Downtown Ojai
The downtown area of Ojai, CA is the most attractive of all the downtown districts that we visited in Ventura County. Ojai owes it's thanks to Edward Libbey, founder of Libbey Glass. Mr Libbey wanted a downtown that was unique and beautiful and designed a business district with an arched promenade in front of the stores and a pergola tower that serves as the Post Office. The city has furthered it's quest for uniqueness by banning all chain stores in city limits. We had lunch at the Ojai Beverage company and later had a wine tasting at a tasting room run by the organic winery, Casa Barranca.
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| Ojai Beverage Company |
In downtown Ojai we stopped in the tasting room of Casa Barranca. Unlikely as can be, our tasting table was assisted by a pretty French lady, Mariella. This young lady is a High School French teacher on maternity leave who had come in this afternoon to help her friend with the tasting sessions. I love French women, all of whom seem to subscribe to the uniform dress code of pony tail and black stretch pants.
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| Our table pouring assistant, Mariella |
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| Mariella helps a customer choose a wine to taste |
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| Casa Barranca Sauvignon Blanc, not bad for a white |
Edward Libbey designed the town of Ojai. The US Post Office has this unique pergola as the centerpiece of downtown.
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| US Post Office, Ojai CA |
An arched promenade covers the store fronts of downtown Ojai giving the business district a unique clean look.
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| Flowering Vines cover the promenade arches of this business |
Proceed to the next stop, the
Associates Insectory
