can go up to the top of the tower for panoramic views. They also can enter (on Wednesdays and Saturdays, from 10:45-12:05) the room that houses the workings of the clock. Even if the room isn't open on the day you visit, you can still view the clock from large windows in the stairwell. Being able to observe the clock workings in motion is a real treat. The clock chimes every 15 minutes, with the longest song playing on the hour.

The clock workings, complete with gears and rods
On the day that I visited, Dr. David Bismo, who is responsible in part for the clock gallery being open to the public, just happened to be in the room at the same time I was. He explained the history of the room, from the murals on the wall which explain how time has been understood throughout the ages, to the ceiling that shows how the constellations appeared at the time of the discovery of Santa Barbara by the Europeans, to the clock itself. He even pointed out that the seemingly heavy bells that appear to be struck every fifteen minutes are actually made of Styrofoam, and the hammers trigger an electrical rendition of Westminster chimes. 

If you go to Santa Barbara, don't miss the county courthouse. It's definitely worth a stop! There is limited free street parking, or you can park in a public pay lot across the street. Admission to the courthouse and clock tower is free. 



Comments

Post a Comment

Conversations are so much nicer when more than one person does the talking. :-) Please leave a comment and let me know your thoughts; I'd love to hear from you!

Popular posts from this blog

Monday Mentions: Equate Crutches

Have you ever needed crutches? I hadn't, until a week ago.  I'm pretty sure I strained a muscle while running a half-marathon.  (That sounds kind of cool, doesn't it? I'm not actually that cool; the last time I strained a muscle it was from carrying too many shopping bags at once.) In any case, I found myself in need of some crutches. I sent my husband to the store to get some. Photo: A pair of crutches leans against a wall  Not that crutches are all that complex, but because I hadn't used any before, I wondered if I could figure out how to adjust them to fit me properly. I shouldn't have worried. John came home from Walmart with their generic store brand of crutches, complete with instructions. First, I needed to take out a long bolt that went through the hand grip. Then I needed to find my height range, push down two metal pieces, and slide the crutches until the little metal pieces came up in the hole near my height range. (Having two people for this...
4 comments
Read more

Ten Things of Thankful: Live from Oregon, part 2

stock photo of old computer monitor When I was 10 or 11, I remember sitting next to my dad in our living room and reading computer code to him as he entered it into an Apple computer. We would finish the exercise and he would hit enter (or was it "run"?) and wait expectantly for the green type to appear on the screen. If we were lucky, the whole conversation would occur. Most often, there would be an error either in my dictation of the code, or in the typing of the code. We would then go painstakingly back through the lines, character by character, to find and correct the error. After what seemed like hours (and might have been), we would succeed and the computer would finally run the entire program. It was magical! My dad designed and built an earth-sheltered, passive solar home decades before solar panels were commonplace. He also was on a 9-month waiting list for a Prius, when hybrids were not seen on every street.  While my dad is definitely on the cutting edge of technol...
5 comments
Read more

Ten Things of Thankful: Oregon Edition, Part 3

  A western bluebird, sitting at the base of a house window, looks inside Thanks (1) to those who have sent well-wishes for my mom's recovery. Her wrist is healing up nicely. I met a friend from high school for lunch this past week. It was so nice to have a chance to visit with her for a couple of hours. She is one of those friends who it doesn't matter how much time has passed, we can pick right back up into meaningful conversations. Lunch ended all too soon, but I'm so thankful (2) for her, and I'm thankful (3) that she reminded me of the importance of reaching out to others.  Being in my parents' home this week, visiting with a long-time (I'm not saying old!) friend, and with Mother's Day tomorrow, my mind naturally reflects upon the women in my life. I'm thankful (4) for an incredible mom--a gentle woman who taught and loved and guided us (and still does.) I'm thankful (5) for grandmas who were different in their personalities but united in their...
3 comments
Read more