SeeCalifornia.com

You wouldn’t know by its name that this California city has a beach. But it does and it celebrates its seaside lifestyle daily. Ventura, formally known as San Buenaventura, is Spanish for “good fortune”. Up on the hill where City Hall, downtown, and the San Buenaventura Mission sit, you can look out from vistas and see the blue Pacific. Some of the best views include seeing the Ventura Pier, a welcoming sight to travelers driving the I-101 on the Central California coast.

If you’re feeling especially adventuresome and want to stop, there’s much to “sea” and enjoy. Favorite beach hotels include the Crowne Plaza tower hotel right on the beach. Many rooms overlook the Ventura Pier, where you can sip cocktails from a 2nd story bar, eat fresh seafood and steaks, and watch the huge brown pelicans drop by from the nesting grounds on the Channel Islands.

Ventura is known as the Gateway to the Channel Islands, offering daily boat trips to and from the island chain about an hour by boat. Hopefully everyone will get a chance to visit at least once in a lifetime. One particular island, Anacapa, is called the Galapagos of the U.S.

Back at Ventura Beach, you can walk over the 1-101 on a bridge that connects Crowne Plaza Hotel with downtown. It is about a five block (half a mile ) walk but saves you the hassle of putting money in parking meters. Downtown you can see San Buenaventura Mission established by Fr. Junipero Serra in Ventura 1782 as his last. Be sure browse the eclectic shops, eat at funky or gourmet cafes and bistros and even watch a play or see a movie. Ventura is filled with Old World charm.

Side note: A friend drove over 100 miles to see Ventura last week and said she didn’t get out of her car. She was concerned by the scavengers going through trash bins downtown.  Ventura has homeless, farm workers,  executives with waterfront mansions and luxury yachts,  “beach bums”, surfers, and celebrities who go there to hide out and escape the paparazzi.  It’s one of the things I especially love about the place is its diversity of people and cultures.