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Santa Barbara - America's
Riviera
The charms of California's Cote d'Azur have been entrancing visitors back through the ages. The Spanish/Moorish architecture of this seaside town contributes to its Mediterranean look, as do the sidewalk cafes, courtyards, and sparkling vistas of white walls and red tiled roofs - all set against a backdrop of the blue ocean and sandy beaches. Located on the southern slopes of the Santa Ynez Mountains just ninety miles north of Los Angeles, Santa Barbara has a special climate found nowhere else in the United States. The Santa Ynez chain shields the town from desert heat, while the Channel Islands offshore protect the coast from chilled ocean currents and strong winds. As a result, Santa Barbara offers near perfect weather with a comfortable year-round average daytime temperature of 72 degrees and the promise of sunshine 84% of the time. These conditions are ideal for outdoor enthusiasts. Santa Barbara's thirty miles of sandy beaches are conducive to swimming, sunbathing, boating, surfing, diving, and fishing. Cycling, skating and jogging trails wind through borders of palm trees along the oceanfront. Santa Barbara is rich in history dating back ten thousand years through the Chumash Indians, Spanish, Mexican, and early American settlements. Santa Barbara's Mission, known as the "Queen of the Missions," reflects the town's earliest Spanish settlement days, along with the Presidio and many still-standing historic adobes. In the countryside only 30 minutes from Santa Barbara are over 43 wineries and 11,000 acres of grapes. The wines of this ever-growing region have earned great respect among knowledgeable wine drinkers and have won an impressive array of medals. Guests are welcome to tour and taste at the wineries, and local wines are featured at many of Santa Barbara's 400 restaurants. Whether wandering Santa Barbara's tiled alleyways, sipping coffee alfresco in a courtyard cafe, or wine tasting, it is hard to believe this is not the real Cote D'Azur. Santa Barbara is truly "America's Riviera". |
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Ojai - Shangri-La Nestled at the foot of the beautiful Topa Topa Mountains, just 73 miles north of Los Angeles and 35 miles southeast of Santa Barbara, is the stunning Ojai Valley. Ojai has always been considered a special Shangri-La, with excellent climate year round. With its richness in physical beauty and cultural history, this area attracted the Chumash Indians over 1000 years ago. The Chumash gave the valley the name, Ojai, meaning nest. This refers to the shape given the valley by the surrounding mountains, which run east west, as opposed to most other North American range orientations. The Valley is a lovely land of coastal oaks, lush lemon groves, stands of avocado trees and exotic cherimoyas. The views are legendary. The sight from the top of Dennison Grade is so extraordinary that is was portrayed as Shangri-La in the legendary movie "Lost Horizons". If you're there at the end of the day, you would be privileged to witness Ojai's "pink moment", when the Topa Topa Mountains display an otherworldly pink hue. This beautiful secluded valley lies merely 12 miles from the Pacific Coast, and coupled with Ojai's spectacular mountain surrounding guests will find unlimited opportunities for recreational activities, tours and events. Activities from which to choose in Ojai include: deep sea and lake fishing, mountain jeep tours, downhill mountain biking, hiking, sailing, whale watching, horseback riding, and of course, golf! Known as a place of great spiritual force, the Ojai Valley has also become a magnet for creativity. Visitors to the area can experience the thriving artist community first hand with visits to private studios of world renowned potters, contemporary impressionist painters, realist painters, New Age painters and master carpenters. Come and experience one of Southern California's best kept secrets, the magnificent Ojai Valley. |
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