VenturaFormer Gritty Working Town Evolves into Romantic CharmerBy Judy Babcock Wylie
A short ride through the freeway underpass takes you to an active upscale harbor area busy with gift shops and restaurants overlooking a forest of yacht masts. Here you can catch a new fast boat for one of the five main islands of the Channel Islands National Park for bird watching, kayaking or hiking. With all this to offer, Ventura has become a real treasure, a weekend escape that is both uncrowded and inexpensive Strolling Downtown
Foodies can sip wine or slurp dessert as they shop for kitchen items; the hippest place is a home- decor- and- wine- bar establishment called Palermo, at 321 East Main Street. In the Parts Unknown clothing store, the sales counter is a hot air balloon; the space is divided into three adventure themes, and the threads are definitely upscale. Artists and Art Walk
From Greek to Organic FoodWe spent one evening having dinner at the Greek at the Harbor restaurant, watching the harbor scene turn from bright blue to violet to ink as the sun set. Inside, things got noisier and more festive as we sipped local wines and ate our way through several courses of Greek appetizers and entrees, from tzatziki to moussaka. The good-looking waiters entertained us with their acrobatic dancing-- a knotted red kerchief held between them as they spun reflected in the wall mirrors, and it was late when we left. The next afternoon, over at Deco, an organic restaurant on E. Main, chef William Traynor, a slight, dark haired fellow wearing wild chef pants in orange, purple and lime green, chatted with us about his organic meat and produce. We tried his New Zealand organic beef carpaccio wrapped around cornichons (a fancy pickle) and found the meat to taste like wild venison but more buttery. He also served a dish made with seven flavors of organic salmon. Deco is the newest and most hip restaurant in town, owned by Norbert Furnee. It's a winner, but don't eat on the patio, which is very noisy, as trucks and motorcycles rumble by. Early the next morning we found Zoey's Cafe, in the El ardin Courtyard off Main Street. Upstairs overlooking the secluded courtyard, we looked out of the balcony, and had real Italian espresso with our quiche, panini and oatmeal. Where George Stayed: The Pierpont Inn
Walking with Richard
When he took us to the former court chambers in what is now the City Hall, it felt oddly familiar. "Did you ever watch Perry Mason on TV? When the stage sets were being built for the Perry Mason TV show, Gardner insisted that the court room look exactly like the one he practiced in Ventura. " If you walk with Richard, you're going to hear about ghosts, which fascinate him (his Web site is www.ghost-stalker.com ). When he led us through the Olivas Adobe, built by a town father in 1855, he told us that one worker saw a woman's head floating over a bed, and a tourist couple saw a mysterious lady in a long black dress who told them all about the house, although when Richard went back and searched it he found no docents on duty that day. The Channel Islands
The Channel Islands get their name from the deep channel beneath the waters that separate them from the coast. Santa Cruz Island is the largest in the group, and once supported cattle ranching. After we landed on the island at Scorpion Anchorage, a volunteer docent led us in a steep walk to Cavern Point. Our trail took us past historic ranch buildings built in 1887 from adobe bricks made here. Most of the vegetation was introduced by Italian ranch families, which explains why bright green bursts of fennel dot the hillsides. Santa Cruz Island is part volcanic, part earthquake- formed. The landscape is fairly barren, and gashes of erosion have eaten out hillsides. As we hiked up to the top of the hill, we passed the site of a former Chumash midden, where Indians cut money beads out of shells. At the top we saw Cavern Point, and could look down into the waters where kelp beds are being restored. We hiked from there along the rim of the coast high above the channel to Potato Harbor, where a long finger of land is tipped by a tiny potato- shaped lump of land. Other friends took the kayak option offered by Island Packers, and explored the island's extensive sea caves, which are some of the largest and deepest in the world. They reported that in some caves they had to bend backwards to get through. Once back on The Islander, speeding back to Ventura we had the biggest thrill of the day: black and white Orcas breeched beside the boat, hurling themselves into the air. Their flashy display reminded me that although the Lima Bean Pagoda is a thing of the past, there are plenty of exciting things to these days in Ventura. Ventura Visitors and Convention Bureau, www.ventura-usa.com , or call 800-333-2989. For reservations on boats going to the islands, contact Island Packers, at 805/642-1393 or http://www.islandpackers.com . The Pierpont Inn is south of Hwy 101 at 550 Sanjon Road, and can be reached at 805/ 643-6144, or at http://www.pierpontinn.com |
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Ventura, California was once famous for its lima beans, oil fields and squid. Not exactly the sort of thing that draws tourists. But in the last two years this coastal town between Santa Barbara and of Los Angeles has undergone a quiet metamorphosis. It is now a lively, walkable small town full of buffed historic buildings, flowers, fountains and shops selling books and antiques, tucked between chic restaurants and bistros. In the last two years alone, the city has welcomed 35 new shops, 20 restaurants, two galleries and three ay spas. 
Ventura began when Father Junipero Serra founded his ninth mission here in 1782, Mission San Buenaventura. At a small museum inside the restored mission you can ring the unusual wooden bell. From the mission, we walked along Main Street, where festive lights twist around palm trees, and flowerpots spill over with rosemary, lavender and petunias. Across the street we stopped for a drink and tapas at Jonathan's, a classic Mediterranean restaurant and wine bar, in an old red brick building used as a grocery store for 109 years. 
You can walk the downtown in an afternoon, but if you really like to shop, you'd better schedule a couple of days to pop into shops such as Times Remembered at 467 Main, a 6,400 square- foot mall offering ancient artifacts, pottery, and near the door, a counter with more 1930s Bakelite bracelets than I'd ever seen in one place. They were priced from $20-$100, depending on the color, size and style. The Calico Cat Bookshop at 495 E. Main, has fine old antiquarian books on art, the history of the U.S. and California, and old travel books on Asia and Africa. . The owners showed me their oldest volume, "The Satires of Juvenal," in Latin, published in Venice in 1511. Villa Tasca, at 401 E. Main, has Italian garden items, painted ceramics, and some small sculptures. There were more garden accessories at Garden Memories, 424 E. Main, where garden statuary and planters in the courtyard peek out from behind a garden gate entrance. If your antique interests lean to grand Italian furniture, head for Portobello Antiques, at 494 E. Main, called the Erle Stanley Gardner Building. The famous local lawyer and mystery author's law office was in the back upstairs portion of the building. 
Ventura has become a magnet for artists, as work space is still relatively cheap. On the outskirts of western Ventura, we found the studio and gallery of sculptor Michelle Chapin, who toured us past 8' sculptures in her outdoor workplace flanked by a garden and shaded work area where she chips and shapes alabaster into works of art. All the rough rocks looked dull to us, but suddenly she threw water on a nearby specimen and the colors in the stone leapt to life. Her gallery and studio are open during ArtWalk, which happens three times a year in Ventura, and she is open by appointment in between. 
"That's the classiest place to stay in Ventura!" said the man sipping wine at Jonathan's when he found out we were staying at the Pierpont Inn. The rambling Craftsman- style inn was built in 1910, made of wood and shingles, with storybook cottages clustered around it, has a lot of history. This is where George Walker Bush stayed while in town learning the oil business, and where lawyer and mystery writer Erle Stanley Gardner had his "victory parties' when he won a case. Rumor is that unlike his creation Perry Mason, he didn’t win that many. The wood- trimmed lobby has a display of his books and a welcoming fireplace. The rooms are serene, decorated with craftsman-style furniture in muted tones. 
While Ventura has lovely historic sites, one of the city's real treasures is ambulatory and not that old: he is Richard Senate, an affable red-haired fountain of knowledge who gives historic tours four times a week. Call his office at City Hall, 805/658-4728, or email him at 
On our last morning in Ventura, we boarded The Islander, the new fast boat which cuts an hour or more off the usual two-hour trip to Santa Cruz island. Crowds of people were toting backpacks, tents, and food coolers. The Islander is roomy and pristine white, with seating areas inside and out and a snack bar. The ride was smooth, and on the way, the boat slowed to see a blue whale in the distance. The boat's audio system is excellent, and we could easily hear the naturalist tell us that a blue whale's heart is as big as a Volkswagen, and the aorta is so big a man could crawl inside.