We went to Santa Barbara this weekend so my Dad and I could run the Chardonnay 5K at Leadbetter Beach, his first race. (Note: We crossed the finish line together at 30:12.) I paid for Dad’s entry fee as part of his Christmas present, and we both have been training for the last three months. It has been fun to talk training schedules and race pace in anticipation of our big event. For me, running with my dad was the highlight of our three-day weekend.
Meanwhile, for the boys the high point of our trip was a toss up. They enjoyed eating ice cream at Stearns Wharf (go figure) and feeding a very hungry Masai giraffe named Michael at the Santa Barbara Zoo. At the zoo, we paid an extra $6 per child, and each boy got a handful of romaine lettuce and a chance to stand nose to nose with a giant. Each time the boys offered Michael a leaf, he stretched out his long, purple tongue, wrapping it around the leaf the way a boa coils around its prey. This is the same motion he would use in the wild to strip leaves off the branches of his favorite acacia trees. We learned some other fun facts about giraffes:
- The purple color of a giraffe’s tongue protects it from sunburn.
- The giraffe’s calloused tongue and sticky saliva protect the animal from the sharp thorns of the acacia tree.
- A giraffe has to eat up to 75 pounds of leaves each day and spends much of its time eating.
For those planning a trip to Santa Barbara with children, we also recommend:
- The Santa Barbara Mission and beautiful rose gardens
- Shipwreck playground near the carousel at Chase Palm Park
- Arts and crafts along the beach on Sundays
- La Super Rica Taqueria, Julia Child’s favorite Mexican food spot
- The Blue Sands Motel just across the road from the beach.
Kirsten W. Larson 
What an absolutely wonderful thing to share with your Dad! I’m glad you guys got to do that 🙂 And how cool is it that your boys got to feed a real live giraffe? I am so jealous. I want to come to Santa Barbara and feed Michael! 🙂
Bring your grand baby when she’s older. Just think, you could go to SCBWI in LA, then make a jaunt up to Santa Barbara.
Oh, you are so tempting me!!! 🙂
I am so glad you and your Dad got to run together like that — you’ll both cherish that memory forever. And feeding a giraffe????? How unutterably cool. Love that eating ice cream was right up there in the boys’ estimation, too. And great additional activities. Thanks, Kirsten!
Michael is actually Canadian — born in Toronto. I thought of all my Canadian friends when I found out his birthplace.
What a special moment to be able to run that race with your dad, Kirsten! A great gift. Santa Barbara zoo sounds well worth a visit, too, especially if one gets to feed Michael the Giraffe. I knew about their calloused tongues and the amounts they eat, but not about the purple color to protect from sunburn. Wow!
We love the LA Zoo, which is much larger, but they don’t let you feed the giraffes. It was a special treat (as was the run by the beach.)
I spend much of my time eating lol. That’s so great you ran with your dad! I used to go jogging with my dad on rare occasions, unfortunately his knees were bad so we wouldn’t have been able to race together. Both of us ran for our counties and he didn’t even tell me until I’d almost finished running.
We had a blast. Until last year I hadn’t run since I was in my early twenties. But my Dad, who is in his 60s has always run. Now we are planning our next race.
What a neat experience for you and your dad and the kids. Like Catherine, I used to run with my dad, but now his knees can’t take it. Oh well, at least we can still go to the zoo together. I had no idea that giraffes had purple tongues!
My Dad is already threatening to sign me up for a 10K with him. It’s too funny, really.
Congratulations on your race! I knew that giraffes had purple tongues, but I did not know why! Cool!
I think scientists are still speculating about the cause of the purple tongue, but their best guess is built-in sunscreen.