Mar Monte Hotel Celebrates Grand Opening in Santa Barbara
June 9, 2021
The new Mar Monte Hotel has completed the final phase of its multi-million-dollar reimagination, with the much-anticipated opening of costa Kitchen & Bar, a modern take on coastal Mediterranean cuisine, served with ocean views right on America’s own riviera. As Santa Barbara’s newest lifestyle boutique hotel and part of The Unbound Collection by Hyatt brand, known for experiences that inspire guests to create their own stories and elevated yet unscripted service, Mar Monte welcomes guests back to all new guest rooms, and programming that reflects the distinct rhythm of the California coast. The 200-room hotel serves as a gateway to the American Riviera and is situated across the street from East Beach, just minutes from downtown Santa Barbara and the famed Funk Zone.
Reimagined for COVID-19 Protocols, Local Museums Excited to Welcome Public Back
As rate of coronavirus transmission slows in Santa Barbara County, residents and visitors alike can take advantage of more and more reopened museums, the zoo and activity programs
MOXI, The Wolf Museum of Exploration + Innovation has reopened in Santa Barbara’s Funk Zone but has not yet increased visitor capacity to 50%. (Jade Martinez-Pogue / Noozhawk photo) By Jade Martinez-Pogue, Noozhawk Staff Writer | @MartinezPogue
May 9, 2021
| 5:00 p.m.
After nearly six months of closure, a sense of normalcy flooded MOXI, The Wolf Museum of Exploration + Innovation as little kids zoomed around from exhibit to exhibit, eager to get their hands on one of the many interactive displays the Santa Barbara museum offers.
Butterfly fans, take a breath. I
know it’s officially spring and we’re all pounding on nursery doors, anxious to plant some California native milkweed to help the endangered Western monarch butterfly stay afloat since,
yes, milkweed is the only thing its caterpillars will eat and nonnative varieties appear to be hastening its demise.
But here’s the thing: native milkweeds are still slowly coming back to life.
Native milkweeds especially narrow-leaf milkweed, the most prominent variety in California are just now emerging from dormancy, a normal, natural thing that won’t be hurried no matter how we plead, said Patty Roess, manager of the retail portion of the Tree of Life Nursery in San Juan Capistrano, one of Southern California’s premier growers of native plants. “We’ve tried growing native milkweed in different conditions and it’s the same. You can’t change what the plant wants to be: a summer bloomer that goes dormant in midwinter.”