Ventura Highway/Trumplandia

As we pulled into Ventura Isle Marnia (another sister marina) we were overwhelmed by the vast amount of Trump flags flying atop the boats. I think we counted a total of 20. Where were we?! As we got settled in and tried to digest the bombardment of Trump fanfare we realized that we were far from home. Neither of us knew much about Ventura. I knew my aunt lives there and that's about it. The first night we took a stroll around the harbor and got our barrings. The harbor was really nice it had shops, restaurants and a large boatyard. We found a cute little Mexican restaurant perched high above the water with a  good view. You know it's rare we get to see the water;) We had some margaretta's and eventually some dinner. We were tired from the day and settled back in on the boat for a quiet evening.

Trump land

Joyride Like Our Old Boat

We woke up feeling refreshed and ready to explore Venture. We lowered our bikes and hit the bike path. Venture has an great bike path that goes all the way to Ojai. Feeling less adventurous we rode the path along the boardwalk and into their adorable downtown. Main street goes for about 7 blocks and is lined with local shops and restaurants. One of the girls at the marina gave us a few recommendations for lunch so we partook. Paradise Pantry is a wine shop/restaurant. They do both tasting and also have a full menu. Since we had more riding to do we skipped the tasting and just had lunch. Afterwords we strolled the downtown realizing that despite the Trump infection at the marina that the rest of the town was pretty great. 

Bike Path 

Old Mission Downtown Ventura

County Seat Ventura

The 3rd of July was our provisioning day. Since we didn't have a car and the market was too far to bike we had to take an uber to Whole Foods. We took our time and made sure we were set up for the next week and then promptly ubered back to the marina. Not wanting this to be our only event of the day we decided to stroll over to the Boatyard Pub which was right in the harbor. Everyday they had a nice happy hour and live music. Today it was s single guitar player who played a lot of our classic rock favorites. 

Guitar Player at Boatyard Pub

The next day was the 4th of July and a very big day for us. Not only because it was a holiday but because we had plan to meet up with my Aunt Susan (my dad's sister) who I haven't seen in almost 20 years. Aunt Susan is a true California girl. She moved here in the 60s and hasn't looked back since. I still can recall visiting her in San Diego as a kid and knowing that some day I too would live in California. I was so excited to see her again! The city of Ventura puts on a street fair for the 4th where they block off downtown to make room for vendors - clothes, goods, food and two stages for music. That is where we met Aunt Susan. The minute I saw her it was as if no time had passed at all. She was exactly the same and I felt like a little girl again. The three of us walked around stopping periodically to duck into a bar to sit and quench our thirst. We caught up and reminisced about the old days. It was great being around family again. After hours at the street fair we all decided that was enough so we parted ways and made a plan to hook up the next day.

4th of July Street Festival

Downtown Bar

Me & Aunt Susan

 Jeff and I took our time in the morning and decided to meander over to the beach which was right across the street from the marina. It wasn't warm enough to lay out so we took a long walk along the water and watched the waves and the birds. It was a clean and quiet beach with a bird sanctuary located right down the way. 

Pelicans at Ventura Beach

Our Walk Along the Beach

After a long meandering walk we made our way back to the boat just in time to meet Aunt Susan again. She had never seen the boat so we wanted to have her over to show her around. I forewarned her about the Trump invasion that was happening there but she still found it to be a shock. Jeff made his famous guacamole and we had some chilled rose and continued to catch up and reminisce. I had some old photos from her childhood that we looked at and just enjoyed our last day together. A few hours later we said our goodbyes and vowed to stay in touch and get together sooner next time. 

Jeff and I strolled to a fish restaurant on the harbor he wanted to try for dinner. That evening as we were enjoying a quiet night aboard we felt a shaking. I looked outside and simultaneously every boat across from us was moving back and forth in a massive shift. I didn't realize what was happening and thought there was a large surge in the harbor. It continued for several minutes and finally I went outside. Other boaters were doing the same thing and looking all around. I glanced over at a boater a few slips down who hopped off his boat while saying, "earthquake" and walked down the dock. Whoa. Our first earthquake abroad the Tidings. Jeff quickly turned on the t.v. and we learned that a 7.1 aftershock from 150 miles away was what we felt. Crazy! It took us awhile to settle down and really grasp what we had just felt but finally we went to sleep ready to head to Santa Barbara in the morning. 

Me & Aunt Susan

Boats Moving During Earthquake