Ventura - Premier Visitors Guide 2007-2008 - (Page 19) around town Stanley Gardner Museum, dedicated to the author of the Perry Mason series. Antique hunters from throughout California consider Ventura a hidden gem, filled with bright shops harboring well-priced finds from 18th-century European furniture and mid-century classics to antique lace and political campaign buttons. More than 125 antique dealers sell their treasures in nearly 40 cozy shops on Ventura’s Main Street and neighboring avenues. Take your pick of antiques, vintage clothing, rare books, imported furniture, antique glass, pottery, jewelry, and collectibles. Outdoor adventurers stock up at Great Pacific Ironworks, Ventura-based Patagonia’s flagship store (235 W. Santa Clara St., 643-6074, wwwpatagonia.com). Real Cheap Sports (36 W. Santa Clara St., 648-3803) carries Patagonia overstocks plus other brands of clothing and equipment. The Working Artists Ventura (WAV) project is a brandnew complex of live/work quarters for 50 artists and their families, on Thompson Boulevard between S. Ventura Avenue and Garden Street, currently under construction. they have tastings to help you discover new favorites to pair with all types of foods. Weaver Wines (14 S. California St. at Main St., 653-WINE, www.weaverwines.com) is a lounge, tasting room and shop. Further down is Nona’s Courtyard & Wine Bar (67 S. California St., 641-2783). Destination Dining—Historic Downtown The menus of Ventura’s downtown restaurants reflect the region’s wide array of fresh seafood, local produce and proximity to California wine country. Creative chefs have made Ventura home for the same reason and several have opened dining establishments that are putting downtown Ventura on the foodie map. Choose from Country French, Italian, Argentinian, Peruvian, Mexican, Thai or Irish cuisine in addition to some of the best of real California-style cooking. Local haunts that you will not find elsewhere include microbreweries, wine bars and coffee houses—each steeped in character and truly devoid of the sameness travelers often find in other communities. For a comprehensive list of dining opportunities in any part of Ventura, see the Culinary Guide (inserted on page 17) or stroll along California Street, Main Street or Thompson Boulevard, where there are many restaurants to choose from. Ventura County and the Birth of Southern California Tourism Although Rancho Camulos has a rich agricultural and political history, it is best known as the "home" of Ramona—the main character in the wildly popular, best-selling novel Ramona by Helen Hunt Jackson, published in 1884. Ramona was the first novel set in Southern California. Jackson wrote the novel to spotlight prejudice and the fate of mixed blood and Native American people. However, most readers focused instead on the romantic legend of Ramona, an orphan of mixed heritage, and the vivid Spanish setting. Soon throngs of readers traveled to California on “pilgrimages” to visit "Ramona's world"—establishing the roots of the Southern California tourist industry. Rail transportation had just become more affordable and accessible, making it easier for people to explore the nation. Families read the novel aloud to their children to prepare them for their visits out West. Many fans designated Rancho Camulos as the “Home of Ramona” as it so closely resembled the setting described in the novel. For decades they have come to see the wide veranda, the courtyard and the adobe quarters where the novel’s characters lived and worked. Wine Bars and Wine Tasting Wine lovers can find much to celebrate in the growing number of wine bars showcasing the premier wines of the Central Coast. Paradise Pantry (677 E. Main St., 641-9440, www.paradisepantry.com) specializes in limited-production vintages by small family wineries and is the only retail shop in Ventura carrying wines from the Ojai Vineyard. On Saturdays W W W. V E N T U R A - U S A . C O M 19 http://www.weaverwines.com http://wwwpatagonia.com http://www.paradisepantry.com http://WWW.VENTURA-USA.COM
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