Press Journal from Vero Beach, Florida • 42

IOC Pm (-Journal Sunday July 12 1992 Travel Santa Barbara Offers Stunning Architecture Its new office buildings and apartment complexes In fact the new structures are so authentic It's difficult to tell what's newly built and what's renovated But to keep Santa architecture from being too much of a good thing frame Victorian houses with widow's walks turrets and gables pop up unexpectedly on any winding street The most stunning building In Santa Barbara is the County Courthouse a magnificent Spanish-Moorish built in 1929 amid lawns and gardens Its Interior may be the most elegant of any courthouse in this country: giant murals hand-painted ceilings Imposing wrought-lron chandeliers imported tiles everywhere Imagine going there to pay a traffic ticket or to get a marriage license Ride to the clock tower and look out over this glorious city the sometime blue Pacific at your feet the always graceful Santa Ynez Range at your back Suddenly we were starving After a hearty breakfast on a terrace overlooking a yacht harbor In Oxnard skipped lunch with only a midafternoon cappuccino Friends had recommended both SuperRica a cafeteria with wooden tables and superb Mexican food and John elegant cuisine in a simple storefront A hard choice but we settled on Downey's After all we were celebrating a birthday We each had something different veal squab trout and shared For dessert white chocolate mousse cake smothered in fresh raspberries and sporting a candle On the way home we checked our agenda We'd almost followed it Next time have to hit the pier and maybe Just maybe spend the weekend A spectacular Frcmontla bush-tree every Inch of branch covered with golden blossoms the slzo of royal teacups and saucers drew us to the Campbell Trial On either side phlox and larkspur and other flowers I've always associated with home gardens ran wild On tho Campbell Bridge high above Mission Creek we looked down on three or four youngsters wading Funny how kids who won't get Into a bathtub wont get out of a creek! Our friend Cheryl whose birthday we were celebrating Is xe-riscaplng her front yard and back garden That Is she's tearing out the grass and other thirsty growth and replacing them with drought-resistant plants Cheryl was delighted that most of the flowers grasses and shrubs we'd and over required little water The manza-nlta and desert sections of the Botanic Gardens bloomed with an even greater assortment of drought-tolerant plants Cheryl took notes bought books at the garden shop picked up pamphlets at the display kiosk and looked over the Home Demonstration Garden Even for us non-gardeners It was a glorious few hours But there still was the mission the Scenic Drive the pier We've been to all the California missions but Mission Santa Barbara is queen of them alL Imposing In size simple in decoration the mission church Invites repose Witness the visitors who slip away from the gift shop and display rooms dusty with collections of old musical instruments priestly vestments early sketches and diaries to sit quietly In a pew or kneel at the altar Mission architecture is of course endemic to Santa Barbara not only along State Street its main shopping avenue but In MsaJmimfll stall wlmts ku CflOlMf NlIM IflfVlGA nessswi mail sag vwss swfss Sixty-five acres of arroyo canyon desert woodland and meadow make up Botanic Gardens in Santa Barbara Calif By NATHALIE ZEIDMAN Copley News Service We always take out-of-town visitors to Santa Barbara Calif We love showing off the Spanish mission architecture the mission Itself the museums the Botanic Gardens the winding street and If there's time the pier This year Instead of guests we decided to take a birthday celebration there What better way to celebrate we thought as we penciled an Itinerary than to get reacquainted with that red-tiled adobe charmer only 100 miles up the coast from our home In Santa Monica We headed straight for EH Presidio scat of civil and military government during the Spanish colonial period and heart of old Santa Barbara The block-long adobe with Its front patio shaded by a tiled roof overhang still looks inviting In spite of Its current reconstruction In this age of Is better" It's good to see the Santa Barbara Trust for Historical Preservation doing the right thing For the time being the trust has turned the front yard Into a brickyard with rows of handmade mud-and-straw adobe bricks drying In the sun The reconstructed Presidio like the original will be built from the soil on which It stands Across Canon Perdido Street El Cuartel Santa oldest house (1788) and one of the oldest In California Is also being restored Originally the residence of the Presidio guard and his family In recent years El Cuartel as a minimuseum attracted the overflow of the visitors Next door a vivid contrast In this Spanish colonial neighborhood the Chinese-red lacquer front of Jimmy's Oriental Gardens stands out Strange yet not so strange If we remember history Chinese Immigrants not only Note: For additional Information on travel tips and packages contact a local travel agency Copley News Service JAPANESE TREKKING Japan just home to the latest technological gadgetry and visitors who want to see another side of the Land of the Rising Sun can join the Temples and trekking expedition offered by Journeys East Based on European hut-to-hut hiking adventures this trip features mountain hikes through the Japanese alps Hikers will share mountain lodges with Japanese hikers see the kohyoh (fall foliage) sleep on futons soak their weary bones In traditional hot baths and visit the small mountain town of Takayama Hikers carry only their clothes and cameras The land cost for the 16-day adventure is $3125 and Includes all transfers lodging and most meals Departures from Tokyo are scheduled for Sept 12 and 28 FYI: Journeys East 2443 Fillmore St No 289P San Francisco Calif 94115 (510) 601-1677 COLUMBUS DIVE Underwater Explorers Society Is offering a series of diving trips to the Southern Bahamas In honin' of the 500th anniversary of discovery of the New World Four expeditions are scheduled for October aboard the Sea Dancer Dive sites include Rum Cay Conception Island San Salvador (on Columbus Day of course) and Mayaguana Rates start at $1492 per person double I Swimwear Sale 1999 WabasseBeachVeraeach BEST QUALITY GROOMING US 1 at 94th St MNoroiH' Pelican Shoppes 589-1 441 Advertising Directory Page 2A bara's Botanic Gardens couldn't be better Sixty-five acres of arroyo canyon desert woodland and meadow the gardens is a non-profit organization devoted to the study display and preservation of native plants In the spring the profusion of colors in the meadow Is dizzying California lilac smaller more delicately clustered than the cultivated variety competes with the bold coral of California popples Slender blue-eyed grass was new to us and we saw lupine we hadn't seen since we left the Indiana dunes Everywhere curled petals of blue purple white and yellow Iris pushed through prairie bunch grass I'd never seen iris wild before Busch Gardens Creates Olympic Village TAMPA The ground has started breaking at Busch Gardens as the site of Olympic Village begins to take shape As an official 1992 US Olympic Team sponsor Busch Gardens will offer the Olympic Village through July 22 as part of the festivities planned for the official send-off of the UJ3 Olympic Team which will pass through the Tampa Bay area The Olympic Village will be the focal point for guests in search of a glimpse of American athletes bound for Barcelona Planned activities Include an entertainment salute called and a song and dance revue held daily The show will introduce an average of 50 Olympians to park guests Ten additional performers dressed in athletic costuming will complete the show's cast Additionally the Olympic Village will be the home of sponsor tents and the designated area for the sale of the official US Team merchandise Giveaways and photo opportunities with America's athletic champions will also take place In the village on a dally basis Joe Fincher executive vice president and general manager of Busch Gardens explained that the Olympic Village will give park guests a once-ln-a-llfeume opportunity to get dose to the Olympians The Village will encompass 40-000 square feet of parking area that will be transformed to look like a portion of a track and field arena Guests will become Immersed In Olympic happenings once they pass under the arched entryway near the park's Mor-rocan Palace Olympic Village will be open 9 am to 8 pm There will be no additional charge Busch Gardens is an Anheuser-Busch theme park built the roads and railroads of the West but the city of Santa Barbara Itself A lively Chinatown once flourished on Canon Perdido But at Santa Barbara's Historical Museum around the corner only a few exquisite brocaded robes the portrait of a patriarch and an elaborately glided altar- Iilece remind us of the Chinese mmlgrants role In Santa Barbara's story The Historical Museum Is housed in yet another charming adobe with tiled patio and foun-talned courtyard shaded by a giant California pepper tree The museum's collection is modest: a few Queen Anne chairs tables a settee a tum-of-the-century teddy bear Spanish shawls and fashionable gowns of the late 1800s and early 1900s fill several cases Travel Tips occupancy each trip is limited to 18 people Departures are scheduled for Oct 3 10 17 and 24 FYL Underwater Explorers Society PO Box F2433 Freeport Grand Bahama Island Bahamas (809) 373-1244 WESTIN OFFER Westin hotels and resorts throughout the United States are offering special reduced rates and value-added perks to attract family travelers Special rates for one or two adults are available through Sept 27 at 29 Westin properties Children under 18 can stay free In their room and at many of the participating hotels youngsters 12 and under eat for free diming their stay In the East and Midwest guests who check in with an American Express card will receive an upgraded room at no extra charge In the West guests will receive certificates to be redeemed for 3000 bonus miles with Alaska Airlines Special rates range from $69 a night at The Westin HotelCy-presa Creek In Fort Lauderdale Fla to $159 a night at The Westin KaualKaual Lagoons in Hawaii Other good vacation deals are available at The Algonquin in New York ($129) The Westin SI Francis In San Francisco ($117) and the Westin Resort in Vail Cola ($89) FYI: Westin Hotels Resorts (800) 228-3000 FRISCO ESCAPES The Ritz-Carlton In Sad Francisco is offering several ways to leave your heart In the beautiful city by the bay The Hill Es Countryside at the Ranch RESORTSJ Now You can Own your Very Own Home in the Tranquility of Central Florida's Countryside Prominently displayed are portraits of the rather grim-looking Don Jose de la Guerra first commandant of El Presidio and his wife In a case close by a first edition of Richard Henry Dana's Tears Before the Mast" Is open to the pages In which the author pays lavish tribute to the De la Guerra hospitality The De la Guerra home built in 1827 is now incorporated In Santa Barbara's Paseo" shopping arcade The arcade is billed as street in In reality it's a low-key mall with Interesting shops and attractive patio dining is tucked so unobtrusively off the main streets we forgive the developers their Invasion of history It could be worse On the other hand Santa Bar cape" for $195 a night offers accommodations in a deluxe guest room Continental breakfast for two valet parking and unlimited use of the hotel's fitness center The Romance" package includes accommodations a chilled bottle of champagne a gift from Saks Fifth Avenue and Continental breakfast for two for $245 a night The "Rejuvenation is a one-night package that includes one spa treatment (massage foot reflexology aromatherapy seaweed treatment eta) or a session with a certified trainer fitness cuisine breakfast and late check-out time It costs $425 a night single or double occupancy FYL The Rltz-Carlton 600 Stockton St San Francisco Calif 94108-2305 (415) 296-7465 TALL STACKS Go back to the time when river-boats paddled the water of rivers when Stacks takes place in Cincinnati Oct 15-18 when 17 sternwheelers will traverse the waters of the Ohio and Northern Kentucky riverfronts Harbor lunch dinner children's and moonlight cruises will be offered dally Cruise tickets start at $1295 per person The Ball Cruise Is a black-tie affair that will take place on Oct 16 There also will be river-boat races a Dixieland celebration and country music and jazz concerts FYL Greater Cincinnati Tall Stacks Commission Inc 537 El Pete Rose Way PO Box 1256 Cincinnati Ohio 45201 (513) 833-4444 extension 9292 INC ust sit back and relax on tlte sliadcd xrch of your new country home Around you see tlte Sandhill Crane Burrowing owl and oilier wildlife Breath in the cool morning air as it gently breezes through die Florida iialms Hidden away in Central 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VkgrtaAw 41-7044 CENTER PAL EMI US 1 710 South US 1 South Voro Square (next to Bool's) Monday-Saturday 10 AM-5 PM Sunday by Ask our designers for a free in-storo interior Appt design consultation MIRACLE SME PLAZA acraaa tram 7 WQOSRJrwl 9627224 PJ-FP Hour: Mon-Sat JufrmXwre' I MW FINANCING AVAILABLE Sii tet 1959 7.