Page 21 - 2014 Travel Guide to California

VENTURA: The Beach & Beaux-Arts
Under-the-radar Ventura city, the county
seat of agricultural Ventura County, is a
classic Southern California beach town,
with surprising twists. Located a few min-
utes south of Santa Barbara and an hour’s
drive north of Los Angeles, the Ventura
Beach section is popular with surfers,
paddle-boarders, joggers, sailors and sun-
worshippers. Walking distance from the
sands, Ventura city’s fast-reviving down-
town boasts a mix of restaurants, shops
and wine bars along Main Street, including
the massive, multi-level restaurant and
music venue Watermark. The Beaux-Arts
1912 City Hall is an impressive sight on its
downtown hilltop; Erle Stanley Gardner,
creator of the fictional courtroom wizard
Perry Mason, practiced law just down the
hill. The outdoor apparel company Patag-
onia showcases its headquarters store in a
renovated heritage building on West Santa
Clara Street. At the city’s bustling marina,
the Channel Islands National Park visitors
center dispenses useful information. Park
concessionaire Island Packers operates
ferry runs year-round to splendid, rugged
off-shore isles, churning past leaping dol-
phins and spouting migratory whales.
SAN LUIS OBISPO:
Mission, Vineyards & the Outdoors
Nestled between the Pacific Ocean 11 miles
to the west and the San Lucia Mountains
just to the east, this central-coast city of
45,000 is located midway between San
Francisco and Los Angeles. Easily acces-
sible by train on Amtrak or via U.S.
Interstate 101 and famously scenic Cali-
fornia Route 1, the historic core of the city
clusters around the 1759 Mission San Luis
Obispo de Tolosa. This is the place to find
restaurants, cafés and shops. Music and
theater productions are mounted on the
campus of California Polytechnic Institute
(“Cal Poly’’). Outdoorsy visitors and locals
hike and bike the Nine Sisters hills. The
marine-minded head to the sometimes-
chilly, foggy coast with their wetsuits for
surfing, kayaking and wind-surfing. South
of the city is prime territory for winery
touring and tasting: the expansive Edna
Valley wine-producing region.
RIVERFRONT IN NAPA, left;
California street in Ventura, middle;
Ventura’s famous pier, top; Cerro San
Luis and San Luis Obispo, opposite.
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