Ojai: pink moments and more, a world away from L.A.

At least a couple of times a year, I find myself in the arty enclave of Ojai -– just over 80 miles from Los Angeles but cosmically worlds away. On a nice weekend afternoon, the road running through the short stretch of downtown hums with everyone from Harley guys and gals to mellow spa clientele.

What’s the draw? It’s a charmingly kooky kind of place, where the resident and visiting population is a hodgepodge of transitory nomads, artists, spiritual seekers, young families, the retired, and/or folk who might wear one or more of those hats. It’s got spa treatments aplenty, decent food, cute shops, and more art and cultural offerings than would be expected of a town of its size (its population is just under 8,000). But it’s the aura, so to speak, of the place that attracts me -– here, passers-by look you in the eye, and these folks sometimes even stop to chat. If that sounds jaded, I guess I’ve lived in too many big cities over the years.

Sometimes I’ll book a hotel room for the weekend, and other times I’ll take a day trip on Sunday and check out the lively farmers market, where I’ve befriended a macadamia nut peddler from Hawaii, folksy musicians and the agriculturally wise from Ojai and surrounding regions. I fill up on eggs at Bonnie Lu’s Country Cafe, abuzz with local chatter, coffee and newspaper pages. For quiet time, I’ll head up to Meditation Mount, where there’s a meditation room and a native-plants peace garden overlooking the valley. If the heat is on in the afternoon, I get a scoop at Ojai Ice Cream & Fudge.

And at the end of each day, whatever it held, I pay homage to what’s known locally as the Pink Moment. That’s the time around twilight when the surrounding mountains are washed in pinks, purples and oranges. I don’t remember where I first saw the phrase -– on a faded T-shirt or a town newsletter -– but really, it’s so Ojai. The Pink Moment, whether you say it mockingly followed by a “trip out, dude,” or you utter it slowly and sincerely with knowing finality, it’s all good all the time here. When it comes to last-minute getaways close to home, my third eye’s always on Ojai.

— Susan Derby, Special to the Los Angeles Times

[Photo: Bryan Chan / Los Angeles Times]

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This entry was posted on Sunday, July 20, 2008 at 9:00 am by Susan Derby and is filed under California, Ojai, Santa Barbara, Ventura, Weekend Getaways. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.