Archive for the 'Ventura' Category
Hotel deals for Ojai-Ventura film festival, Nov. 5-8
October 8, 2009 11:57am
What’s better than watching a few good independent films? Seeing them in conjunction with a relaxing weekender, perhaps. It may be no Sundance; in fact, you may not have ever even heard of it. But the Ojai-Ventura International Film Festival, with lauded documentary “The Most Dangerous Man in America” among its features, is coming up Nov. 5-8 and is the perfect excuse to give yourself a little getaway to the charming small town of Ojai, in Ventura County.
Most of the festival’s screening venues are in Ojai, though films are also being shown at the Brooks Institute of Photography in Ventura, 15 miles southwest of Ojai.
See indie and classic flicks by night and/or day, and, out of the theaters, take in the area’s other offerings, which include good food, great hikes, day spas, a mellow vibe and spectacular sunsets. Following are a few festival-related packages being offered by hotels in the region. Contact venues directly for more details, cancellation policies, etc.: Read the rest of this entry »
Free-night offer by Country Inns & Suites
September 22, 2009 5:55am
Everyone’s serving up free nights these days. Expedia is doing it with a recently announced promotion. And Choice Hotels —with Comfort Inn and Econo Lodge a couple of the names under its banner — has offered, after a three-night stay, points applicable for a future one-night stay.
Now, the mid-range Country Inns & Suites by Carlson has joined the trend with a deal of its own, available at its hotels in the U.S. and Canada.
Deal: Through the “Free Night Fall” promotion, stay two or more nights at a participating hotel this fall and you’ll receive a voucher for a future free night that can be applied to a visit of two or more nights this winter. You can redeem the voucher at any participating hotel, regardless of where you stayed initially.
After your stay in October or November (see valid dates below), you’ll need to register online to receive your free-night voucher in the mail. Read the rest of this entry »
Higher fees at California state parks start today: Where to find details
August 17, 2009 5:34pm
Starting today, Aug. 17, it will cost you more to visit and camp at many California state parks. In some cases, the cost has doubled.
The increases stem from California’s budget crises, which has put the state billions of dollars in debt. “In these dire economic times, we can longer afford to keep our fees at their current levels,” State Parks Director Ruth Coleman said last week in announcing the fee hikes.
Officials waited until today to release a park-by-park rundown of the new fees for day use and camping. Among Southern California parks affected, with sample fees:
> Anza-Borrego Desert State Park: Parking went from $6 per day year-round to $5 to $8, depending on the season. Borrego Palm Canyon developed campsites with hookups were $24 to $29 per night, depending on season; now $35 year-round.
Ventura County Fair begins today, with calendar full of family fun
August 5, 2009 4:51pm
Yarn knitters and wood turners, clowns and bandits, stampeding turkeys and racing pigs, and … Huey Lewis and the News? If you smell a fair in the air, you’re on target — the Ventura County Fair, at the fairgrounds in Ventura, begins today and runs through Aug. 16. This year’s theme is “Purebred and Home Grown.”
Besides the aforementioned—and the usual fair attractions a la carnival rides, food deliciously deep-fried, livestock, home-ec displays and motorsports galore—the annual event will feature an array of musical entertainment.
Besides Huey Lewis, who will play Friday evening, entertainers include Rick Springfield, David Cook with Caitlin Crosby, Gretchen Wilson, Josh Turner with Jake Owen and Clay Walker and Lee Ann Womack. These concerts are included with fair admission, though tickets for the motor-sports events cost $5 per person (children 12 and under are free).
Something that sounds especially worth the trip, in my humble opinion, is Strawberry Day on Aug. 9 in the agriculture building. There, a strawberry pie-eating contest will commence at 4 p.m. (Sign up before 1 p.m. that day at the California Strawberry Booth.)
Despite the economy, sizable crowds are expected at this year’s fair, according to a Ventura County Star article. Read the rest of this entry »
Roundup: Challenge Google gamers for Virgin America prize pack; AAA says road travel down for July 4; Offbeat Traveler in Shark Bay, Australia
June 24, 2009 8:18am
Use Google Apps to win a Virgin America/Google prize package: Are you playing in Virgin America’s Day in the Cloud Challenge today? They’ve teamed up with Google Apps to host an “in the air” and on the ground online puzzle. If you’re flying on Virgin America today, you’ll get free in-flight Wi-Fi to play. Or just play on the ground. Take on the gamers and be one of the top five scorers to win the Year in the Cloud Prize Package (free flights and free in-flight Wi-Fi from Virgin America, a Netbook computer and 1 terabyte of online storage from Google for e-mail and photos). All you have to do to play is log on to your Google account, tell them if you’re on the ground or in the air and start playing. You have 60 minutes to complete the nine-level game. Some of the Google gamers playing on Virgin America flights today include Googler and world puzzle champion Wei-Hwa Huang, Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku (who actually beat out Wei-Hwa in the recent world puzzle championship), Andrew Chaiken and Jane McGonigal. You can see who you are up against in the Lounge. If you want an edge, check out the tutorial before you start.
[Update: Thomas Snyder ended up not making the event]
Three-hour tour aboard historic Bill of Rights
June 14, 2009 11:22am
She led a parade of tall ships through New York Harbor during America’s 200th birthday celebrations in 1976, and has since, as a school ship, been used to educate youth at Channel Islands Harbor in Oxnard.
Now, the 129-foot, double-mast schooner known as the Bill of Rights is available for public cruises along the Ventura County coast.
Channel Islands National Park concessionaire Island Packers is offering three-hour trips aboard the wooden ship twice daily on Saturdays and Sundays, with departures from Channel Islands Harbor at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
A tour aboard the Bill of Rights, which seats up to 50 people, costs $45 per adult, $40 per senior (55 and up) and $35 per child 12 and under. Read the rest of this entry »
California coast trip, Day 4: Battle with an Oxnard surrey, inspiration at El Capitan beach
January 6, 2009 6:00am
A day of change and strange little surprises. First, Mary Frances, Grace and I hopped on a surrey at the resort in Oxnard, aiming to roll carelessly north and south, as we did on bikes in Hermosa Beach. The beach around the Mandalay Bay resort is vast and wide, with low dunes and a stiff wind kicking up great feathery sprays atop the breakers. The riding path ran parallel to the beach.
But the surrey (and no, there wasn’t a fringe on top) is a strange contraption. And this one didn’t seem to like us. Even with the wind at our back (and the winds were big again today), it was a battle for two grown persons (and one 4-year-old passenger) to build up any momentum at all. And because the thing is so bulky and wide, turning is like performing a pirouette in a dump truck. I’ll never complain about a chance to meander alongside so much wide-open beach, but I do suspect that the surrey was actually created as a medieval torture device. Read the rest of this entry »
California coast trip, Day 3: South Bay bike-riding, Malibu boat-watching, Oxnard hot-tubbing
January 4, 2009 10:47am
We’re three days and about 200 miles into a south-to-north assault on California’s coast now. Today was big: bike ride from Hermosa Beach to Manhattan Beach and back; dinner and a boat-watching stroll on the recently revived Malibu Pier; then a day-capping dip in (I hate to brag, but here goes) what I believe to be the largest hot tub in all of Oxnard.
It’s at the Embassy Suites Mandalay Bay Resort, as are we, for the reasonable sum of $184 nightly. (The connecting thread on these lodgings, in case anybody is keeping score at home, is that they all stand right on the waterfront — no road between the hotel and the Pacific. So we didn’t expect anything dirt-cheap. but we also didn’t want to break the bank, which is why we bypassed all those glitzy retreats in Laguna Beach and Newport Beach.) Read the rest of this entry »
12 books of Christmas: ‘Galen Rowell’
December 19, 2008 11:42am
You look at the soft-cover version of “Galen Rowell: A Retrospective” (Sierra Club Books, $39.95) and you want to weep — at the beauty of his photography, at the notion that Rowell and his wife, Barbara, were taken too soon. The couple died in a plane crash in August 2002, a shock at the time and a shock still.
This retrospective, with an intro by friend and admirer Tom Brokaw and commentaries by other comrades, contains 180 of his images.
Tree lighting to bike riding: Ventura Co. festivals this weekend
December 3, 2008 11:30am
For an easy day trip, or an overnight getaway with nearly nil traffic hassles, hop over to our northern neighbor, Ventura County. The region offers a relaxed, family-friendly atmosphere year-round, and this coming weekend in particular offers a few fun events to make a visit extra worthwhile.
Oxnard Tree-lighting Celebration
Friday, Dec. 5, 2008, 5:30 p.m
At Plaza Park in downtown Oxnard, this annual lighting of what is Ventura County’s tallest Christmas tree, according to the Oxnard Downtown Management District website, kicks off the holiday season. Entertainment and food will be present, as will Kris Kringle himself. Bring the kids. Read the rest of this entry »
