Ventura

Ventura is just south of Santa Barbara and we recently took a trip up there to see family and enjoy the beach.

The drive up was very relaxing and beautiful and since it wasn't too far away from us we decided to take Highway 1, which travels along the ocean. It was a clear day and we were able to see the ocean almost the entire ride. Perfect!

When we checked in we were pleased to see that our room had an ocean view. We headed downstairs for a beer on the patio and to chat and catch up with our family.

Once we started to feel the chill of the fog rolling in we split up and Dan and I walked around the downtown a while. The stores were mainly second hand shops with a lot of interesting things in the windows. From Star Wars Pez to classic sewing machines. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time to go into any of them and see if we could find any hidden treasures, because we were in charge of finding a place for dinner. Seeing as how Dan and I were the only veg heads we didn't pick the only vegan joint in town, although I was very curious to see if it was good. Next time.

We found a beer bar that had 100 or so beers on tap and enjoyed a brew before getting together with the family for dinner. It was a fun place, but a bit too sports bar for my taste. Also, there wasn't any edible food so we were lucky we didn't pick that place for dinner.

Coincidentally, the fair was in town and right next to our hotel. Although we had no interest in going, we were lucky enough to be on the fair side of the hotel and got to see fireworks! It was a pretty good show and had some fun designs. I think one exploded a bit too soon, but luckily it was above the water, so it just sizzled out. We had a patio, so we sat outside and enjoyed the show.

After the fireworks we hit our pillows. It was a long, fun day. 

On Sunday we walked down to the beach and took a quick stroll before grabbing lunch with the in-laws. It was slightly overcast, but the fog burned off quickly. The beach was surprisingly empty and it was very peaceful.

We walked back downtown with the in-laws and had a yummy sandwich at a juice bar. I think it may have been fully vegetarian, but I honestly can't remember.

Once we finished lunch we made our way back to the hotel and sat by the pool for a while. We watched the little one swim in the pool for a bit and I got in a few pages of reading before I started to doze off, so I wasn't very productive. But I suppose that's what weekends are for! We, all too soon, said our goodbyes and headed home.

Of course since we were in the car and out of the city, we figured we might as well stop at Golden Road Brewery for a beer and dinner. It was sorta kinda on the way, so why not?

It is basically our favorite place in Los Angeles so it would have been difficult to pass up the chance to go. We were surprised to find that they had changed their menu a bit, sadly taking away our favorite quinoa burger, but enjoyed it none the less. Thank all things good they didn't take the vegan oreo cheesecake off the menu. That would have been traumatizing.

Since Ventura is right along the coast the train passes through. We were tempted to take that in, but being in California, it would have taken all day (our passenger train system is pathetic).

Perhaps we can take the train up sometime, check out that vegan joint, get more beer (of course), and go treasure hunting in some of the stores there. I'm dying to take the train, so this may be a great chance to go without it being too far away.

I thought of taking it up north but that would be literally an entire day on the train. That  would be fun, but typically we only get a few days when we go up, so it would probably feel like a waste. I wish they would build the new train already!