March Destination: Ojai, CA

My 2018 New Year's Resolution was to travel more! (At least get out of Los Angeles at least once every month). For the previous two months I traveled by plane, so I chose a budget-friendly day trip to Ojai, California for the month of March. My trip was inspired by the film, Easy A featuring one of my favorite actresses, Emma Stone. (She's my dream BFF).

Ojai is a small town in Ventura County just east of Santa Barbara and about an hour and fifteen minutes from Los Angeles (without traffic). I woke up early on a Saturday to beat the weekend traffic and made it to the gorgeous small town by 9:15 AM. Ojai is located in a valley surrounded by the Topatopa Mountains. The city has a village-like center dotted with art galleries and shops.

BART'S BOOKS

My first stop was the infamous Bart's Books. It's home to the largest independently owned and operated outdoor bookstore in the United States and was a filming location for Easy A.

The history of this place is even more fascinating. Let me share with you. Once upon a time...(I'm kidding). In 1964, Richard Bartinsdale became overwhelmed with his growing collection of books, so he built book cases along the side walk for people to peruse. Bart left coffee cans on top of the cases and a passerby would choose a title of two and leave payment, giving birth to Bart’s world famous tradition of selling books via the honor system.

Now, the book store is home to nearly 1 million books ranging from the $.35 books lined upon the outside walls to rare and first edition books valued over $1,000.

After wandering the bookstore for an hour, I had to stop and check my blood sugar and treat a low. I felt totally comfortable relaxing at their many tables and benches around the store. The workers were so friendly and helpful, too. Each book has a different price that can be found on the top right of the first page. I snagged The Piano Teacher for $6!

Visit the The World's Greatest Outdoor Bookstore next time you are in Ojai!

302 W Matilija St, Ojai, CA 93023

EASY A OJAI NORTH HIGH SCHOOL

The next location on my agenda was to find the school used in the movie Easy A. Nordhoff High School was give a the fictitious name, "Ojai North High School" for the film. The school scenes feature stylized sped-up shots representing how fast rumors travel in high school. Many of the Nordhoff students were featured in the film or hired as extras. 1401 Maricopa Hwy, Ojai, CA 93023

These pictures won't be impressive or interesting if you haven't seen the film, so here is a link to the first 4.5 minutes of the movie.

I was fan-girling HARD walking around the school grounds. I was like, "Emma Stone has been here before!" (and Amanda Bynes, Penn Badgley, Dan Byrd, Aly Michalka, etc etc) It's a spread out campus (very different to the school I attended in Indiana) with dozens of separates buildings connected by pathways and stairs. I was able to find a few hallways that I remember Emma Stone's character, Olive Pendergast running down to confess plot-twisting news to her favorite teacher.
If you haven't seen the movie, please stop reading this blog post and go rent/download it now. Then, come back and finish reading this post. =)

DOWNTOWN OJAI

For lunch I used yelp to find a local taco joint that had good reviews called Ojai Tortilla House. I knew I found the place when there was a line down the side walk just to step inside the tiny hole-in-the wall style building. However, it is a cute hole-in-the-wall. You just have enough space to step up and order "chipotle style" to the epically fast making taco guy.

Honestly, I didn't spend too much time in downtown Ojai since I was there for just one day. I did take a stroll down the iconic Spanish style arcade lined with shops, art galleries, and restaurants. I passed buy the Ojai Ice Cream featured in Easy A.

Across from the arcade building was a unique shop called FiG. It had whimsical garden entrance lined with hanging plants, succulents, and yard decor in the long entrance and a cute little shop filled with eclectic trinkets, jewelry, art, greeting cards, baby clothes, etc. Fun fact about Ojai:  Chain stores are prohibited by city law to encourage local small business development and keep the town unique. Yup, they DON'T have a Starbucks, but they totally have a Jersey Mike's so...I don't know how they snuck in.

Orange Groves

While in Ojai I was looking for multiple scenic views and Meditation Mount popped up in my search. The directions took me to the opposite East side of Ojai and up into the hills. Sadly, Meditation Mount was also closed due to the recent fires. So, I turned back around and took Grand Ave back West. I felt like I had suddenly entered into a fairytale. The countryside road has fantastic views of the mountains and gorgeous homes surrounded by stone walls. Without realizing, I drove into the heart of the orange grove farms of Ojai. The road was lined with thousands of orange trees - something I've only seen in Florida as a child.

I hopped out of the car so I could check out these amazing trees. I chose to be respectful of the grove owners and only took a few pictures. I felt like Eve in the grove, I wanted so badly to pick an orange from a tree!

Easy A Lookout Spot

Rhiannon Abernathy (Aly Mischalka) & Olive Penderghast (Emma Stone) chillin at the Ojai Lookout

The NUMBER ONE reason I traveled to Ojai was to find the lookout spot featured in Easy A. Emma Stone's character frequents this location to chill with friends and bond with her mom (Patricia Clarkson). However, the film showed the character's car parked on the lookout, but the trailhead was closed off to all motor vehicles when I arrived. MOVIE MAGIC! 

From Ojai Ave turn onto N Signal Street and head towards the mountains and you'll arrive at the Shelf Road Trailhead. You can park for free along the road, but pay close attention to the parking signs. This is a residential neighborhood and signs indicate where you cannot park and to respect the neighbors.

The Shelf Road Trail is an unpaved road that traverses the cliffs several hundred feet above the northern edge of Ojai. The trail has several scenic overlooks with dramatic views of the Ojai Valley. I felt completely safe hiking alone and was even surrounded by other solo female hikers as well. The trail is popular among hikers, bicyclists, dog walkers, and runners due to its moderate walking path. However, when I visited, several hiking paths that branch off from Shelf Rd Trail were closed due to the recent Ventura fires. You can see the scorched mountain in the path picture above.

I knew arrived to the infamous lookout spot when there was a bench perfectly placed to gaze out onto the scenic view. If you compare the Easy A photo above to mine, you can definitely tell a difference in the landscape. Southern California had just experienced a lot of rain in Spring 2018, so Ojai was much more green than usual. I love that I got to see it this way!

I can't recommend Ojai, CA enough! It's the perfect day trip for anyone coming from Los Angeles, Orange County, or Santa Barbara. I hope to return again one day.