Hello Everyone!
It’s been another week of wet weather here in California. Thankfully it hasn’t been steady rain, but more on and off and I’ve been able to get out and see some things and even take a few photos. I enjoyed a fun St. Patrick’s Day in Santa Barbara and caught up with an old friend yesterday here in Oxnard. I have definitely moved strongly into Southern California this week and I’ve been having a great time. I had forgotten how much I enjoy the laid-back vibes and relaxed atmosphere of SoCal. I’m also looking forward to heading out to the island of Santa Cruz in Channel Islands National Park tomorrow if the weather allows me, so I’m going to get this post out a day early this week.
I wrote this post last week from the small but mighty town of Pismo Beach. Once I was finished putting it together, I headed out to check out the town and really fell in love with it. Pismo Beach is a quintessential California beach town full of neon and surfboards. If you grew up listening to the Beach Boys and are looking for that kind of vibe, Pismo definitely has it. I really enjoyed just wandering around and taking photos and soaking up some much needed rays. I stayed in town long enough to watch the sun set and then headed just down the road to Santa Maria.
I was very excited to have a taste of Santa Maria-style barbecue, but was also somewhat reserved in my expectations. I’ve experienced so many culinary treats around the country that I’ve learned to enjoy them in their place and then hold them in my memory until I return. Barbecue is most definitely a southern thing, and I don’t usually go for it west of Texas or north of the Mason-Dixon Line. However, since Santa Maria claims their own unique style I had to try it. I chose Shaw’s, because they’ve been around for a long time and because they had tri-tip on their menu and tri-tip (sometimes called a “California cut”) is also unique to Southern California. Tri-tip is also called “poor man’s brisket”, so I thought it would be great to try it smoked low and slow. What I didn’t look at closely enough is that Santa Maria Style is a way of barbecuing, the verb, not barbecue, the noun. It’s simply their way of seasoning and grilling meat and has nothing to do with the slow-smoked deliciousness of our southeastern region. Because of that, tri-tip was not a good choice because, while flavorful, it’s also super tough. I should’ve gone with a ribeye or a strip. My steak had good flavor and I could taste where it was going, but I didn’t enjoy it as much as I had hoped I would. It did come with a delicious soup, amazing homemade salsa, a relish tray, garlic bread and baked beans making for quite a feast, but my tri-tip was a disappointment. I will return to Santa Maria again with a different idea of what to look for though as I think it definitely has potential. The people of Santa Maria were kind and welcoming though and that would be reason enough to return.
On Thursday I continued south to La Purisma Mission, another of the 21 historic Spanish missions in California. This one had fallen into serious disrepair when it was taken over by California State Parks and was reconstructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. The CCC rebuilt it to capture the historic context of the mission during its heyday so it is a fascinating place to visit and get a feel for what the missions were really like. I went on a guided tour with Barbara who was an absolutely brilliant guide. She had an amazing knowledge of history, but also had great stories from her time working there as a guide (many including the thousands of 4th graders who visit the mission every year). Her tour lasted almost two hours and I couldn’t recommend it highly enough. Of the missions I have visited, this one had the most to offer and I’d put it on my list if this is something of interest to you.
After my amazing tour, I headed on to Solvang. Solvang also grew up around a mission – Mission Santa Ines – but was largely abandoned after the mission system was shut down. In 1911, a group of Danish-Americans bought a huge tract of land surrounding the old mission and set out to build a Danish community there. Since then it has grown into quite the tourist destination with some wonderful Scandinavian architecture and a whole lot of kitsch. It brings in tons of visitors every year including the occasional Danish monarch (most recently Prince Henrik in 2011). I’ve been to towns like Solvang in several places around the country including personal favorites like Helen, Georgia, Sugarcreek, Ohio, Frankenmuth, Michigan and New Ulm, Minnesota but these all have Swiss or German roots. The Danish twist was new for me. Solvang is a stunning little town and worth a visit for the photo opportunities alone. There are several bakeries to visit and a few Danish restaurants as well. Sadly the restaurants either weren’t open or had closed early during my visit, so I ate at the Solvang Brewing Company instead. I cautiously opted for a Santa Maria style tri-tip sandwich and their version was really delicious. I definitely understood better what people are talking about. Solvang was a great little town to spend the night in and I enjoyed some pastries there at the bakery in the morning before getting back on the road.
Friday was St. Patrick’s Day and I had my mind set on Santa Barbara as the best place to spend it. They had a few Irish bars and a few live music venues and it seemed like the best option for me in this part of the state. I pulled into town around noon and found a safe and secluded parking spot where I could stay parked for the night and not worry about drinking and driving and then headed out into the day. I started my afternoon at The James Joyce, a cute little Irish pub on State Street. A Guinness went down so smoothly that I stayed for another. From there I wandered to O’Malley’s, but their $11 Guinness price (and in a plastic cup no less) made me move on down the road pretty quickly. I ended up in a wonderful little meadery called Wylde Works. Not only was their mead delicious, but they had a fantastic little band playing some classic Irish tunes as well. There was even some Irish dancing. When the band finished, I made my way to Dargan’s which was a little too busy for me, so I ended up following a band of bagpipers as they made their way around town. At the end of it all, I ended up back at The James Joyce for the duration, playing darts with some local surfers. It wasn’t the best St. Paddy’s Day I’ve ever had, but it was pretty good for a small city in California.
After not really drinking for a few weeks, the day took its toll as I figured it would. I decided to take Saturday off from driving, exploring and doing much of anything. I went to the beach for a while and read my book with my feet in the sand. I strolled out on the pier for a coffee and then back into town for some delicious tacos at Lilly’s. In the afternoon, I headed into Old King’s Road to watch the Penn State basketball game and enjoyed meeting Dee, the delightful and welcoming bartender there. We lost, as was expected, but my Nittany Lions stayed in it the whole game which was great considering we don’t usually make it to the tournament at all. I was proud to see my friend and fraternity brother, Adam, who is one of the team’s assistant coaches, on the sidelines. After the game I went for a bit of a stroll around town and called it a very early night.
I was up at a reasonable time on Sunday and back to feeling pretty good. I headed down to the gym in Goleta and then ran some errands and tucked into the library for a couple of hours to get some work done. For lunch, I went to the Santa Barbara Shellfish Company for some abalone, something I’ve only had a few times in my life. It was $24 for three pieces, but it was prepared perfectly and was really good. After lunch I said goodbye to Santa Barbara and headed down the coast to Faria County Beach for the night. I definitely wanted to spend at least one night camping on the beach and while this wasn’t my first choice, it was on the way and available. It wasn’t a great spot, but it wasn’t bad either. I enjoyed listening to music as dusk settled over the Pacific and feeling the salt air on my face.
It was nice to wake up by the ocean as well and have my coffee and breakfast listening to the waves. It had been overcast when I arrived and still was in the morning, but it was clear enough for me to make out the Channel Islands off in the distance. I did a little tidying up around my van and then headed down the coast to the Channel Islands National Park visitor center in Ventura. I had a nice chat with the rangers and then enjoyed the park film before I took off.
I made my way just south into Oxnard and headed to my buddy Eric’s place to catch up with him. Eric is an old tour leading friend of mine who I met twenty years ago. We’ve hung out all over the country from New Orleans to Anchorage, but never in his hometown of Oxnard. He and his wife are living in his grandparents’ house and they’ve done a great job of renovating it into a modern and beautiful home. We hung out there for a while and then set off into Oxnard. Oxnard doesn’t have the best reputation and it seemed clear that the locals are okay with that if it keeps L.A. from sprawling into their backyards. Eric showed me all of his old haunts from his childhood and teenage years and we stopped for a few drinks at some really cool little local bars. We ventured up to Ventura and wandered around the downtown area to check out the old mission and some of the vintage theatres in town. We had some dinner and then ended up back on the beach at a little place called the Rudder Room which literally looks out at the sand. It was a fun day catching up with Eric and it’s always good to see a town through a local’s eyes. Oxnard is actually a pretty nice place when you spend some time there.
This morning I woke up once again in the rain. I went to the gym and now I’m back in the library to get this post finished. As I mentioned at the top of this post, I’m headed out to Santa Cruz Island tomorrow and I’m super excited about it. You all know how much I love islands and national parks and the two passions combined is too much to consider missing. It’s about an hour ferry ride from Ventura and I’ll be camping near the ferry landing for two nights. The islands have sustained some damage from all of this rain and wind, but I’m still really looking forward to it and can’t wait to tell you about it next week. When I return on Friday, I’m off to L.A. where I hope to catch up with a few really good friends of mine and see what I can. I spent 7 years based in L.A. for work, but I haven’t really spent much time there in over a decade and I’m eager to see some old haunts and get to some places I never had the opportunity to see before. I’m really looking forward to it. I hope you’ll come back next week and see what I get into. Until then, stay safe out there and be sure you get out and enjoy the spring weather while it lasts. Thank you, as always, for reading.
-Mike