Last month I went to Ojai, California, for a working weekend. Ojai is a lovely place nestled in the foothills just inland from Ventura, a valley once occupied by Chumash Indians, it's now a resort town with a unique blend of spa hotels, golf courses, agriculture and new age mysticism in abundance, quite a potent mixture. It still has vestiges of a hippy influx in the '60s, and that suits me just fine. Ojai is still home to a film festival, poetry festival, art festival - you get the picture.
In my brief break from work, I visited Bart's Books, a used book store that is mostly outdoors. Hard to imagine how an outdoor bookstore could work, but as you approach Bart's you get an idea of what you're in for, the outer walls of the store are lined with bookshelves.
When you enter the store again the walls are lined with books but there's no roof, sunny tables sheltered by umbrellas, cozy chairs inviting you to settle into a corner with a pile of books, this is a place to spend some time. There are a few indoor rooms, and inside a little old home that forms the core of the bookstore, I was tickled to find that the kitchen houses the cookbooks, tiled counters and kitchen drawers all intact, very fun.
There's a weathered chess table should you wish to challenge a fellow patron to a friendly game, how could it get too serious when several of the pieces are small pebbles and stones in lieu of missing game pieces? After an hour or so I left with a book by Kaffe Fasset, a book of impressionist art from an Australian museum (with great information about when and where the work was painted, what the artist was going through at the time, who the subjects were and a little about their life - great stuff!), and a vintage book that has seen better days but will perhaps end up as an altered book and donating some of it's pages to other projects.
On the way out of town I stopped in at 'Ojai Creates' - a great little art supply that had just what I needed (the modeling paste I used for the swap pieces I shared in last week's post). I'd love to return to Ojai sometime with less work on the menu, and just wander around for a few days. Care to join me?
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Last month I went to Ojai, California, for a working weekend. Ojai is a lovely place nestled in the foothills just inland from Ventura, a valley once occupied by Chumash Indians, it's now a resort town with a unique blend of spa hotels, golf courses, agriculture and new age mysticism in abundance, quite a potent mixture. It still has vestiges of a hippy influx in the '60s, and that suits me just fine. Ojai is still home to a film festival, poetry festival, art festival - you get the picture.
In my brief break from work, I visited Bart's Books, a used book store that is mostly outdoors. Hard to imagine how an outdoor bookstore could work, but as you approach Bart's you get an idea of what you're in for, the outer walls of the store are lined with bookshelves. 
When you enter the store again the walls are lined with books but there's no roof, sunny tables sheltered by umbrellas, cozy chairs inviting you to settle into a corner with a pile of books, this is a place to spend some time. There are a few indoor rooms, and inside a little old home that forms the core of the bookstore, I was tickled to find that the kitchen houses the cookbooks, tiled counters and kitchen drawers all intact, very fun.
There's a weathered chess table should you wish to challenge a fellow patron to a friendly game, how could it get too serious when several of the pieces are small pebbles and stones in lieu of missing game pieces? After an hour or so I left with a book by Kaffe Fasset, a book of impressionist art from an Australian museum (with great information about when and where the work was painted, what the artist was going through at the time, who the subjects were and a little about their life - great stuff!), and a vintage book that has seen better days but will perhaps end up as an altered book and donating some of it's pages to other projects.
On the way out of town I stopped in at 'Ojai Creates' - a great little art supply that had just what I needed (the modeling paste I used for the swap pieces I shared in last week's post). I'd love to return to Ojai sometime with less work on the menu, and just wander around for a few days. Care to join me?
It looks like a wonderful place to visit Sue. I have never been to California (on my list of all states out west)! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThis looks like so much fun! Books and outside! How can you beat that!
ReplyDeleteLooks like quite an interesting and fun place. Glad you got a chance to check it out.
ReplyDeleteYes, please! I'd love to join you! I can't imagine how they are so rain-free that they have outdoor books? I've wanted to go stay at a spa/diet farm in Ojai for years. I haven't crossed it off the list of possibilities yet!
ReplyDeleteWell, heck. I'm a Californian, and I didn't know any of this. What a wonderful place!
ReplyDeleteoh, I've been wanting to go to Ojai! It looks so pretty and relaxing. If I was rich I'd take off for a week and go to one of those day spa retreats!
ReplyDeleteYes please!! Count me in!
ReplyDelete