With COVID-19 case rates and testing positivity rates inching down across Santa Barbara County, local organizations and businesses are planning festivities to welcome the spring season by preparing for the upcoming Easter holiday weekend.
“Local businesses are creatively celebrating the holiday this year, and we are so happy for families to get to enjoy the activities safely,” Kathy Janega-Dykes, president and CEO of Visit Santa Barbara, told Noozhawk. “From decadent Easter brunches, Passover celebrations and sweet treats to socially-distant egg hunts for kids, Santa Barbara is an idyllic place to welcome the spring season.”
Easter is Sunday, and a handful of Easter egg hunts will take place across the county for children to enjoy the holiday cheer.
Through Friday, the Paseo Nuevo shopping center in downtown Santa Barbara is hosting an “egg-stra special” daily egg hunt from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., according to Visit Santa Barbara.
“Paseo Nuevo will hide brightly colored eggs every day from March 30 through April 2, allowing guests to hunt at their leisure without large groups,” Janega-Dykes said.
A handful of brightly colored plastic eggs will be hidden across the shopping center for guests to track down on their own time, according to event organizers. Children can safely search the area for the Easter eggs, each containing a token to be redeemed for a $50 gift card.
The eggs will be hidden at different locations and times each day, according to event organizers. Participants can redeem the tokens from the eggs at the management office in Paseo Nuevo, located upstairs across from the public restrooms.
The Solvang and Buellton recreation departments will be hosting the 30th annual Easter Eggstravaganza on Saturday.
Recreation staff and volunteers will be hiding eggs at six local parks in the area, and families are free to hunt for eggs at their own pace all day on Saturday until supplies last, according to event organizers.
The six parks include Sunny Fields Park at 900 Alamo Pintado Road in Solvang, Hans Christian Andersen Park at 633 Chalk Hill Drive in Solvang, Alisal Commons Park in Solvang, River View Park at 151 Sycamore Drive in Buellton, Oak Park at 401 Sycamore Drive in Buellton and Village Park at 330 Valley Vineyard Circle in Buellton.
Egg hunt pamphlets will be available at each park entrance so that guests will know the areas where the eggs are hidden and how to redeem a prize if they find an egg with a ticket inside, according to event organizers. There will be one “shiny grand prize” at each park and many smaller prize eggs, they added.
“Although this year’s egg hunt has to be somewhat modified, we hope the changes will allow even more kids and families to enjoy the fun,” event organizers said.
Each guest is asked to keep to a limit of eight eggs per child so that there will be enough eggs for all visitors to enjoy.
The Lompoc Recreation Division, in collaboration with the Kiwanis Club of Lompoc, is hosting a drive-through Easter egg hunt on Saturday at Ryon Memorial Park. The event will kick off at 10 a.m. and will be free of charge to all children age 12 or younger while supplies last, according to Samantha Scroggin, the city’s public information officer.
An Easter bunny will hop on over to the park for the occasion, and participants can take home a treat bag filled with candy eggs and other goodies. By request, Lompoc Recreation Division staff will take photos of the Easter bunny near participants’ vehicles, according to event organizers.
Vehicles must enter the park off of O Street and are asked to refrain from using the Ocean Avenue entrance. All participants must remain in their vehicle, and no pedestrian traffic is allowed, according to event organizers.
The Recreation Division began planning the event in late February in hopes of offering a safe way to bring back the first event since COVID-19, as last year’s hunt was canceled, Scroggin said.
“This is our first-ever drive-through egg hunt, where instead of gathering in a crowd and allowing groups of children to hunt for chocolate eggs, we are allowing cars to drive up to meet the bunny and receive an Easter goodie bag with a couple of crafts and candy-filled eggs,” she said.
The city typically sees between 1,500 and 2,000 visitors at the park for the Easter celebration, but this year the city is expecting 250 to 400 cars, Scroggin said.
Rosewood Miramar Beach plans to offer two “extravagant” brunch options on Easter Sunday for guests to savor.
Caruso’s restaurant, at 1773 S. Jameson Lane, will offer an “inspired” five-course prix-fixe menu followed by a tableside dessert presentation on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The meal will cost $185 per adult, $65 per child ages 4 through 12 and free for children younger than age 4.
Manor House Terrace will offer a four-course prix-fixe menu with a “relaxing, fun and interactive ambiance,” according to event organizers. The meal will take place from 11 a.m. through 3 p.m. on Easter Sunday, with a cost of $145 per adult, $45 per child and free for children younger than age 4.
Master chefs at the Angel Oak restaurant at the Ritz-Carlton Bacara Hotel near Santa Barbara have designed a “decadent brunch menu” accompanied by an “elevated bloody mary bar” for adults on Easter Sunday. In the evening, dinner guests can savor seasonal specials while taking in the “panoramic views of a pastel sunset over the Pacific Ocean,” according to event organizers.
There will also be a photo-worthy visit from the Easter bunny. The brunch will last from 11 a.m. through 1:30 p.m. on Easter Sunday and will cost $75 per person. Dinner will be served between 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., and the price will vary based on the menu item.
With COVID-19 disrupting many normal ways of life, there are plenty of ways that county residents can indulge in the Easter holiday.
— Noozhawk staff writer Jade Martinez-Pogue can be reached at jmartinez-pogue@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
