Last weekend, Jon and I went down to Southern California to spend some time with Jons family. Jon grew up in Ventura, which – if you’re not familiar – is a beach town between LA and Santa Barbara.
We briefly even lived there when we transitioned from LA back to Sacramento and even though it was a short time, I really have good memories of our apartment and the time we had there.
I miss being close to the beach. I would usually consider myself a mountain person (if asked, because I grew up skiing in the Alps), but there is something about the beach that I also love. Can one be a mountain and beach person at the same time? I’d vote YES.
Let me share some impressions from our weekend. The sunsets were amazing!
Saturday morning, I went running along the beach. I had been looking forward to this for weeks, to be honest, and it was just the perfect way to start the day. It was warm and sunny at 8 a.m. already and there were so many other runners and bikers out, not to forget all the surfers at Surfer’s Point.
In the afternoon, we went up to the “Serra Cross“, a hilltop overlook above Ventura. Many people were there for the sunset!
Sunday morning, I took the opportunity for another walk on the beach and on the Ventura Pier! I knew we couldn’t leave without having put my feet in the sand for a little bit. It was unusually warm last weekend (90F/30C), but the Pacific, as usual, was pretty cold and it was just tad windy.
Our visit to Ventura wouldn’t have been complete without a visit to the “Busy Bee Café”, a 50’s diner right on Main Street. I remember when Jon first took me there many, many years ago! It was nice to be back!
This was just a short weekend trip and therefore a very small glimpse of Ventura. I hope we’ll go back soon and I can share more!
Have you been to – or heard of – Ventura?
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Tobia | craftaliciousme
November 23, 2019 at 11:05 amThis looks like a wonderful little town to spend the weekend. I a definitely vote YES too.
Catrina
November 23, 2019 at 11:29 amNever heard or been to Ventura and I’ve obviously missed something! So beautiful! I like that 1950’s diner too. I’ll vote yes to the beach-mountain combo 👍🏻😊
Lisa of Lisa's Yarns
November 25, 2019 at 12:32 pmI’ve heard of Ventura but I have never been there. We drove from LA to Santa Barbara for a Presidents’ Day getaway years ago and I remember seeing signs for Venture. We loved SB so I am sure we’d also love Ventura. I loved that we could do some hiking in the SB area but also hang out at the beach. It was unseasonably warm when we were there. We didn’t go swimming but we really enjoyed long walks on the beach. I have some great photos of Phil skipping rocks in the ocean. I’m like you and describe myself as a mountains girl but I also LOVE the beach, especially since we don’t get to go to the beach often!